When
Aaron Neville
signed with
A&M
in the early '90s, optimists were hoping for some five-star soul gems along the lines of his classic '60s recordings. Instead, his first
date,
Warm Your Heart
, found the veteran New Orleans singer taking a much more pop-minded approach, with generally decent results. While
Neville
didn't abandon soul music, this CD made it clear that
was intent on making him a major hit in the pop market (which had been exposed to him in 1989 thanks to his duets with
Linda Ronstadt
). Though hardly in a class with such classics as
"Tell It Like It Is"
and
"She Took You for a Ride,"
tracks like the haunting
"That's the Way She Loves,"
the gritty
"Angola Bound,"
and a remake of
the Main Ingredient
's
"Everybody Plays the Fool"
showed that
still had plenty of warmth and charisma. But although this is far from a bad album, it must be stressed that a collection of his '60s classics would be a much wiser investment. ~ Alex Henderson