★★★★★
This minor genius peaked pre-1985 as the reason for being of the family harmony group DeBarge, which also gave the world ex-con lite Chico DeBarge and Janet Jackson annulment survivor James DeBarge. Although he hung on solo for a while, in this century his chief creative outlet has been the police blotter...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2011-03-14
★★★★★
For a time in the '80s, El DeBarge seemed to be the second coming of Michael Jackson. He came from a Motown family band whose hits ("Love Me in a Special Way," "Who's Holding Donna Now", and "Rhythm of the Night") were as sweet and infectious as anything the Jacksons had created. El left the band for a solo career with the help of Berry Gordy Jr., and his first record leapt up the charts thanks to the success of the catchy first single "Who's Johnny...
- www.popmatters.com
2011-02-28
★★★★★
To the average pop music fan, the return of El DeBarge after a 16-year absence might not mean much. After all, most rock crits (DeBarge-loving Robert Christgau aside) don't consider El to be much more than a pretty voice who had a couple of cheesy pop hits in the Eighties (if they consider him at all). The average pop culture website (like this one) (Hey! Who you callin' average? -Ed...
- popdose.com
2010-12-21
★★★★★
Lately the word "comeback" has been used to describe just about any musician who has taken a hiatus longer than two years, and it's a word that definitely needs to be re-defined, because in its essence, "comeback" doesn't simply mean "I'm back," but it means "I'm back...and I'm stronger than I was before...
- www.soultracks.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
To the average pop music fan, the return of El DeBarge after a 16-year absence might not mean much. After all, most rock crits (DeBarge-loving Robert Christgau aside) don't consider El to be much more than a pretty voice who had a couple of cheesy pop hits in the Eighties (if they consider him at all). The average pop culture website (like this one) (Hey! Who you callin' average? -Ed...
- popdose.com
2010-12-01
★★★★★
Before there was Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, there was El DeBarge. Fronting his family group with his silken croon, the slinky Michigan vocalist was among the finest to cop the moves of Prince and Michael Jackson and even Barry Gibb in hopes of making the ladies swoon. On his luscious new album, his first in a decade and a half, DeBarge simply soars, his feather-light vocals still in top form following years of personal struggles with drugs and a stint in jail...
- www.boston.com
2010-11-29
★★★★★
The past decade has not been easy for El (né Eldra) DeBarge, the former Motown family-band star whose recurring drug troubles finally led him to prison in 2008. Now a renewed-looking 49, the singer addresses that turmoil on the frankly confessional Second Chance, his first album since 1994 ? but because his ethereal vocals still shimmer so effortlessly, plush adult-soul jams like "How Can You Love Me" and "When I See You" (the latter co-written by Babyface) end up sounding surprisingly serene...
- ew.com
2010-11-29
★★★★★
Especially since Eldra, to honor the name his mama gave him, has shown something like genius as both writer and producer, the plethora of outside help is a double down. But though you can be sure this projected crossover is expected to produce a run of peppy crossover singles, starting with El's second straight meaningless movie theme, it has the flow of an album, even the personal stamp...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
The great lost love man enlists Babyface (five songs, four jumpy), Jermaine Dupri (one trick groove), various siblings (backing up his ballads), and the shade of Marvin Gaye (self-penned title finale) in an overdue quest for his own genius. The incomparable In a Special Way was 1983, and those hung up on the irretrievable innocence and naturalness of the past may take offense at the digital aesthetic, not to mention El's occasional descent into a manly tenor...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-03-21
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