'I'm Ready' was probably the low-point in Natalie Cole's career; even Cole admits this in "Angel on My Shoulder," her autobiography. The album barely charted, and produced only one charting R&B single. Cole's personal problems during the time probably didn't help the album either. Despite this, I can't help but enjoy some of the stuff on this near-forgotten release.

The album starts off with "Too Much Mister." The song isn't much, but is catchy nonetheless. The other single, "Keep It On The Outside" is a standard R&B ballad with a pretty sax part. My favourite on the album is the danceable "Time (Heals All Wounds)." I like the computerized-sounding bass and Quincy Jones-like arrangement of the horns. "Where's Your Angel?" is again lightweight but pleasing, as is the sunny "I Won't Deny You." The title track reminds me a bit of Deniece Williams' "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" (which is a good thing), while "(I'm Coming) Straight From the Heart" is too boring for my taste.

In 1992, Legacy reissued "I'm Ready" and threw in some bonus tracks apparently intended for the album. My favourites are the first two selections, "Winner (Take All)" and "Azz Iz." I like the post-disco feel to both, as well as the cute vocoder on "Azz Iz."

As much as I enjoy "I'm Ready," I don't think that much of Natalie Cole's jazz-loving fan base will care for this too much. It's a long ways away from the sophisticated "Unforgettable" and the like, and doesn't seem as strong as most of her Pop material either. However, for admirers of Nataile Cole's Pop material and early 80's R&B, this may be an enjoyable if not thrilling listen.

This album is so interesting in where Natalie Cole was picked up by Epic/CBS (and she blew it) after an eight year run on Capitol which would feature incredible success, but even more interesting is the title. Originally, this album was to be entitled, "Movin' On," which I think would have been so much more convincing than the misleading "I'm Ready." She was READY alright. Ready for REHAB(and she victored, thank God.)

On this album, most likely due to the drugs, her voice seems to be in a huskier, lower register, but she still sounds sexy and has no issue hitting the higher notes or with pitch. The first single, "Too Much Mister," stalled out at #45 R&B. It tried too hard to duplicate that Natalie Cole "hit" sound of "This Will Be." The same applied to "I Won't Deny You." Too much of a throwback sound. For 1983, that sound was a thing of the distant past.

The closest two THEN "current" moments here are "Time (Heals All Wounds") and the AWESOME "Azz Iz," which wasn't even included on the original vinyl, but rather kept in the vault until this title was released in CD format. It's so Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and had Miss Natalie ever gotten with Flyte Tyme, can u just imagine how many hits she might have had throughout the rest of the 80's? Whomever was responsible for selecting the tunes to appear on this album was not the right match for his/her job at Epic. Clearly, "Azz Iz" should have been the lead single with extended mixes. It had all the makings of becoming a #1 R&B hit had it been selected and promoted properly.

Another soul-stirring moment here is with the song, "Movin' On." Never has she been so "badass" as she is in this song! The rest consists of some really nice slow jams and should NOT have been the sales tragedy it was. It's a really excellent album if you can just get past the couple of minor duds.

Check this album out! It's TIGHT and it's a hundred times better than its pitiful followup, "Dangerous" on Modern/Atlantic in 1985 despite having boasted a #1 Dance hit in its title cut.

A little trivia for ya TOO: Rumor had it that Teena Marie was to produce some of the music on "I'm Ready." This never happened and it could have been a lack of interest on the part of Marie due to Cole's addiction issues. Imagine if it was Natalie who was singing "Lovergirl!" THAT would have been somethin'! Luckily, Teena kept it for herself and scored big with yet another crossover SMASH!

Not going to spend a lot of time going over every individual song and aspect of the album, but this is a really good effort. This a very upbeat, danceable type release with a funk/r and b/ post-disco synsthesized type of vibe. I very much enjoy this cd, and would recommend it to any Natalie Cole fan, especially those who are more into her pop and r and b releases than her jazz releases.