Part of Us: An En Vogue Fancast | Blooming with Soul: A Soulflower Deep Dive

[@JamaicanFlava]

When I first listened to SoulFlower a few years ago I didn't like it but I decided to listen to it again for this episode. I like the album now lol. I agree with Mark @15:47, everyone brings something unique to the group and here Rhona brought a different facet to the music with her soulful vocal stylings. Her riffs and runs are amazing. I really liked the addition of Mark, as I did the addition of DT in a previous season, as a co-host. I do hope you guys bring them both back separately and together. I agree @50:06 they could've cut "All You See" and tbh everything from "Nearly Lost" til the end of the album out. Quentin was right this could've been a 10 track album @57:15. How come Mark skipped out at the end? Even though he's discussed how he'd like to have heard Maxine on the album, I wanted to hear his opinion on the fan question @1:43:15. On my re-listen, I started to dish out leads for Maxine and Dawn but after awhile I stopped and decided to just take in the lead vocals as they were. I, however, was definitely dishing out background parts for Dawn & Maxine throughout the album lol. "I Do Love You (Piece of My Love)" was one of the easier ones since EV4 sung it during their reunion tour. They killed it here in the live outro, I do wish EV5 sung it: 1) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqjWhoyKir6Mobssi=XkA66JAI-yMQT0MT 2) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpSoXmZmnt14gJosi=ihBLclvpSgB12E3p&t=131

[@tisser5716]

Like the album. Especially like "All you see" and "A million different ways". Missing that four part signature En Vogue harmony and vocal style overall.

[@mchristiangarland]

Another Fabulous Deep Dive! I appreciate all of the perspectives and the granular level details about the songs!💙 I can't believe it has been 20 years since this album dropped. I remember walking into the Tower Records in Time Square to pick up the CD. I remember being shocked to see Rhona in Maxine's spot and mourned her for a minute. LIke you all, I was expecting a mixture of 70s r&b and neo-soul wrapped in the EV harmonies...It was disappointing. I like the concept but it felt too disjointed. I only like 4 songs from the Album...Losin' my mind/Ooh Boy/Ooh La La/Everyday. My album ranking: 1)BTS 2) FD 3) EV3 4) MT 5)EC 6)SF

[@michaelbenjamin4761]

Soul Flower is a very good album my favorite song is EZ-A-LEE that's my jam Rhona sounds very similar to Maxine on that song

[@sircharlessir]

Let's not forget Rhona was signed to Darkchild as a solo artist. She's the first lady of Darkchild records....so of course she would be influenced by him because Rhona was his artist.

[@RomeloE95]

Did you know: Dawn AND Max were asked to return for the SoulFlower Era, but DECLINED: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGmnp6OKfZ5kbqssi=-BOj2SdMWkbVRWt- @ 24:32 Dawn was also requested to return for MT back in 2000, but said "no" to that as well.🤦‍♀️

[@rizza313twenty]

Quinton is wrong 3D is a much better album sonically than Soul Flower because of the production value alone. The problem with En Vogue's sound is that Cindy and Terry are stuck in the mindset they have to work with Foster & McElroy when they outgrew them decades ago. By 2004 Neo-soul was fading and I also don't consider this a neo-soul album. EV3 was a step in the right direction. Organized Noise took En Vogue to a place commercially that hadn't enjoyed in a long time. Soul Flower sounds cheap and dated (even when it was released). I remember being excited about the release when they performed Ooh Boy on Soul Train. They looked amazing and Ooh Boy kind of sounded like a throwback to disco and it was catchy. I liked it. Losing My Mind would fit perfectly on Masterpiece Theater it has that classical music type sound that was very much that concept album. I think it was a step in the wrong direction honestly. It didn't work for MT so why go back to that sound? En Vogue's biggest problem is their music sounds so dated. I am not sure why they never worked with R. Kelly, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, etc back in the day. Masterpiece Theater should have never happened. In 2000 they had competition from a lot of younger groups and they still looked amazing they should have tried more contemporary mainstream music. They have no direction and I understand why Dawn was so frustrated working with Cindy and Terry. Max just kind of went with the flow. Cindy followed Terry and still does. I love them vocally but they peaked with EV3.

[@TheQHBlend1]

It’s Quentin. ❤ And it is okay to agree to disagree. Various perspectives add more dimension to the conversation. Thank you for listening.

[@SimplyMimiNitreese]

I agree with everything you said especiallly about how dated their music sounds I never really paid attention until I listened to the soul flower album recently and in the case of MT I really wish they would have done a contemporary R&b sound.