Her untimely death in 2001 robbed the world of an artist coming into her own.Ībba’s final studio album followed the gritty breakdown of both the band’s marriages, as evidenced on the aching One of Us and the gushing Slipping Through My Fingers. The producers provided the acid bass, fragmented beats and lavish synths, but Aaliyah’s glacial presence made her the undisputed star. The turn of the century was a golden age for R&B, as honey-voiced singers teamed up with cutting-edge producers. They were too far ahead of their time to be successful, but Early compiles the 1978-85 cuts that influenced everyone from former ACR support acts Talking Heads and Madonna to, more recently, LCD Soundsystem and the Rapture.
Named after a Brian Eno lyric, ACR fused jagged Wire guitars and George Clinton beats to create the now commonplace sound of punk-funk.
