Stephanie Mills - Merciless (1983) [2013, Remastered & Expanded Edition]
R&B, Soul, Urban, Post-Disco | EAC Rip | FLAC, Img+CUE+LOG+Scans (PNG) | 47:11 | 648,97 Mb
Label: SoulMusic Records (UK) | Released: 2013-03-18 (1983-08-20)
R&B, Soul, Urban, Post-Disco | EAC Rip | FLAC, Img+CUE+LOG+Scans (PNG) | 47:11 | 648,97 Mb
Label: SoulMusic Records (UK) | Released: 2013-03-18 (1983-08-20)
"Merciless" is the 7th studio album by American R&B singer Stephanie Mills. It was released in 1983 and Stephanie's second release on Casablanca Records. The album features two Billboard R&B hits "Pilot Error", a cover version of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?", and "My Body" written by singer Luther Vandross. "Merciless" received a nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 26th Grammy Awards in 1984.
~Wikipedia
The soulful songstress is at her finest on this highly entertaining nine-song set. The funky, jazzy "My Body" brings traces of early house music to the table with its feverish vocals, keyboards, and Latin-spiced percussion, while the cool and breezy - yet lyrically straight to the point - ballad "Do You Love Him" features one of Mills' most expertly delivered performances on record. She also turns in some enticing vocal interplay with singer Peggi Blu on the clever "His Name Is Michael." Unlike later "confrontational" duets by Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston ("It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be") or Brandy and Monica ("The Boy Is Mine") dealing with two-timing boyfriends, both the lyrics and Mills and Blu's interpretation give the matter a lighthearted, humorous spin that is oh so appealing. Two other fine ballads pop up in the grabbing, the Prince-penned "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" (R&B number 12; also released by Prince as B-side in 1982) and the romantic "Eternal Love" (recorded the same year by Whitney Houston on co-writer Paul Jabara's Paul Jabara & Friends album, also on Casablanca). "Pilot Error" (R&B number 12) and the cute "Here I Am," meanwhile, are fun dance entries. Every song on Merciless is solid, vocally and production-wise. Producers Gary Klein and David Wolfert and Phil Ramone bring out the best of the songs and help bring back the vocal energy that had been missing from much of the material on Mills' two preceding albums. It's definitely her best album for Casablanca, as well as one of her best overall.
~Review by Justin Kantor
Release of the album: 1983, August, 20 [LP Casablanca Records, Cat.# 422-811 364-1 M1, USA]
Release of this CD: 2013, March, 18 [CD SoulMusic Records (UK), Cat.# SMCR 5085 / UPC: 5013929078536]
℗ 1983 PolyGram Records.
© 2013 SoulMusic Records.
Licensed courtesy of Universal Music Operations Ltd.
Marketed and Distributed by Cherry Red Records, Ltd.
Made in EU
Tracklist:
Arranged By – David Wolfert (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 6, 8 to 10), Edward Karam (tracks: 7), Johnny Mandel (tracks: 7), Trevor Lawrence (tracks: 11)
Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – David Wolfert, Frank Floyd
Arranged By [Rhythm] – Ralph Schuckett (tracks: 9)
Art Direction, Photography By – Glen Christensen
Artwork, Design – Mac James
Artwork, Design [Reissue] – Roger Williams
Backing Vocals – Cruz Sembello, Lani Groves, Michael Sembello, Myrna Smith, Peggy Blue, Stephanie Mills, Yvonne Lewis
Bass – Nathan East, Neil Stubenhaus
Concept By [Album] – Cassandra Mills, Stephanie Mills
Conductor – David Wolfert (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 6, 8 to 10)
Contractor [L. A.] – Frank DeCaro
Contractor [N. Y.] – Phil Medley
Coordinator [Production] – Linda Gerrity
Drums – Carlos Vega, Ed Greene, John Robinson
Engineer – Brad Leigh, Brian McGee, Jay Rifkin, John Arrais, Lee De Carlo, Marie Ostrosky, Peter Chaiken
Executive-Producer – Charles Koppelman
Guitar – Buzzy Feiten, Carlos Rios, David Wolfert, Michael Sembello, Thom Rotella
Keyboards – Greg Phillinganes, Richard Tee
Liner Notes – Kevin L. Goins
Mixed By – Bill Schnee (tracks: 11), John Arrais (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10), Phil Ramone (tracks: 4)
Percussion – Lenny Castro, Victor Feldman
Photography By [Inner Sleeve] – Bill King
Piano – Greg Phillinganes, Richard Tee
Producer – Brooks Arthur (tracks: 11), David Wolfert (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10), Gary Klein (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10), Phil Ramone (tracks: 4), Stephanie Mills (tracks: 11)
Reissue Producer – David Nathan
Remastered By – Alan Wilson
Remix – John Arrais (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10)
Synthesizer – Dan Sembello, Ed Walsh, Ian Underwood, Johnny Mandel, Nyle Steiner
Tracklist:
01. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? (04:11)
(Prince)
02. Never Get Enough Of You (04:31)
(David Wolfert, Henry Gaffney)
03. Eternal Love (04:43)
(Jay Asher, Paul Jabara)
04. His Name Is Michael (featuring Peggi Blu) (03:21)
(Cassandra Mills, Michael Sembello, Stephanie Mills)
05. Here I Am (04:17)
(David Wolfert, Henry Gaffney)
06. My Body (04:08)
(Luther Vandross)
07. Do You Love Him? (03:39)
(Barbara Moor, Betsy Durkin Matthes)
08. Pilot Error (05:08)
(Peter Kingsbery)
09. Since We've Been Together (03:15)
(Ralph Schluckett, R. Kleinberg)
Bonus Tracks:
10. Pilot Error (Club Mix) (06:21)
(Peter Kingsbery)
11. Hold Me Close To You (03:37)
(Janet Alhonti / Louis St. Lewis)
Notes:
Track 10 (from US 12" Single "Pilot Error / His Name Is Michael");
Track 11 (from the Soundtrack of "All The Right Moves").
