Denise LaSalle  - Love Talkin' / Rain & Fire (1985/1986)

As with all her Malaco albums, Denise LaSalle mixes things up nicely, going from hard-hitting, trash-talking tunes to heartfelt ballads, bluesy numbers, and country/soul wailers. She's had a string of regionally successful releases since joining Malaco in the '80s, but has never been able to break the embargo on Southern soul. She's been around too long to change at this point, and really shouldn't anyway. Her albums are reliable and enjoyable, even if they're a throwback. ~ by Ron Wynn

Denise LaSalle has drawn some fire at times for her frank, no-holds-barred dialogues and album cuts. She also has remained loyal to vintage soul and blues/country-tinged songs that will never get urban contemporary airplay and attention because they're thoroughly Southern in style, sound, and production values. Thus, each Malaco album is almost doomed from the beginning, other than as a regional proposition. That said, here's another one right in that same vein, and it's as fine as all the rest in what it does. ~by Ron Wynn