by Luther Vandross List Price:$18.00 Our Price:$13.00 Availability: Usually ships in 5 to 7 days
Product Details
Media: Audio CD
Release Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Label: J-Records
Average Customer Review: 4 Based on 108 reviews.
Sales Rank: 26
Tracks
1.
Hit It Again (featuring Queen Latifah)
2.
Right In The Middle
3.
Once Were Lovers
4.
Lovely Day (remix)
5.
They Said You Needed Me
6.
Apologize
7.
She Saw You
8.
Dance With My Father
9.
Lovely Day (featuring Busta Rhymes)
10.
The Closer I Get To You
11.
Buy Me A Rose
12.
If It Ain't One Thing... (featuring Foxy Brown)
13.
Think About You
14.
If I Didn't Know Better
15.
If I Didn't Know Better
16.
If It Ain't One Thing... (featuring Foxy Brown)
Editorial Review
Given Luther Vandross's precarious state of health at the time of its release, Dance With My Father’s title track--a tale of yearning for a lost loved one--takes on added poignancy. It’s something of a centerpiece on an album that moves in several directions, reaching for varied constituencies, while ultimately staying focused on Vandross’s trademark buttery vocals. In addition to "Dance," there’s more adult-contemporary balladry ("Buy Me a Rose"), lightly sassy soul ("If I Didn’t Know Better"), and a number of collaborations with hip-hoppers that often work surprisingly well. While suspending disbelief is hard when considering Luther and Foxy Brown as a couple ("If It Ain’t One Thing"), remakes of soft-R&B classics with Beyonce Knowles and Busta Rhymes prove to be highlights. With the Destiny’s Child singer, Vandross actually improves on the familiar Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway take of "The Closer I Get to You," turning in a cut that recalls his slow-burning signature reworking of "A House is Not a Home." A languid turn at "Lovely Day," with a purring Busta, works almost as well. (The "Part II" remix is superfluous, however.) Otherwise, Dance is in the vein of post-‘80s Vandross discs, and guaranteed to please fans. --Rickey Wright
Top Customer Reviews
Rating:
2 Luther walks on water, but this release is not so good
I'd like to preface my review by stating that I think that Luther Vandross has one of the most beautiful voices and is a true interpreter of music. They don't make them like Luther (Lufer) anymore! His 1985 release "The Night That I Fell In Love" is one of my favorite releases ever and Epic's recent 2 CD "Essential" is also a 5 in my book.Now, this release is another story. Firstly, what in heavens are Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, Queen Latifah, and yes even Beyonce Knowles doing on this release? Nothing against them at all, but I HATE, HATE it when timeless talents like Luther, either due to marketing considerations by the artist and/or their respective record company, get off course by pandering to the latest fads or pairing off with totally innappropriate (generally much younger) talents of "today". It CAN work, as was the case with Santana and Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, but that is the exception.Also, with the exception of "Dance With My Father" and the Buster Rhyme-free portions of "Lovely Day" (which for some reason is repeated), and possibly even his collaboration with Foxy Brown, the songs and musical arrangements just are not up to par with Luther's best or even less than best efforts. There is usually a gem that he choses to cover, but in this case his collaboration of "The Closer I Get To You" with B. Knowles is flavorless and makes you yearn for the original.I still think that Luther is the man and wish him a speedy and continued recovery. He has too many songs to sing yet!! So many of his songs are imprinted in my mind and serve as the soundtrack to my life. Here's to better music in the future from "The Voice".
Rating:
5 A Homerun...a TKO...and a Touchdown...the Vandross Way!
It is obvious that Luther had his millions of female friends (and guys that don't admit to being Luther "addicts") in mind when he recorded the songs on this fourteen-track album. With the exception of the hit "Dance with My Father", each of the remaining selections runs the spectrum of romantic relations, good and bad. Vandross reminds all men what a woman really wants in "Buy Me a Rose". He "speaks" to the indecisive lady in "Apologize" and to a "playa" Luther tells him that his days are over on "She Saw You". "Right in the Middle" hits the nail on the head in regards to affairs of the heart while "Once We Were Lovers" addresses the end of a relationship.His duet with Beyonce' (a cover of Roberta Flack's "The Closer I Get to You") ranks up there with earlier pairings with Martha Wash,Cheryl Lynn, or Mariah Carey. And "Hit It Again" (featuring Queen Latifah) could be playfully subtitled "Bill and Monica".Vandross co-wrote all but one (the remake of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" being written by Withers, Clarence Scarborough,Lionel Richie and Ronald LaPread) and the singer also arranged many of the background vocals.Speaking of the background singers, Vandross, obviously, remembers his "salad day" as a session singer for he gives them room to "breathe"...and breathe they do. No other artist has such gifted background support (Whitney's mom Cissy, Baaj and Tawatha Agee, Brenda White-King, Cincy Mizelle, Khadijah Mohammed, Philip White, Kevin Owen, Ulisa Ivey).Hopefully, the singer's hospital stay will soon come to an end and he will be back in the recording studio and the concert stage where all of us want him to be. In the meantime, the fans can be satisfied with Luther's latest, a true testament to his talent and his passion for music.
