1983 brought forth the gorgeously soulful and orchestral "I'm In Love Again". Now, then, this is late Philly with Columbia's support, and when compared to what the Lady is doing today is more like I want to hear. The album launched a few hits, too, and that wasn't bad either! The first song could easily belong to the repertoire of The Three Degrees and MFSB should just great on this. You cannot beat orchestration of this calibre, and it can really make a excellent track something even more special. The luscious strings and piano kick into gear with the smoky, jazzy soul of "Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)" and beats hands-down anything contained on either of her other PIR albums. We all know and love "Love, Need And Want You", which is collaboration between Kenneth Gamble and Bunny Sigler and, again, this sounds pristine today. Soul music like this is timeless and does never need to follow trends. A gorgeous track, enough said. This style of quality Philly soul fits Patti like a glove. I know I keep banging on, but I wish we heard more of it's kind from her today. One of my all-time favourites, period, is the superb Cynthia Biggs / Kenneth Gamble / Dexter Wansel penned ballad "If Only You Knew". This is Patti and Philadelphia International at its very, very best, make no mistake. I still get the old goose pimples today, 26 years on, when listening to this. This is so gorgeous that if you have not heard it then I would recommend purchase of this album via the Right Stuff in the US, or on the 2 disc set released a few years' back by Edsel purely for this song alone. With Womack & Womack's "Love Bankrupt", the quality continues and is not dissimilar from material such as "Love T.K.O.", or their own set, "Love Wars", of the same year. The Joseph Jefferson funky number, "When Am I Gonna Find True Love" isn't too bad, continuing the theme of consistency. Another worthwhile album from the 1980s to enjoy...forever!
