AMG Review of #1 Remixes

Jose Promis
All Music Guide

Lisa Stansfield's self-titled album didn't yield any major hits on the U.S. pop charts -- it's a shame the album didn't fare better, considering the scope of her talent -- but on the dance charts it was an entirely different matter. Four singles released from the album topped the dance charts ("I'm Leavin'," "Never Gonna Fall," "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up," and "People Hold On"), prompting Arista to release a "best-of" dance mixes EP. This EP plays more as a showcase of hot dance remixers than anything else, which is all fine. It begins with the radio edit of the Hex Hector mix of "I'm Leavin'," a melancholy ballad that absolutely shines as a dance track, and should have become a hit in a similar vein to Everything But the Girl's "Missing." Two mixes are included of her excellent interpretation of Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up," one being a dreamy, joyful, sophisticated, rather mid-tempo remix courtesy of the legendary Frankie Knuckles, and the other being the revved-up "Hani Mix." "Never Gonna Fall" makes two appearances as clubby remixes, with the Victor Calderone mix being more of a collection of beats than an actual song (which is fine if one is in a nightclub dancing away in the wee hours of the morning). A longer mix of the album version of the relentless "People Hold On" is thrown in (that song was actually Stansfield's first hit), as well as a single-length, funky mix of "The Real Thing" and a sleek, housy, elegant take on "The Line." This album is an absolute must for fans of late-'90s dance music, and especially for fans of this extremely underrated songstress.