Few British rock singers have gotten off to the soulful start Paul Young managed with his debut, No Parlez. At the time, Young seemed like the era's perfect blue-eyed soulster, possessing not only the requisite vocal power but an interpretive ability that equaled his inspirations.

Or so it seemed then. With his second album, The Secret of Association, Young's standing as British soul's great white hope is sorely diminished. It isn't that his singing has in any way lessened; if anything, Young has added polish to the texture of his voice and greatly expanded his falsetto. Rather, it's that he seems damnably shallow. Give him an arrangement as detailed as "One Step Forward" or as dramatic as "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down," and he'll supply the necessary anguished growls and soul-man flights. But let him fend for himself, and he seems almost to evaporate from the song.

The fault is not entirely his. Thanks to producer Laurie Latham's obsessively gimmick-laden arrangements, Young's voice is frequently just a pawn in the final mix, as is Pino Palladino's bass. Still, Young's ability to pull drama from material as maudlin as "Soldier's Things" suggests that he may yet achieve what his voice has so far only promised. (RS 450)

J.D. CONSIDINE