Long Time No See [Bonus Track]

Performer: Chico DeBarge
Artist: El DeBarge; Joe
Producer: Chico DeBarge; El DeBarge; Jack Knight
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Chico Debarge (vocals, various instruments); El DeBarge (various instruments, background vocals); Wah Wah Watson (guitar); Freddie Washington (bass); Shandi Quildon (drum programming); Jack Knight, Chris Jackson (background vocals). Engineers: Jean Marie Horvat, Ed Miller, Andrew Brown, Michael Gilbert. Recorded at Soundcastle Recording, Los Angeles, California; Red Zone Studios, Burbank, California; Unique Recording Studios, Battery Studios and Sony Music Studios, New York, New York. Composer: Chico DeBarge. Personnel: Chico DeBarge (vocals, background vocals); Wah Wah Watson (guitar); El DeBarge, Jack Knight (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Chico DeBarge; Jean-Marie Horvat. Audio Remixer: Chico DeBarge. Liner Note Author: Chico DeBarge. Recording information: Battery Studios, New York, NY; Red Zone Studios, Burbank, CA; Sony Music Studios, New York, NY; Soundcastle Recording, Los Angeles, CA; Unique Recording Studios, New York, NY; Unique Recording, New York, NY. Photographer: Stephen B. McBride. Arranger: Chico DeBarge. The desperate, confused, angry feelings of a young man recently released from prison mixed with smooth soul stylings expressing a young man's longing for love make for a strange brew on this disc. The lyrics flow by like thoughts in someone's head, like music heard around the corner in an alleyway, or in your memory. There's a feeling of someone playing with the line between macho posturing and showing his vulnerability and need for love. Riding that line throughout LONG TIME NO SEE, Chico Debarge is back on the street, with a tale to tell. Chico DeBarge spent much of the late '80s and early '90s in jail after being convicted for trafficking cocaine, which meant it took a full 11 years for him to return with his second album, Long Time No See. DeBarge tries desperately to fit into the trends of the '90s, adding street-level, bass-heavy rhythms and hip-hop beats to his productions. He hasn't abandoned urban soul -- many of the songs remain smooth, sleek love ballads, and those are the ones that see DeBarge at his best. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Chico DeBarge spent much of the late '80s and early '90s in jail after being convicted for trafficking cocaine, which meant it took a full 11 years for him to return with his second album, Long Time No See. (It may also explain the reason why he shaved five years off of his age in the accompanying press release for Long Time No See, since he may feel that he never really lived those five years anyway.) DeBarge tries desperately to fit into the trends of the '90s, adding street-level, bass-heavy rhythms and hip-hop beats to his productions. He hasn't abandoned urban soul -- many of the songs remain smooth, sleek love ballads and those are the ones that see DeBarge at his best. He weathers the changes quite well, but he can't make the mediocre tracks (and there are too many of them) convincing, and that prevents Long Time No See from being completely successful. Even so, it's a solid, respectable comeback that suggests DeBarge may be able to regain some of the ground he lost in the early '90s. [Contains bonus track] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Source (12/97, p.194) - "...LONG TIME NO SEE is a woefully seductive collection of gospel-drenched sonnets that traces Chico's return to the outside world....Unlike the growing sea of neo-soul contemporaries, Chico is a student approaching his art with the wisdom of a master..."

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