By the time she released Flame in 1997, Patti LaBelle had settled into a comfortable, reliable groove. Following her mid-'80s comeback, LaBelle gradually moved toward a neo-sophisticated, laid-back, adult contemporary style that only occasionally touched on urban soul. Which means Flame is largely a slick, seductive collection of ballads punctuated by a handful of restrained dance-pop numbers. And in that sense, it's no different than any of her '90s albums, but that isn't a bad thing, since LaBelle works with top-notch, classy professionals. A team of producers -- including David Foster, Gerald LeVert, Arif Mardin and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis -- worked on Flame, but instead of making the album sound diverse and sprawling, their highly skilled craftsmanship keeps the album unified. All that effort makes the record a pleasurable, listenable album, yet there aren't enough killer hooks or great songs to make it a standout in LaBelle's catalog. Instead, Flame is merely a good Patti LaBelle record, and sometimes that's all you need.
Patti LaBelle
Flame
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AllMusic Review by Leo Stanley
Track Listing
| Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5:55 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 2 | 4:38 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 3 | 3:59 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 4 | 4:10 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 5 | 4:17 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 6 | 4:17 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 7 | 4:24 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 8 | 4:12 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 9 | 5:32 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 10 | 5:19 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 11 | 4:39 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 12 | 4:19 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 13 | 4:00 | SpotifyAmazon | |||||
| 14 | 4:49 | SpotifyAmazon |
