RUSS TAFF – Russ Taff (1987) Eponymous albums are usually debut works, but Russ Taff was hardly a rookie when he released this album in 1987. His work leading the Imperials (Stand by the Power, Priority) earlier in the decade produced several memorable works, none more agonizing brilliant than Be Still My Soul which he co-wrote with his wife Tori. He then produced two solo projects that were solid showcases of his vocal talent, but it wasn’t until this third solo project that Taff produced a project that would be head and shoulders above the rest of his work.
The production (Jack Joseph Puig, before he was famous), the musicianship, and the range of material combined with Taff’s natural talent result in a complete project that is about as close to perfect as a album could be. Some have pointed out the conceptual nature of the album, beginning with the angry Shake, peaking with the cathartic I Still Believe and resolving with the compliant Healing Touch. That may be, and it may or may not be intentional, but it doesn't matter -- it runs strong from start to finish.
Others on this list had difficulty abiding by the one-album-per-artist rule; not here. Oddly enough, and perhaps unfortunately, Taff took his subsequent work in a different direction that may have been artistically satisfying to him, but which came nowhere close to repeating the chemistry of this blockbuster. And like anything else, one can nit-pick (the second side is somewhat weaker than the first; Steal Away doesn’t quite fit, and I’m not sure why the tracks are listed in alphabetical order on the label). But it’s still Russ Taff at his very, very best.
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