Rating:
2 Not Quite "Luther"
This cd gets two stars because it's Luther, but other than that it's pretty forgettable. After hearing "Dance With My Father" on the radio, I was eagerly awaiting the release. But it seems as though I fell for the old "bait and switch". The guest artists were ridiculous; they brought absoutely nothing to the cd; the duet with Beyonce is laughable...her voice sounds weak and it doesn't mix well with Luther's. He should have chosen someone with a better voice (Heather Headley for example) to sing with him.Overall, I was terribly disappointed with this album. If you like Luther's older and more substantial work don't bother with this cd.He is still one of the greatest though :)
Rating:
4 4 Stars and a "Get Well" Prayer.
These are very difficult times to be a fan of Luther Vandross. As the legendary crooner recovers from a life-threatening stroke, listeners (myself included) remain concerned for his future as a performer. All of which adds a tinge of sadness to "Dance With My Father," Vandross' second album for J records. The title track, co-written by Richard Marx, is a touching tribute to Luther's own father, who passed away when the singer was a young child. Listening to his impassioned delivery can almost move to tears anyone who ever longed to bond with the parent they barely had the chance to know. The rest of "Dance With My Father" doesn't push buttons as deeply as that track, but there's enough decent material to make it worth the trip. Vandross tries to the win the heart of an indecisive lover in "Apologize," gets tired of covering up for a philandering best friend in "She Saw You," and he vainly tries to salvage a failing relationship in "Once Were Lovers." Vocally, Luther is still on top of his game; he's blessed with a velvet-smooth voice that can often redeem even the most banal of lyrics. But while there's much to admire, it's also worth acknowledging that "Dance With My Father" isn't a perfect record. The uptempo tracks sometimes suffer from a high gloss, and the abundance of guest rappers is little more than pandering to the "Teen People" crowd. Luther Vandross is way too gifted a singer for that; he's vocally talented enough to perform songs on his own. But his duet with Beyonce Knowles on the cover of "The Closer I Get To You" actually works and is a good display of chemistry between the two singers. "Dance With My Father" isn't going to make me forget about his earlier albums like "Busy Body" and "Never Too Much" or even more recent outings like 1998's underrated "I Know." But it's a respectable CD that is enough to remind us why Vandross is the best r&b male singer around. It gets my 4 stars and a "get well" prayer.
Rating:
5 Luther's Best Work
This is clearly the definition of a 5 star album. When an artist puts out his best work. Luther has clearly put out his "masterpiece" work and there is no way you can say that he didn't. He uses great song choice and his voice is just fantastic.What makes this album 5 stars? First, the music supporting Luther isn't monotonous. Each song has unique drum programming/rhythm and each song sounds different. I am partial to all the songs, with my favorites being "Think About You", "The Closer I Get To You" (Beyonce's vocals are absolutely stunning), and "Dance With My Father". All the songs are good. Luther and his partners who composed these tunes did a great, great job. What else is there to say. 5/5!
Rating:
5 Outstanding........
...big fan of Luther, since I heard the album "The night I fell in love" in 1985 for the first time.Today, nearly 20 years later I have all his albums and still a big fan, and as all Luther fans waiting for a new album from "THE VOICE" of all times.This new album from Luther is outstanding,the man is really soulsearcing (as always),but on this album there is no bad or middel numbers only good good numbers.What is my favorites? I don't know, because every number on this CD is just outstanding on its own way.Okay, I love " Buy me a Rose" & "Dance with my father"...and all the other songs...sorry but this is just an outstanding album from the Voice we all Love...Luther, your music makes life worth living!
Rating:
5 A soulful masterpiece by Luther! He's a genius!
Luther Vandross is my all-time favorite singer! I have all his CDs and this latest one certainly doesn't fail to deliver. I have played this CD over and over and still look forward to hearing it play again. (When I first purchased it I even just drove around in my car, with nowhere in particular to go, just so I could play the entire CD.)I love the title cut but I think my favorite song is 'Buy Me a Rose' although there isn't a song on this CD that I don't like. This particular song and the title cut bring tears to my eyes everytime I hear them play, because they ring so true to experiences in my life. I also love the song, 'Think About You,' because how many of us in our lives haven't had a secret fantasy crush on someone that doesn't know that we do. It's wonderful to listen to an artist and be able to relate to the words of his songs.How bittersweet it is for this debut of Luther's new CD knowing that he is still hospitalized. May God continue to bless Luther and help him continue on a path of recovery so that he can be back to sing more songs with his beautiful voice. A world without Luther singing is a world I don't want to imagine!I hope that Luther knows how much he is loved and wished well!
