Happy 30th Anniversary to Lisa Fischer’s debut (and only) studio album So Intense, originally released April 30, 1991.
You just had to be there. It all happened so fast, you questioned whether you saw what you saw. As legend would have it, Lisa Fischer’s So Intense fluoresced so brightly in the sky, you could’ve wished on it. The genial chanteuse released her first and only album to date 30 years ago. As the only solo exhibition of her once-in-a-lifetime voice, it is essential R&B listening. Had we known there would only be one, we might have wished for more wishes.
Her origin story starts in Brooklyn, and Lisa Melonie Fischer discovered her potential early. She spent the 1980s ubiquitous as an in-demand New York session singer with credits aplenty. Touring with Chaka Khan, The Rolling Stones and Luther Vandross made her a consummate professional in music. It was Vandross who helped Fischer get signed to Elektra Records in 1988.
The label initially paired her with Teddy Pendergrass in 1990 for the spirited “Glad to Be Alive.” Showing up with an R&B giant was only appropriate. Fischer was sopping with old school sensibilities, youthful energy, and a voice that could be mousy or monstrous. It didn’t hurt that she looked so damn good in an LBD. All she really needed to do for her success was reach out and curl her fingers around it.
Narada Michael Walden would be the first to shape Fischer’s individual sound. On a promotional stop at BET’s Video Soul, she joked with host Donnie Simpson about being humbled by the association. “Narada wants to write,” she pauses making her voice cartoonishly small, pinching her fingers together to indicate size, “with me?!?”
As a hitmaker for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and other big soulful voices, Walden wasn’t at all fooled by Fischer’s make-believe playing small. He produced all three singles from So Intense. The most memorable was the chart-topping lead single “How Can I Ease The Pain” (Pop #11, R&B #1) with its glamorous, monochromatic music video.
At a time when the world was transfixed by the newness of Carey’s whistle register notes, Fischer had access to the same range and could slip in and out of it gracefully, or lean into it powerfully. She wields this ability for a stunning climax on “Ease The Pain.” After a dramatic pause, her standout note falls from the heavens, landing gently on its crystal-clear consonant like a crime-fighting superheroine. With a flick of her cape, she and that otherworldly instrument inside her escape into the song’s dark of night again.
The heat turns up for her primal second single “Save Me” (R&B #7, Dance #2). Fischer wrote some of the best material on So Intense. Her imagery here is grandiose and daunting. A lesser vocalist would suffer trying to support these lyrics (“Creatures in wilderness, wild are we / Pleasure seeker obsessed, his eyes on me / Him in his corner, me in mine / Circling around me / Surrounding me like fire”).
Meanwhile, her champion Vandross ribboned his satin production around the lion’s share of So Intense, claiming four of the ten tracks. The most brilliant was the obscure but poignant “Wildflower,” originally recorded in 1972 by Skylark and covered by The New Birth. Songwriting royal Nick Ashford crafted a special monologue for Fischer here. She delivers it with such presence, one wonders why she didn’t also pursue acting.
At one time, that song was under consideration to be the album’s third single. The honor instead went to the title track “So Intense” (R&B #16). This type of song is pop-framed, but Fischer paints its canvas with convincing soul. You could caress your face against its plush, intimate verses, and the refrain floods the song with light. Fischer reserves the glow of her upper range to give the bridge a running start (“I did not invite it / But I won't fight it / ‘Cause I'm in love with you”). The musical apex feels like jumping from a springboard to discover in mid-air that you can fly.
Gargantuan as her voice can be, there’s an ease about Lisa Fischer that aerates her music. If she took herself too seriously, she would use her gift to force showy, syrupy moments into “Send The Message of Love,” which she doesn’t. She even has enough inner child to throw rap verses into “Some Girls” and “So Tender.” There’s no hip-hop pretense here. Fischer simply enjoys making sound, and fans enjoyed her right back.
So Intense peaked at #5 on the Billboard R&B charts. The industry validated her music in a big way in 1992 with a GRAMMY nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance alongside Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, and Vanessa Williams. Fischer’s single “How Can I Ease The Pain” tied for the win with LaBelle’s Burnin’ (1991)—an album Fischer proudly sang backup on. The newcomer and the veteran took the stage together, both accepting awards for the first time.
Thereafter, Fischer began work on a sophomore album, but lost motivation for it after executive changes left her rather stranded. She explained to RnB Junkie, “I ended up trying to change labels and left WEA thinking I had another record deal and the people behind me decided they weren’t going to sign me… It was just so heartbreaking to me and I was like, you know what? I’m just going to continue singing background and doing what I do.”
After all the hard work and hustle, she realized she didn’t want to be a superhero anymore. She just wanted to sing. So, she retreated to familiar shadows, supporting Tina Turner, Sting, and Nine Inch Nails on tour. This was an environment she could thrive in. And of course, she was always available whenever Luther Vandross would call.
She largely avoided the spotlight until being prominently featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom. The same year, Real Gone Music issued a deluxe edition of her debut album that included the breathy, panting David Morales remixes of “Save Me” used in its video, and Fischer’s astounding vocal performance on the B-side “Reachin’ 4/U.”
So Intense closes sotto voce with “Last Goodbye,” a brave elegy about acquiescing to and embracing the end of a love affair. She cradles the ballad delicately as if it were her own child. In hindsight, its lyrics seem prescient for Fischer’s recording career (“I knew that this was coming / The day we made the final break / I'm kinda glad it happened this way / There's not much more I can take”).
Fischer has since discarded the gowns, wigs, artifice, and pageantry in order to settle into a more ethereal, earthy way of being. She’s free to breathe and create music in a live setting with no limits. Her concerts feature exquisite reinterpretations of “How Can I Ease The Pain” and “Last Goodbye” and anything else that truly moves her.
Now she exudes a palpable joy the music industry once threatened to kill. “So Intense was such an amazing record though! She had fame and awards. Why wouldn’t she want to be a star too?” one may wonder. As evidenced by her beautiful readings on this singular disc, she knows how to make great choices on record. And if given the choice to be a solo artist or to be truly happy, it seems she knows how to make great choices there too.
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