Although this Blue Note CD is officially a sampler from guitarist
Earl Klugh's early years, it is not all that different from the guitarist's regular releases.
Klugh has always had a pretty acoustic guitar sound and rarely wanders much from the poppish melodies; nearly all of his recordings to date could be classified as "love songs." The lightweight arrangements (some by
Dave Grusin) and the concise nature of the renditions (all of which have fadeouts) were geared toward gaining as much radio airplay as possible. Creating innovative music was not a serious option. Since
Earl Klugh succeeded in becoming a steady seller, the strategy worked on a commercial basis, but his performances on this pleasant but instantly forgettable set sound quite dated and lightweight. Useful purely as background music. ~ Scott Yanow