Rating:
4 Cool sexy music
I just had to buy this album after listening to the song "Dance With My Father". As has been mentioned in plenty of the reviews below, the title track is a touching and poignant song that will almost make you cry even if your father is still alive. Although I found a few of the songs on the mellow side, some of the songs will want to make you dance such as the duet with Foxy Brown, "If It Ain't One Thing" and the groovy "Right in the Middle". Other songs are just incredibly sexy such as "If I Didn't Better" and "Hit It Again".Overall I would very much recommend this CD to those who enjoy cool sexy music. This is the first Luther Vandross CD that I've bought and I'm sure I will go back through his other CDs and buy a couple more.
Rating:
5 My opinion
Luther Vandross's album dance with my father is the biggest hit he could have ever made and every time I here or see the music video of that song it just makes me think of my father and how he wasn't there for me
Rating:
3 Luther's new cd is released the week of Father's Day....
Coincidence?!! Well I told my kids to get me some Old Spice, some new drawls or a tie and specifically NOT this cd. Collabo's with Foxy Brown (actually not a bad groove), Beyonce, Busta the Weatherman and Queen Latifah (I predict Hit it Again will be a BIG hit in gay clubs-it's hysterical) attempt to hip-hop start Luther into 2003, but you won't be fooled. There's some country sounding filler and at that point you realize this is still the best R/B vocalist on the planet and somehow he's not doing what he does best. For me the best track BY FAR on FATHER is Lovely Day PART II (not part I) which proves my point, when you don't do what you do best your best intentions and effort could be misinterpreted.
Rating:
5 Yummy
"The Closer I Get To You" duet with Beyonce is a great example of how Luther Vandross can take a song from the past reclaim it and make it more sensuous than imagineable. I was amazed by how mature and lovely her voice sounds and how comfortably hers blends with his. The "Lovely Day" remix is just a party waiting for people and a dance floor. The more urban sounds are very genuine and appealing. "If I Didn't Know Better", "Think About You" and others are classic Luther with updated rhythums and background collaborations. Some of the tracks might be passovers but there is so much wonderful music on this cd and you cannot go wrong owning more Luther. Luther always gives from his heart and with a glass of merlot - this cd is a warm and heartfelt listen.
Rating:
5 Brilliant
Quite possibly Mr. Vandross' best work ever! Every track is well worth listening to (several times). I was not particularly thrilled with listening to Foxy Brown on "If it ain't one thing". Thankfully, most of her ramblings came at the end...smooth and coarse just do not blend very well. I was very pleasantly surprised at "Hit it Again". Sexy, very sexy. Did it need the Queen? No! Mr. Vandross was doing great all by himself on this one!Ms. Knowles handled herself very well with a music legend! Maybe she is not all flash after all....great rendition of "The closer I get to you". Mr. Vandross has been so consistent for so many years that we all expect the very best from him. He has raised the bar yet again with this album and I am excited to see his follow-up! Yes, I live in an optimistic world and I fully expect another Vandross CD in 2005. Unquestionably this is a must have CD. He hits the mark with every track! Je t'aime, Luther. G
Rating:
2 Okay, I can't breathe...
Let me get right to the point. Do real Luther Vandross fans want to see him kicking some 106 & Park-flavored stuff? I mean, I heard the songs "Grown Thangs" and "How Do I Tell Her" off his last album, and I should have known that was a subtle sign of things to come. But I never thought that even Luther would go all-out trendy.Luther pretty much has the same production team and background singers he's always had, but things usually don't work well as they should, which is especially evidenced in songs like "Hit It Again" and "Right In The Middle". Songs are even bad lyrically, like...well, most of them, but to name a few, "If I Didn't Know Better", "Think About You" and the otherwise decent "Apologize".Guest stars don't really make things promising either. Foxy Brown shows up on the ridiculous "If It Ain't One Thing" (by the way, what's up with that beat?). And the aforementioned "Hit It Again" features a rap by Queen Latifah(?!), and the whole song should have gone straight to the shredder. And I listened to Latifah's rap in that song, and...what the hell is she talking about?Busta Rhymes also shows up on this album, on the lazy remake of Bill Withers' "A Lovely Day". But the funny thing is, Busta's verse actually outshines Luther's. And there's an unnecessary second version of that song on the album, which is exactly the same except the music is now taken from The Commodores' "Say Yeah".There IS one guest spot that does work, which is from BeyoncT, believe it or not, on the remake of Mtume's "The Closer I Get To You". That's the best song on the album, and running a close second is the title track. But even though those two songs are standard Luther, they seem a little out of place when mixed in with all that trendy mess.With this album, it's obvious that Luther is trying to fit in with the younger crowd, but to say that he failed would be an understatement. Maybe this proves that artists that have been around for 20+ years DO still care about getting platinum plaques. Whatever the case, I hope Luther never makes an album like this again.Anthony Rupert
Rating:
5 Luther's Best Work
This is clearly the definition of a 5 star album. When an artist puts out his best work. Luther has clearly put out his "masterpiece" work and there is no way you can say that he didn't. He uses great song choice and his voice is just fantastic.What makes this album 5 stars? First, the music supporting Luther isn't monotonous. Each song has unique drum programming/rhythm and each song sounds different. I am partial to all the songs, with my favorites being "Think About You", "The Closer I Get To You" (Beyonce's vocals are absolutely stunning), and "Dance With My Father". All the songs are good. Luther and his partners who composed these tunes did a great, great job. What else is there to say. 5/5!
