Norman Harris - Harris Machine

All Music Guide

As a founding member of the Philadelphia International label's influential house band MFSB, guitarist Norman Harris was a vital cog in the sound and development of the Philly soul aesthetic, but his lone solo LP bears few of the hallmarks of his classic work in support of producers Kenny Gamble and Leon HuffThe Harris Machine is just as rote and robotic as its title suggests, settling for assemblyline arrangements and pedestrian compositions. The record is a product of its timesthe sophistication and subtlety of vintage Philly soul had long since given way to the thick, overdramatic string arrangements and mechanical rhythms of disco, leaving little space for Harris' graceful, fluid fretwork to operate. When he abandons disco in favor of oldschool jazzfunk on the Latintinged "In Good Faith," The Harris Machine recaptures the ingenuity of his seminal work with MFSB, but such moments are few and far between.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide