Evelyn "Champagne" King - So Romantic (Expanded Edition) (1984/2014)

On the heels of 1983's artistically and commercially disappointing Face to Face, King served up a much more consistent follow-up with this album. From the onset of the set's vivacious opener, "Show Me (Don't Tell Me)" with a lyrical context notably similar to 1983's "Action," So Romantic allows King plenty of room to showcase her flair for dance music without overcrowding her with excessive electronic gimmicks. It does an impressive job of melding dancefloor beats with rock guitars and keyboards a vein in which the singer is very at home. Whether it be the intelligently produced "Just for the Night" boasting an understated echo chamber effect that is concentrated in the background; the straightforward and soulful "Give Me One Reason" (one of the set's most melodic tunes, along with the emotive "Till Midnight"); or the nocturnal rocker "I'm So Romantic," the overall sound is very solid with an adept mixture of live instrumentation and synthesizers. With King's bold vocals atop them, the songs on So Romantic make it one of her strongest '80s albums.