It is ashame when someone of Winwood's talent goes out on a creative limb and get eviscerated for it. I didn't dig this recording for some time after I got it, I must admit. But about two or three years after I picked this CD up, I actually listened to it and found such fully realized funk and soul brought together by some very talented people!! All I can say is give it another non-judgemental listen. I actually think that this recording is less 'pop' sounding that his more successful solo releases such as Roll With It & Back In The High Life.

My faves are SPY IN THE HOUSE..., JUST WANNA HAVE SOME FUN, LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN (What a soulman!! And the backing vocals work for me!!), FILL ME UP, GOTTA GET BACK TO MY BABY, FAMILY AFFAIR (nice version)& PLENTY LOVE feat. Desiree (I believe this was the only single/minor hit from this CD). Why do artists have to constantly repeat themselves to be honored by fans of no imagination? And when they DO repeat themselves, these same fans tend to complain "been there, done that". I don't get it.

Give this one another try!!!

I disagreee strongly with most of the reviews I have read on here about this CD and i really don't understand. I first heard Steve on record on AM radio back in the 60's doing the hit song "Gimme Some Lovin" with the Spencer Davis Group and to this day I am impressed with that performance. Steve has dabbled in various musical styles and groups during his colorful career, but i think he's at this best when he's singing and playing an R@B/blues type of combination music. In other words.....he's great when he gets funky........and he gets funky on this

release in spades. To me it's the best he's ever sounded and played. "Spy in the House of Love" is an instant classic featuring steve on some very tasteful blues guitar licks. And

if "Just Wanna have Some Fun" and if "Fill Me Up" don't get your toes to tapping then you better check to make sure you're still

alive. It's true that there are no 15 minute spaced out jams on

here for those who want to get stoned and slobber all over their

love beads.....but I like it like that. I play this often in my

regular room in Yahoo voice chat and everybody loves it.....so

it's not just me. The production is clear and perfect contray to

what i read on here. I saw him do "Spy in the House of Love" on the Letterman TV show and was so impressed that I immediately bought the CD and wasn't disappointed....to say the least! You won't be either!

This certainly isn't Steve Winwood's best album, not by a long way. But it's not terrible either, and it's definitely better than most of today's pop music.

It does have some genuinely nice songs on it. "Angel Of Mercy" and "Real Love" are nice ballads. I like them both, even though I usually don't care for such songs. "Lord Of The Street" is a pretty good song and it's the one song on here that comes closest to being like Winwood's earlier work back in the mid to late Eighties. And "Plenty Lovin' "...wow. Des'ree's vocals really make this song stand out! It's got kind of a smooth jazz sound and it's one of my favorites here. Other songs on the album are merely okay. "Let Your Love Come Down" would be better if it didn't have the distorted backing vocals. This was tried on a much earlier Winwood tune, "Big Girls Walk Away", from his "Talking Back To The Night" album of the early Eighties. On that song, it sort of worked; on this one, not so much.

Upon my first listen to this album, I was disappointed. I could've given up right then, but I listened some more and it eventually grew on me. If you listen with an open mind, you'll recognize it for what it is: an okay pop album by Steve Winwood, rather than a spectacular one. It was something different for him. Sometimes a musician tries something different and the result is a disastrous, unlistenable album. Fortunately, this one turned out better than that.

This album shows Winwood's versatility, with songs like "Spy in the House of Love", the soft "Real Love", the latin "Gotta get back to my baby." The soul in "Family Affair." This is definitely one of his best solo albums, behind "Back in the high life" and "Roll with it."

When Steve Winwood remarked he was returning to his R&B roots on Junction Seven he came close on many of the tracks. When I got the CD I bought it for Plenty Lovin and at first wasn't really impressed with the other tracks. The more you listen to the CD however you begin to realize that there are some great songs that many people have wrote off as some of Winwood's less impressive work. Spy in the House is a fabulous dance song, Angel of Mercy will take you to church and back, Let Your Love Come Down is pure funk fantasy, Real Love is melodic and haunting and Winwood then turns the heat up with a sassy Latin percussion and full horn section on Fill me up. The CD is almost ten years old and it's one of my favorites that seems as fresh today as it was when it first came out. Steve has won a new cadre of fans in Steppers and skaters as both Plenty Lovin and one of his earlier songs Can I Touch You There are now standards at stepper's sets and in the roller rinks. Give this CD a listen. You too will find it draws you in, catches hold of your soul and won't let you go.