Self-produced under the name Rubina Flake, Feel like Makin' Love is Roberta Flack's least satisfactory album to date—a collection of mostly mediocre songs sung with an emotional restraint that some would call "tasteful" and "classy." I call it smug. An extremely talented vocalist, Flack has consistently avoided soulful adventurousness for safer, more limited ends, though within these limits she has done some fine work, particularly on the albums First Take and Quiet Fire and most especially her rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," a long song which she turned into a perversely compelling dirge.

Feel like Makin' Love attempts a fusion of gospel, jazz and MOR soul that comes together on only two songs. Eugene McDaniels's title cut, a Number One hit some months back, is slick jukebox fare and Stuart Scharfs's "Some Gospel According to Matthew" is a terse pop-gospel song that boasts a strong tune and an uncluttered arrangement. The remainder of the album vacillates between cocktail music and timid soul. Especially disappointing is a Stevie Wonder opus, "I Can See the Sun in Late December," that rambles on for more than 12 minutes. One of Wonder's more self-indulgent paeans to celestial spirituality, Flack's interpretation of it is characteristically chilly and the overly long instrumental break a disorganized mélange of tingly, ethereal sounds. Flack's talents are undeniable. But that she, like her protégé Donny Hathaway, has chosen to academicize her creativity is disheartening. Flack possesses a beautiful voice, but beautiful just isn't enough. (RS 185)

STEPHEN HOLDEN