I found Herb Alpert’s Making Love in the Rain through my Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify. No clue why Spotify thought I would like this slow, trumpet-heavy song. Sure, I love me a good 90’s/00’s slow jam, but I assumed this would have none of what makes those songs good. Once I listened, Spotify was not wrong, but I probably would not have sought this song out.
The trumpet plays the melody throughout, but it’s the bass and keyboard that do the heavy lifting that I prefer. The trumpet here is great, but I don’t find it the star of the song. It’s an accompaniment to a great combination of other ingredients. One of which are the female-led vocals. The lyrics are simple and delivered as expected. My take after going back to it after a while is the song is good, not great.
There was a brief time where I was all into the Herb Alpert single above. Then I stumbled onto Queen Latifah’s Just Another Day… and I thought, “Where have I heard that melody before…” Queen Latifah’s song lifts the best part of Making Love in the Rain and it is better for it. The bass of the Queen Latifah’s track is welcome and adds to what I like about Making Love in the Rain: the bass that just washes over you. The track itself is much more rough and tough Queen Latifah than the current family-friendly actor/tv personality. Either way, it’s a great beat made better.
Who did it better?
Queen Latifah. Most definitely. She added that bass that booms with every deep hit that the original can’t match. The lack of trumpet does not make an large impact, which stinks. Just giving more credence to the fact that the trumpet is a nice to have on the original, but not all that required.