Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

You know those old songs where a group of men is singing a romantic tune and all of a sudden some guy is soaring above the rest? The guy that's singing those sweet high notes is the tenor of the group. Three of these men from famous groups have gotten together to sing and celebrate their long lost style. The Three Tenors of Soul have taken a classic style of singing and preserved it on an album so as to further its tradition. This group includes Russell Thompkins Jr. from the Stylistics', Blue Magic’s Ted Mills and William Hart from the Delfonics's. The good news is that they are really good at singing really high and really well. The bad news is that it's just not enough to perk your ears up.

I'll begin by examining the song selection. This is an album made entirely of covers. With classic songs like Caravan of Love and That's What Friends Are For, the Three Tenors of Soul have surely provided a nostalgic repertoire for some. The style of singing itself has an old feel because these type of arrangements haven't been popular for quite a while. But this stuff from the past isn't necessarily a good thing. The selections would have been o.k. if this style of music was still popular. They aren't singing their own old hits but nonetheless they are still singing old hits. Even in their heyday the overall choice of songs would have had to vary a little more to be entertaining. Hardly any of the tracks have upbeat or edgy characteristics. And nowadays these songs come off as being even more saccharine and dated than they would have been in their prime. People should revive and preserve music but unfortunately when they do it's not always good. It all comes down to choices. And the song selection was a choice that added to the somewhat boring quality of this album.

Other than the song selection, these three men made poor vocal and arranging choices. Don't get me wrong, these men have a talent with this style of singing that is certainly virtuoso. It is certainly rare to hear men sing that high. On top of that they sing with great sensitivity which is characteristic of the tenor personality. But there's almost too much tenor. These men seem to be trying to hard to sensationalize and showcase their voices. For example, instead of just letting one guy finish off a phrase with some fancy runs they all seem to want to join in. The result is a situation where we've got an overkill of high singing that can be a bit overwhelming. In the title track All the Way From Philadelphia, for example, the end of the song becomes a free for all where they all improvise almost like they are competing with each other. They are trying to bring it home but they spoil it with ornamentations and elaborate cries.

As far as arrangements go I just don't think this album works. Part of the beauty of the tenor is that it's balanced out by the baritone and the bass. Not to say that tenors should never sing alone but in order to provide a harmonic balance they could have left the songs a bit more simple and not all tried to join in at once. The background music is dated in a weird way too. It sounds like the cheesy keyboard and smooth drums you might hear in 80's smooth jazz.

Unfortunately, overall, All the Way from Philadelphia became boring, despite the talent that these men bring to the table. I was really impressed by their vocal talent. And I was happy to be reminded of a style that was truly unique. But I think that this style should find its place in today's music if it wants to live on (perhaps people with falsettos like Justin Timberlake are doing that already). All the Way from Philadelphia could have been better, but several poor choices resulted in mediocrity. Perhaps the poorest choice of all was not making this album 10 or 20 years earlier when it might have been more well received. I wouldn't highly recommend this one to the rank and file music lovers of today.