Lionel Richie - Dancing on the Ceiling [Hi-Res Remastering] (2015)

Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston might have gotten more press in 1986 than Lionel Richie, but Dancing on the Ceiling was every bit as commercially successful as Control and Houston's self-titled debut. Spawning a remarkable five Top 20 singles, including the sprightly title track and the number one ballad "Say You Say Me" (the biggest hit of Richie's entire career), Dancing on the Ceiling was the capper of Richie'smost successful period. (Richie took an extended hiatus from music after this, not releasing a full album of original material for nearly ten years.) Richie's nearest comparison during this period was Phil Collins, who was just as ubiquitous on the airwaves with a similar brand of adult contemporary pop. But where Collins' records now sound dated because oftheir trendy reverb-heavy production, Richie was a canny producer/arranger in the grand Motown tradition, and so there's a timeless quality to tunes like "Ballerina Girl" that keeps them fresh.