AMG Review of Stay with Me Tonight

Jason Elias
All Music Guide

At this point, some fans might have been hoping that Jeffrey Osborne would return to his former group, L.T.D.. If Jeffrey Osborne cast doubt on that proposition, Stay With Me Tonight made it so that even L.T.D. fanatics didn't want to see it happen. Unlike many R&B acts who either went solo and/or did pop-ish work, Osborne earned raves for retaining his quirky nature with his vocal inflections and ticks intact. The smooth, first single, "Don't You Get So Mad," picks up where Jeffrey Osborne and "I Really Don't Need No Light" left off. Osborne's best-sung up-tempo George Duke production, "Stay With Me Tonight," clicks from the synths and the Simmons drums to the off-center backing vocals. The best ballad from the album is also one of Osborne's strongest songs. With a strong string arrangement from George DelBarrio, "I'll Make Believe" has Osborne all but living the poignant lyrics and giving them more meaning by accenting the right words and phrases. "We're Going All the Way" is nearly as good. Tracks like "Other Side of the Coin," "When Are You Comin' Back," and "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right" can't help but come off as filler given the excellent songs surrounding them. The best songs here more than make up for any so-so tracks and this is more than recommended.