Following the success of their most popular album ever,
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band seem to be running out of ideas on
You're So Beautiful. Kicking off the festivities is a re-working of their big hit, "Express Yourself." Steeped in call-and-response revivalism, "Express Yourself II" brings the funk, but is repetitive and lacks focus. Elements of the band's unbridled yet controlled soul are still evident, but the songs themselves are without structure and seem to ramble. A prime example is the spaced-out "Let's Make Love Not War."
A Tribe Called Quest and
Brand Nubian have plucked juicy lines from "What Can You Bring Me," with its chicken-scratch guitar licks and ebbing horn patterns. ~ Douglas Siwek