I was honestly expecting this to be a rap album. In retrospect that was totally racist. I came up with that expectation by looking at the cover and seeing a picture of a black man on a late 80s album. I whole-heartily apologize for that. The first song "If You All Get To Heaven" is an 80s-laden inspirational song with plenty of drum machine supplying an afro-esque beat. I didn't hate it, but I sure hope this album offers more than that.
So far Mr. D'arby is a cheesy late 80s/early 90s version of James Brown. He's got a similar scratchy but soulful high-tenor. These first few tunes might have been a bit nicer with a funk band behind him, instead of the soft synths. It doesn't make "The Hardline" whatever that's supposed to be feel all that hard. It makes it sound more like a day-glo fueled dance party. I'm not even sure what that means.
"As Yet Untitled" is a wonderful long acapela. It's a powerful tribute to old soul blues ballads. I feel really awful thinking this was going to be a rap album just based on the cover. There's no excuse for that, and hopefully I'll be smarter moving forward. I am glad it turned out not to be rap, because I've heard enough rap to last me several of my expected lifetimes. But... I'm still not happy I had to listen to a whole album of dated 80s rock. Mr. D'arby is a wonderful singer, and I love classic soul and funk. I just found Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D'arby to contain too much 80s for my taste. 2 stars.
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