Love Oh Love/The Man

By the time Hutson released his first two solo albums -- repackaged here as a two for one disc set -- he had already established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the R&B community; having written and produced with the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Donny Hathaway (to say nothing of filling Mayfield's shoes in the Impressions). Starting right out of the gate with a slow, smooth ballad (a rather unusual practice), "So in Love with You" is one of Hutson's finest moments and helps to define a large portion of his material. While Love Oh Love showed Hutson to be off to a promising start, The Man sputters a bit with its unevenness (but a particularly noteworthy contribution is his updated version of Donny Hathaway's "The Ghetto") and ends with one of the worst soul-kitsch songs ever recorded, "Dudley Do Right." Like "Take Up a Course in Happiness" from Stevie Wonder's classic Where I'm Coming From release, it seems painfully kitschy and woefully out of place with the rest of the album's material. ~ Rob Theakston|