When Stargard soared to number one on the R&B singles charts with Theme From 'Which Way Is Up' in late 1977, the female trio was hyped as "the next Labelle -- and Rochelle Runnells, Debra Anderson, and Janice Williams also found themselves being compared to the Pointer Sisters. Labelle and the Pointer Sisters are, in fact, valid comparisons because Stargard was among the grittier female R&B groups to emerge in the late 1970s. If you wanted the sort of breathy sweetness that the Supremes and the Three Degrees were known for, you wouldn't get it from Stargard -- like Labelle and the Pointer Sisters, Stargard favored robust, gospel-minded belting. Regrettably, Stargard only had a few major hits and wasn't as big as it should have been, although the funk-soul trio's recording career got off to a promising start with this 1978 LP (which was produced by Mark Davis). Those who bought Stargard because of Which Way Is Up found the rest of the album to be quite solid; the threesome brings as much conviction to exuberant, up-tempo numbers like Smile and Disco Rufus as it does to the ballads Love Is So Easy and Don't Change. Surprisingly, Which Way Is Up turned out to be the album's only major hit. But even so, one could hear a tremendous amount of potential on this excellent debut. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

1		Three Girls
2		Smile
3		Love Is So Easy
4		Don't Change
5		Theme From "Which Way Is Up"
6		The Force
7		I'll Always Love You
8		Disco Rufus
9		What You Waitin' For

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