100 Best Albums of the Eighties

36. Anita Baker, ‘Rapture’

Although Anita Baker‘s Rapture exudes an aura of dimmed lights and romantic introspection, the album was, in fact, a product of hard times and difficult decisions. Baker had previously cut a funk record with a band called Chapter 8 and a solo album called The Songstress, which was released on the Beverly Glenin 1983. When she moved to Elektra, a legal battle ensued that threatened to block the release of Rapture.

“You don’t see any of that turmoil in the music,” says Baker. “It’s as if it were an outlet for more beautiful things.” Baker moved to Elektra because she was looking for creative freedom. “I knew what I wanted to sing, and I knew what kind of production I wanted, which was a minimalist approach,” Baker says. “The dilemma was choosing a producer.”

Baker turned to Michael J. Powell, the former keyboardist in Chapter 8, who produced seven of the eight tracks on Rapture. Baker herself is credited as executive producer. Elektra, meanwhile, let Baker make the record her way. “They just gave me my budget and left me the hell alone,” she says, appreciatively.

Rapture, which was released in 1986, is an emotionally rich, subtly restrained suite of songs that merge elements of jazz and soul, with an emphasis on ballads like “Sweet Love,” “You Bring Me Joy” and “Been So Long.” It is bold in its very conservatism, and it evokes favorable comparisons to the work of some of Baker’s idols, such as Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson. Baker says she was not concerned about how different Rapture seemed from much of the music out at the time. “It didn’t cause me any apprehension,” she says with a laugh, “because I didn’t think anybody was gonna heart!”

Rapture was recorded in a couple of months, with a good deal of time spent selecting material and working out arrangements. Baker still finds the album’s depth of feeling satisfying. “I was very pleased,” she says. “I didn’t know I had that in me. I wanted a smooth product with energy and heart, but I surprised myself. There’s passion there. I knew I could pop a note, but the nuances, I think, are what’s important on that album.”

Interestingly, despite its torch songs and paeans to love, Rapture ends with the edgy “Watch Your Step” ”” one of three songs Baker wrote or co-wrote. It’s a relatively uptempo R&B number that warns an inconstant lover, “You better watch your step/You’ll fall and hurt yourself one day.” Baker says: “The last thing that people hear from you should be something to stir your emotions, to shake you up. I don’t like to leave people relaxed. I like to start off relaxing them and then build up to some sort of crescendo.”

Despite her regard for the album, Baker did not anticipate the multiplatinum sales Rapture earned. “Nobody did,” she says, laughing. “Nobody. It was like a music-industry fairy tale. I’ve heard people speak of things like that happening; I’ve seen it happen to other people. I’ll tell you, though, it took a hell of a lot of work.”