El DeBarge's first solo effort failed to lure the pop audience and left many R&B fans disenchanted.
Gemini, released three years later, comes close to achieving the singer's potential as a solo artist. Since
Gemini is mostly a self-production, it bares El's harmonic imprint and is more adventurous than many of the R&B albums released around the same time. Heartbreak is prevalent. El does some top-notch moody and hooky ballads with "Broken Dreams" and "Turn the Page," and the disconsolate aesthetic is carried into the mid-tempo "Somebody Loves You" as well. The album succeeds where El previously stumbled; the pure pop of "After You" and "Love Life" has him retaining his identify and offering more grit to the usual like-minded fare. While this wasn't a big seller, it has aged extremely well. ~ Jason Elias