MORE THAN EVER

Singer David Clayton-Thomas returned to the fold for the previous album "New city", to find a radically different line up to the one which was in place when he left. The line up changes would continue unabated, this proving to be the last album to include sole surviving original band member Bobby Colomby (DC-T did not appear on the band's first album).

Interestingly, the list of guest musicians on this album is longer than the 10 man line up of the band. Every instrument the band members play, with the exception of drums, is duplicated by the guest musicians used. This has the unfortunate effect of greatly suppressing the contributions of everyone except DC-T. The band are even squeezed out of the song-writing, with only Clayton-Thomas (two tracks) and Larry Willis (one track) receiving name checks.

The album is dominated by the production of Bob James, who also plays keyboards, Larry Willis's role being reduced to just electric piano. The opening "They" turns out to be the longest track on the album at 6½ minutes. Unusually, Clayton-Thomas's voice is multi-tracked when first we hear it, the song settling into a Stevie Wonder "Superstition" live funky rhythm. The production is sharp, emphasising the message of the lyrics, while the arrangement is more complex than we have become accustomed to on recent BS&T songs. "They" may come as something of a surprise to the BS&T faithful, but it is actually a highly credible starter for the album. "I love you more than ever" is not a rerun of the similarly titled "I love you more than you'll ever know" from the first album, but it is the source of this album's title. The song is a straightforward love ballad with Clayton-Thomas effectively duetting with the female backing vocalists. The song swims in string orchestration and features a brief muted trumpet solo. It's not exactly the bands most adventurous piece, but it is well crafted. The concluding multi-part a-cappella harmonies work well too.

"Katy Bell", co-written by Bob James is a simple pop rock song with overtones which are almost children's song like. It does however include a rasping sax solo. Patti Austin's "Sweet Sadie the savior" is another downbeat number with a female vocal chorus accompaniment. "Hollywood" is a funky R&B based song written by Clayton-Thomas, with strong female vocal accompaniment.

"You're the one" is the third and last DC-T composition on the album, all of which are co-written with William D. Smith. Smith ("Smitty") had covered BS&T's "And when I die" a few years earlier, impressing Clayton-Thomas to the extent that he later teamed up with him for his solo work, and Smith effectively becoming an unaccredited member of BS&T. Although it is another slushy ballad, it is one of Clayton-Thomas's finest compositions which he delivers with consummate perfection. Larry Willis's sole song writing contribution "Heavy blue" is the only instrumental on the album, the track moving through several moods including jazz funk and smooth rock.

The closing "Saved by the grace of your love" is co-written by William D. Smith, but this time with David Palmer. The song has a strong spiritual feel, the opening female chorus sounding decidedly heavenly. Once again, not a traditional BS&T song by any means, although it does have a certain similarity with "Hi-de-ho" from the third album.

If we establish straight away that this is not the Blood Sweat and Tears of the early 1970's, and put that to one side, this is actually a highly accomplished album. It has a welcome diversity, the strong song selection being enhanced by some great production and arranging.

Recommended.

The sleeve design is a very dull affair, simply showing the front and back labels of the LP version. Perhaps this was Columbia/CBS's ironic way of saying goodbye to a band they had been associated with since their earliest days.