Singing, producing, writing, acting -- you name it, they’ve done it with everyone from James Brown to Bob Dylan. Who am I talking about? Full Force, of course. The mega-hitmakers are in the place to be with a brand new album, and Bowlegged Lou, Paul Anthony, Curt-T-T, Shy Shy, Baby Gerry and B-Fine are all present and accounted for. The appropriately titled With Love From Our Friends celebrates their 30 years in the recording industry and features over 30 guest artists, including Full Force “family” members like UTFO, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and Samantha Fox.
While the first single “I Feel Good, I Look Good, I’m God Good” was a praise-filled inspirational tune, their current single “Do U Believe in Heaven?” is quite the opposite. Right off the bat, FF makes it clear that “This is dedicated to all the ladies.” And with a roster full of handsome, talented gentlemen -- Blair Underwood, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Omari Hardwick, Big Daddy Kane and Najee -- it would seem they were on the right track.
I’ve always loved Full Force, and I consider myself a fan of their work. Mix that in with the names mentioned above, and let’s just say I temporarily turned into a googly-eyed adolescent, kissing posters on my wall. As I eagerly settled in to listen, my googly-eyes slowly narrowed into side-eyes mainly due to the high content of “mack daddy” lines meets Love Jones spoken word from the 1990s. But maybe that was point, to playfully make us a little nostalgic for a time when Full Force was at the height of their popularity. At least Najee sounded smooth and timeless on the saxophone. To their credit, even though they aren’t really front and center on this track, Full Force still sounds good. And for that alone, it’s worth the listen.
Get busy one more time with the band by purchasing With Love From Our Friends, available on iTunes or Amazon. The album is dedicated to group member and cancer survivor Paul Anthony and his foundation’s Cancer Champion Initiative.
