Future Perfect

Blue-eyed soul is a term that is associated primarily with the '60s and '70s, but the basic idea behind it — white rock and pop artists with a strong R&B influence — has never gone away. You had the Rascals in the '60s, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, and Boz Scaggs in the '70s, Culture Club, Madonna, and ABC in the '80s, and the New Radicals and the Dave Matthews Band in the '90s — and while none of those artists were R&B purists by any means, all of them showed that R&B could be a tasty ingredient in rock or pop expression. That lesson certainly isn't lost on 2000s singer/songwriter Michelangelo, whose second album, Future Perfect, won't be played on any urban contemporary stations but is still a decent example of the positive effect that R&B can have on pop/rock and adult alternative. No one will accuse the New York City resident of being a soul purist, but then, Michelangelo isn't claiming to be a soul purist any more than Hall & Oates or Rare Earth claimed to be soul purists — while Sade, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson are bringing pop to R&B, Michelangelo is bringing R&B to pop and rock. And he brings a long list of rock, pop, and R&B influences to this 2005 release — influences ranging from Jamiroquai and Maroon 5 to Elton John, Steely Dan, John Lennon, and Stevie Wonder (who, of course, was a huge influence on Jamiroquai). Future Perfect is not an album that goes for immediacy; Michelangelo's performances are subtle and understated, but even so, he gets his emotional points across. This 40-minute CD could have been more consistent; some of the songs work better than others. But more often than not, Future Perfect is a creative success and demonstrates that the blue-eyed soul aesthetic is alive and well in the 21st century.