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 25. October 2013, 21:29
Stephanie Mills / Merciless (Expanded Edition)
Used drive : ATAPI DVD DW 8X16X8X16 Adapter: 0 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 618
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:11.59 | 0 | 18883
2 | 4:11.59 | 4:31.74 | 18884 | 39282
3 | 8:43.58 | 4:43.36 | 39283 | 60543
4 | 13:27.19 | 3:21.05 | 60544 | 75623
5 | 16:48.24 | 4:17.16 | 75624 | 94914
6 | 21:05.40 | 4:08.42 | 94915 | 113556
7 | 25:14.07 | 3:39.58 | 113557 | 130039
8 | 28:53.65 | 5:08.64 | 130040 | 153203
9 | 34:02.54 | 3:15.07 | 153204 | 167835
10 | 37:17.61 | 6:21.30 | 167836 | 196440
11 | 43:39.16 | 3:37.46 | 196441 | 212761
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\BlondStyle\Stephanie Mills - Merciless.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6B01B44C
Copy CRC 6B01B44C
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [7BC8287F] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [D6A2D3D3] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [C9FDFE35] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [E31DB34D] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [51C38018] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [0D1410CA] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [9190796B] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [48358BCA] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [2EF9D24C] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [FD5C0FE8] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [B7D1A1DF] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum 2ABC7EE3AD6A5CBEE12160413B1C7AE481C5035B00B1500216D0280E96C2C486 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 25. October 2013, 21:29
Stephanie Mills / Merciless (Expanded Edition)
Used drive : ATAPI DVD DW 8X16X8X16 Adapter: 0 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 618
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:11.59 | 0 | 18883
2 | 4:11.59 | 4:31.74 | 18884 | 39282
3 | 8:43.58 | 4:43.36 | 39283 | 60543
4 | 13:27.19 | 3:21.05 | 60544 | 75623
5 | 16:48.24 | 4:17.16 | 75624 | 94914
6 | 21:05.40 | 4:08.42 | 94915 | 113556
7 | 25:14.07 | 3:39.58 | 113557 | 130039
8 | 28:53.65 | 5:08.64 | 130040 | 153203
9 | 34:02.54 | 3:15.07 | 153204 | 167835
10 | 37:17.61 | 6:21.30 | 167836 | 196440
11 | 43:39.16 | 3:37.46 | 196441 | 212761
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\BlondStyle\Stephanie Mills - Merciless.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6B01B44C
Copy CRC 6B01B44C
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [7BC8287F] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [D6A2D3D3] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [C9FDFE35] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [E31DB34D] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [51C38018] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [0D1410CA] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [9190796B] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [48358BCA] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [2EF9D24C] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [FD5C0FE8] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [B7D1A1DF] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum 2ABC7EE3AD6A5CBEE12160413B1C7AE481C5035B00B1500216D0280E96C2C486 ====
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Stephanie Mills / Merciless (Expanded Edition)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 0.00 dB -15.44 dB 4:12 01-How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
DR13 -0.15 dB -15.18 dB 4:32 02-Never Get Enough Of You
DR12 -0.22 dB -15.24 dB 4:43 03-Eternal Love
DR11 -0.10 dB -13.79 dB 3:21 04-His Name Is Michael
DR11 -0.06 dB -13.82 dB 4:17 05-Here I Am
DR12 -0.10 dB -14.51 dB 4:09 06-My Body
DR12 -0.02 dB -15.89 dB 3:40 07-Do You Love Him?
DR11 -0.26 dB -14.26 dB 5:09 08-Pilot Error
DR13 -0.05 dB -16.45 dB 3:15 09-Since We've Been Together
DR12 0.00 dB -14.79 dB 6:21 10-Pilot Error (Club Mix) (Bonus Track)
DR12 0.00 dB -14.95 dB 3:38 11-Hold Me Close To You (Bonus Track)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 842 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
Analyzed: Stephanie Mills / Merciless (Expanded Edition)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 0.00 dB -15.44 dB 4:12 01-How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
DR13 -0.15 dB -15.18 dB 4:32 02-Never Get Enough Of You
DR12 -0.22 dB -15.24 dB 4:43 03-Eternal Love
DR11 -0.10 dB -13.79 dB 3:21 04-His Name Is Michael
DR11 -0.06 dB -13.82 dB 4:17 05-Here I Am
DR12 -0.10 dB -14.51 dB 4:09 06-My Body
DR12 -0.02 dB -15.89 dB 3:40 07-Do You Love Him?
DR11 -0.26 dB -14.26 dB 5:09 08-Pilot Error
DR13 -0.05 dB -16.45 dB 3:15 09-Since We've Been Together
DR12 0.00 dB -14.79 dB 6:21 10-Pilot Error (Club Mix) (Bonus Track)
DR12 0.00 dB -14.95 dB 3:38 11-Hold Me Close To You (Bonus Track)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 842 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================