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List Price: $4.98 | | Label: Polygram Records
Salesrank: 965666
Released: September 24, 1996 |
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| Media: Audio Cassette |
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The Man Track Listing:
1. Look at Her
2. Your Sweetness Is My Weakness
3. Sha La La (Means I Love You)
4. September When I First Met You
5. It's Only Love Doing Its Thing
6. Just the Way You Are
7. Early Years
Editorial Review:
White's trademark strings and horns are present on this 1978 release, but play second fiddle (as it were) to irresistibly syncopated disco beats on most of the seven tracks. The club hit "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness" sounds in retrospect like a template for Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," while "Look at Her" and the Caribbean-flavored "Sha La La Means I Love You" further demonstrate White's talent for inventive, ear-catching arrangements. His first commercial peak had passed by the time The Man appeared, but the two slower closing cuts, "Early Years" and a cover of "Just the Way You Are," speak to the patience and openheartedness behind White's usual sexiness. --Rickey Wright
The Man Reviews:
Sha La La Means Great Music!!! 
2009-10-17 - When giving this a listen today it of course baught back a recollection of listening to my mom's 8-Track of it out at our summer camp when I was in my early teens. You will get absolutely no argument from me regarding the similarity of at least one of these songs to Michael Jackson's Off the Wall era music. The presense of percussion,a moderately slower tempo than most high energy dance tunes and White's trademark orchestration leading working it's way in and out of the arrangement. That MJ element makes itself most obvious on the introductory tracks on this album "Look At Her" and of course "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness". Now Mike himself once stated that Barry's music was a huge influence on his late 70's solo music but the main thing that makes the two unique is that on this material there tends to be a tendancy to feed all of the music into the control board and the result is a very heavily arranged sound,wheras Mike's music tended to showcase a lot of live miking on his vocals and some of the instrumentation. Not only that but Barry sticks to the basics in his variety of disco-funk by repeating lyrical lines often in the most sexual motions,not very surprising considering his reputation and by emphasizing instrumental parts as much if not more sometimes than his vocals. The influence of Isaac Hayes really allowed that aspect of Barry's music to be what it was. "Sha La La (Means I Love You" has more of a pop melody to it and adds an unusually strong salsma element even for the disco era to bridge together the poppier funk-disco meat of the song. It's one of the best songs on the album and brilliant compositionally. More of a sleekness shows up on some of the slow jam funk kind of ballads here such as "September When I First Met You","It's Only Love Doing It's Thing" and the fairly somber reflection of "Early Years". Adding his own monologue as well as heavier keyboard parts White's version of "Just The Way You Are" is a more than welcomed addition to the album,really bringing out the mild jazzy-funk flavor Billy Joel's original only hinted at-taking the chording of the song and working musically off of that part of the melody. Everything musically positive about Barry White,from his excellent arranging skills to his classic reflectively sensual lyrical orientation are in fine form throughout this-one of his many fine musical moments of this era.
he was the man
2007-05-27 - I remember this album from the 8th grade in Richmond,Va our teachewr would play this while we were taking a test or reading .(it would seem odd I guess these days to have a DJ/Teacher leading the classroom but she was cool and groovy and everyone learned much from her class)I recall that the original album came in a sort of folding case,that opened like an office folder. The music was superb and I especially recall the Billy Joel remake of "just the way you are" which was a total hit for many of the young black and white students from this inner city middle school(Elkhardt) in Richmond,Va circa 1978.
Classic!!
2006-02-25 - Barry White's voice is classic and you can never mistake that deep baritone voice. "Just The Way You Are" is the bomb!!
Classic Barry White
2005-08-02 - Barry White's album, "The Man" really exhibits that he was definitely the man of his time!
This Is GREAT!
2003-07-31 - These are some of the very best songs in Barry White's career. The overwhelmingly strings, mixed with disco beats, makes this CD all the more beautiful. My favorites are "September When I First Met You," a gorgeous song, with awesome horns and strings throughout, "Look At Her," a cool disco-flavored love song, and "Just the Way You Are" (his version throws Billy Joel's in the shade!) I never cared for that song very much, until I heard his version. Now, I love it... An excellent CD!
