What Kinda World (VP, 1997)

Continuing the talented Lindo lineage (including Hopeton, Earl "Wire," and Laurence, AKA Jack Ruby), is Kashief, who has been recording since age 14 (He was about 18 when What Kinda World was recorded.).  This album is his coming-of-age of sorts -- at least in his eyes -- as the opening tune, "I'm a Big Man Now," attests.   His teenaged singing voice has yet to deepen, however, which actually helps him when singing tunes like his surprisingly infectious light dancehall cover of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It."  His version of Jackson's "She's Out of My Life," however, is significantly less enthralling, largely because the original is mediocre already.  Lindo's vocals are still not quite strong enough to pull off Shawn Stockman's "Visions of a Sunset," though.  As you can guess, there are quite a few cover songs on this album (Apparently, being a "big man" doesn't necessarily mean singing original songs.), most done in a lovers rock style; indeed, the title could be Covers for Lovers.  Producer (and Kashief's father) Willie Lindo creates a lush, polished lovers sound that works only as far as the material will allow.  As is typical with a lot of lovers rock, the material can get a bit saccharine and/or corny at times, as with his versions of Conway Twitty's (!) "Only Make Believe," Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone," and the aforementioned "She's Out of My Life."  With 17 tracks, there is plenty of room for such marginal efforts to slip in, but there is also room for several enjoyable tunes.  The title track is a nice medley that includes The Cables' "What Kind of World" and Little Roy's "Tribal War," while The Heptones' "Soul Power" is hard to mess up.  Several nice R&B covers take up much of the rest of the album, from the Stevie Wonder-penned "Never Had a Dream Come True" and "My Cherie Amour" to Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' rousing "Don't Leave Me This Way."  The best track on What Kinda World, however, is an original composition, the soulful hit "No Can Do," while other originals like "Just Say When" and the emotional "Too Long Is the Wait" show why Kashief Lindo shouldn't rely so much on remakes.