Blaze is one of the most consitent groups in house music. Although they originally were three people who impressed with songs like If You Should Need A Friend or Can't Win For Losing on Quark Records or with the widely overlooked 25 Years Later album on Motown, they are now a group of two members (Kevin Hedge & Josh Milan, the one who has left is Chris Harvest). But musicwise not much has changed. Blaze are still the production team you can count on if you're looking for more soulful garage/house releases. At least if the records are released under their own name...what really annoyed me in some way were remixes for the likes of Jamiroquai or Anastacia.
Spiritually Speaking is more the follow-up I expected after 25 Years Later, which was an album that showed the great variety Blaze are capable of. While songs like Gonna Make It Work, All That I Should Know or Loverman sounded more like they where recorded in the good ol' 70ies, the still relevant We All Must Live Together or So Special featured the house side of Blaze's music spectrum. Their next album Basic Blaze (also released on Slip'n'Slide in 1997) was nice but lacked the greater content of 25 Years Later, Basic Blaze was more a mixture of tracks with only some vocal songs on offer. Their last album on Life Line, Natural Blaze, was in my opinion a step in the right direction with a broader musical content.
Spiritually Speaking, which will be released on the 9th of September, is a real turning point in some way. It's more musical than the previous albums and real soulful. In fact, songs like the Philip Bailey sung Breathe and One World sounds like Earth Wind & Fire did in their best days.
Featured as singers are Amira (on I Think Of You) and Palmer Brown (on Spiritually Speaking).
Other fine songs are the uptempo love song Sweeter Than The Day Before, Where You Are and the lyric wise second part of We All Must Live Together the midtempo World Peace.
The only weak song here is in my ears the over-hyped Do You Know House...I like the lyrics but the song itself lacks that certain something.
Interesting on the other hand is the Roots Interlude which reminds me with it's background drums of the beginning of The O'Jays Ship Ahoi. The following Black Byrd is a straight ahead jazz song and another proof for Blaze's versatility.
So take my advice and don't make the same mistake most people did with 25 Years Later, i.e., not buying it! Housemusic won't get much more soulful than with this record.