When it comes to urban contemporary and dance-pop, comparing the British and American charts can be quite interesting. A single or album that soars to the top of the pop charts in England might be more of a club hit in the United States -- just ask Kym Mazelle, whose Brilliant! received different receptions on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In England, she was a major radio star in the 1980s and '90s; she was considered mainstream in Great Britain, whereas in the U.S., Mazelle's following was primarily a club ...
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When it comes to urban contemporary and dance-pop, comparing the British and American charts can be quite interesting. A single or album that soars to the top of the pop charts in England might be more of a club hit in the United States -- just ask Kym Mazelle, whose Brilliant! received different receptions on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In England, she was a major radio star in the 1980s and '90s; she was considered mainstream in Great Britain, whereas in the U.S., Mazelle's following was primarily a club following. The singer's forte was house music -- not amelodic acid house, but melodic deep house that recalled 1970s disco-soul divas like Gloria Gaynor, Loleatta Holloway, Thelma Houston, and Linda Clifford. In fact, exuberant deep house gems such as "Wait," "Don't Scandalize My Name," and the Marshall Jefferson-produced "Got to Get You Back" pick up where late-'70s disco-soul left off. The production values are different --Brilliant! is a lot more high-tech than anything that Gaynor or Holloway recorded in the 1970s -- but the feeling is much the same. Like the disco-soul divas who came before her, Mazelle is a gospel-influenced belter who never fails to bring soul considerations to the dance floor. Not everything on Brilliant! is house music; "Can't Make Nobody Love You" is a smooth urban contemporary ballad, and the funky, medium-tempo "Love Strain" (one of Mazelle's big hits in England) is too slow to be considered house music. But house is Brilliant!'s main focus, and anyone who is seriously into house owes it to himself/herself to obtain this excellent CD. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi
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