Rating:
4 Outstanding, Brilliant, and Well Done
Luther Vandross album titled Dance With My Father was the first album of his that I had purchased. After playing it through, I hope this is not the last album of Luther's that I buy. The album was a rather interesting mix as guest appearances are made by rappers like Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes and Queen Latifah, while Luther is quite the opposite. Unsure of how to write these reviews, I figure I'll go down describing the songs on this album. This album contains a few gems that will go down as some of the best R-n-B on the market, such as the brilliant "Buy me a Rose" and "Dance with My Father." These songs shine with outstanding lyrics and beautiful messages. While these songs stand at the top, many other songs on this album truely shine. Complimenting Luther are some outstanding backup singers (who are unknown to me) and as I discovered while reading the booklet, Luther also has the support of many great writers. While most of the songs were co-written by Luther, other writers on the album include greats like Lionel Richie, Bill Withers and Richard Marx.The reason this album does not receive 5 stars is due primarily to the inclusion of rappers in the album. While the rappers put on a great effort with decent verses, I feel Luthers voice is best kept for slow songs. One exception to this scheme seemed to be "If It Ain't One Thing" featuring Foxy Brown which was well executed. Another disappointment was the two "Lovely Day" songs featuring Busta Rhymes. While it was a fair song the first time, it was the same song the second time? In all, the album is well worth the [$$] it costs. I recommend it to anybody who loves the soothing sounds of R-n-B or to anybody who loves good music :).
Rating:
2 Bad album
In 2003 this album won a lot of awards and shifted a lot of units, but in truth I think that's more down to the name of Luther & the ill health the brother was in, than the album itself. People like me who have followed Luther for years & have all his albums know he's capable of much stronger material than this. 'Dance With My Father' is an album that does everything it can to sell big. It rides all the fads of the moment, brings in corny guest rappers like Foxy Brown, Queen Latifah, and Busta Rhymes, and flava of the month Beyonce. It all sounds boring, Luther has sold platinum before while staying true to himself & R&B so its confusing to hear him sell out so hard. The production is weak, Luther again avoids real instruments in favour of low budget sounding Casio keyboard-based tunes, the choice of songs are weak, the two covers are bad choices, the material doesn't showcase the full range of his vocals, the hooks are weak, the overall vibe is cheap. This is only the second time in 23 years that he has cut a bad album (the other being 1993s 'Never Let Me Go'), so that explains why this is such a let down. I hate to see a respected vet like Luther go out like this, I hope his health improves as the man has been a great talent & is loved the world over.
Rating:
5 A soulful masterpiece by Luther! He's a genius!
Luther Vandross is my all-time favorite singer! I have all his CDs and this latest one certainly doesn't fail to deliver. I have played this CD over and over and still look forward to hearing it play again. (When I first purchased it I even just drove around in my car, with nowhere in particular to go, just so I could play the entire CD.)I love the title cut but I think my favorite song is 'Buy Me a Rose' although there isn't a song on this CD that I don't like. This particular song and the title cut bring tears to my eyes everytime I hear them play, because they ring so true to experiences in my life. I also love the song, 'Think About You,' because how many of us in our lives haven't had a secret fantasy crush on someone that doesn't know that we do. It's wonderful to listen to an artist and be able to relate to the words of his songs.How bittersweet it is for this debut of Luther's new CD knowing that he is still hospitalized. May God continue to bless Luther and help him continue on a path of recovery so that he can be back to sing more songs with his beautiful voice. A world without Luther singing is a world I don't want to imagine!I hope that Luther knows how much he is loved and wished well!
