Fragile

AMG Review of Fragile

Rob Theakston
All Music Guide

The Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis connection scored with Cherrelle's debut, most notably on the second track, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On," which scored as a Top Ten R&B hit. It was later covered by Robert Palmer and his backing band of ambiguous women, and was turned into an instant smash on MTV. But that's neither here nor there -- Cherrelle brings the goods with this debut. Ripe with oogie workouts reaching to the five-minute mark, Fragile pretty much follows the pattern of R&B albums during the '80s, with several uptempo numbers and a few slow allads thrown in here and there for good measure. The allads are easily forgettable, but the remainder of the album features a solid Jam & Lewis production; there's much evidence here that the kinks in the formula that made them production juggernauts had been worked out. And nowhere is this better proven than on her 1986 follow-up, High Priority.