Kenny Loggins - The Unimaginable Life (1997)

Just as the six-year-old Leap Of Faith album concerned itself with Kenny Loggins' divorce, The Unimaginable Life is dedicated to his remarriage. In fact, the first voice you hear on the record is not Loggins', but that of his current wife, reciting a poem included in the couple's jointly written book of the same title, published concurrently with the album. Fair warning -- The Unimaginable Life is the singer's musical love letter to his wife. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing; Loggins wasn't exactly a stranger to love songs before this, and he seems to have been inspired to return to the lush pop-soul style of hits like "What a Fool Believes," accompanied by such currently hip purveyors of the sound as Babyface. If you stay away from the CD booklet, which is stuffed with hopelessly sappy excerpts from the book (not to mention the lyrics), and concentrate on the obvious, if effective arrangements, this is pleasant enough Sunday morning fare. Kenny Loggins at his worst is still highly listenable. But make no mistake: this is Kenny Loggins at his worst. (And his fans seem to have realized it, too. Badly positioned for release only a few months after a hits collection, the album sold poorly.)