Simply Red: Home : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For almost two decades now, Mick Hucknall has been pumping out variations on Simply Red's stylized, sexy blue-eyed soul. That experience pays off on the best moments of Home, such as the vibrant horns pushing the chorus on "Fake" and the groove of "Home Loan Blues." But the inspiration to be found on Home is spotty at best. The first single, "Sunrise," leans far too heavily on a sample of Hall and Oates' "I Can't Go for That." The remake of "You Make Me Feel Brand New" is pointless and too comfortable. Worst of all, though, is an embarrassing cover of "Positively 4th Street," wrapped in strings, on which Hucknall's vocal comes off like a parody of Bob Dylan from some forgotten Saturday Night Live skit. In all, Hucknall would do better to ignore the comforts of Home next time and instead just get more lost.

RICHARD ABOWITZ
(RS 931, September 18, 2003)