With
Aquarian Dream's first two albums having bombed commercially, the band decided to shift gears and try something different on their third album,
Chance to Dance. This LP marked the first time that an
Aquarian Dream album wasn't produced by
Norman Connors -- Jeff Lane handled the production this time, and a new female vocalist, Connie Harvey, came on board as well. Disco was huge in 1979, so that year,
Dream reasoned that the way to finally have a hit was to be as disco-minded as possible. Instead of continuing to sound like a cross between Connors, New Birth, and
Earth, Wind & Fire,
Dream goes for maximum disco appeal on uptempo numbers like "Big Boy," "Disco Juice," "Love Slave," and "Gettum Up and Dance." The result is an album that often sounds mechanical and insincere and isn't as strong as
Dream's two previous albums -- nothing on
Chance to Dance is in a class with "You're a Star" from
Fantasy or "I'll Always Love You, T" from Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream. However, the
Chic-ish "Dirty Trick" is rather catchy, and the gritty "Why Can't We Do It Like We Used To" is an enjoyable funk item that employs guitarist
Eddie Hazel of
Parliament/
Funkadelic fame. So while
Chance to Dance is
Dream's least impressive album, it has its moments. ~ Alex Henderson