djrichmatthews, May 30, 2004
Although the LP that "101" came from spawned a major crossover pop/R hit ("The Lover In Me") and a rather lucrative 2 year contract as Bally's Health Clubs' spokesperson, the marketing gurus at MCA stumped a lot of people when they chose "101" as the album's third single, as it wasn't radio friendly (in the U.S. anyway) at top 40 or R Nevertheless, artistically this is probably Sheena at her best, taking a part in co-writing this with Prince and singing the song with more soul than she'd ever done before, and she knows it. She is one of the few (forgive the stereotype here) white female vocalists who could belt out "I'm in the funk -- I'm in deep..." at the song's climax and pull it off with no questions asked. While Sheena will probably never get the credit she deserves for trying to expand herself artistically, anyone who listens to the original version of "101" (or even the tepid mixes here) can't deny that she came a long way from the little Scottish girl who sang "Morning Train" so many years earlier.
4.5/5 (