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Overall:***
Less than a year after performing on a less than exemplary EW&F album, Philip Bailey released his second solo effort, "The
Chinese Wall".
Genesis drummer and lead vocalist Phil Collins (One More Night, Sussudio, etal) produced this album as well as performed on
every song, drums, singing lead vocals and vocoder. The remainder of the album was recorded by the same group of musicians
(including: award winning bassist Nathan East , giving this album a bit of consistency. "The Chinese Wall" is better produced
than Bailey's first solo effort "Continuation" (possibly because of time constraints), and contains one major hit (Easy Lover
:With Phil Collins) a minor hit and music from several other genres with hit potential. Bailey makes more of a melodic statement
with his falsetto voice, but uses his tenor more than in any other album up to this point. The Phenix Horns (Earth, Wind &
Fire's horn section) are also prevalent. Songs that seem like filler after first hearing them, are actually decent. The Chinese
Wall was a moderate success and actually put Philip Bailey on the map as a lead vocalist. The only concern then was whether
EW&F would ever return
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