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The
Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs: Body Kiss
Dreamworks, 2003
Rating: 2.4
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Posted: May 29,
2003
By
Kevin Forest Moreau
That this is not your father's Isley Brothers record is not news. As it
creeps up on its 50th year in existence, the group has weathered more than
its share of changes, and now consists solely of singer Ronald Isley and
his guitar-playing younger brother Ernie (who had left the group for
awhile before returning in the early '90s). But the Isley Brothers of
Body Kiss are different in ways that go beyond personnel shifts.
Following in the footsteps of 2001's Eternal, which featured
collaborations with Jill Scott, R. Kelly and Raphael Saadiq, Body Kiss
further updates the band (or, perhaps more accurately, brand) as a
modern-day R&B outfit. As such, it does the group responsible for
indelible hits like "Shout!" and "It's Your Thing" an incalculable
disservice: whereas the outfit was once a timeless institution, now it's
strictly of its time. All but one of the disc's 12 songs are written and
produced by R. Kelly, and even the one that isn't sports a glossy
urban-radio sheen.
"Superstar," "Keep It Flowin'" and "Take a Ride" are all boilerplate
ballads lacking in all but the most forgiving definition of soul, while
the caught-you-cheating track "Busted" features some amusing interplay
between Ronald and guest JS. Alas, it's not enough to make the song any
more memorable than the second-hand sex tunes that surround it. Same goes
for something called "Showdown Vol. 1," in which Ronald (excuse me, um,
Mr. Biggs, and what the fuck is that all about?) seethes over a
lover's indiscretion. (And why "Vol. 1?" Especially when "What Would You
Do," a mildly clever tune, spawns an album-closing "Pt. 2?") Things
actually pick up toward the end, with "I Want That" and the album's one
true highlight, "I Like," a strutting semi-jam buried way down the track
listing and featuring an engaging rap from Snoop Dogg. But it's a case of
too little, too late.
Granted, the principals here -- that is, the ones sporting the surname
"Isley" -- are still in fine form. Ronald still sings with the buttery
croon of an angel. And Ernie turns in a tastefully fiery solo or two,
although his influence is felt so sporadically, drowned out by
factory-issue R&B twinkle, that you wonder why this isn't a Ronald Isley
solo album. Body Kiss is a polished and listenable product, yes,
but in the end, product is all it is. It's a fairly generic slice of
booty-call soundtrack music that just happens to bear the name -- most
certainly not the stamp -- of one of the most revered funk and soul
outfits in the history of popular music.
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