'Emerald City' might honestly be my favorite Teena Marie album after all these years. When this one came out in the summer of 1986, there was nothing like it before or since regarding her entire discography. It quickly became apparent to me that Teena was striving to break free of formulaic tradition that often hindered her previous studio releases and show that she was a lot more than what fans and music critics originally thought of her as an artist. The "signature" R&B/soul side of her is still very much present (Love Me Down Easy and Shangri-La, latter definitely should've been released as a single) as well as her customary "jazz standard" offering (Sunny Skies). However, there's also healthy stabs at metal-flavored synth-pop (Once Is Not Enough, Lips To Find You, and the epic "semi"-autobiographical You So Heavy) with a dash of psychedelic '80s funk (title track) and Afro-Latin groove (Batucada Suite) thrown in for good measure. I can see how 'Emerald City' didn't fare so well commercially at the time of release. This album took creative risks that even her former Epic label wasn't quite ready for so they pretty much let it fall flat on its face. As always, time eventually turned out to be the one true test of its worth and now it's finally gained recognition as one of Teena's most personally rewarding studio projects to date.
HIGHLY recommended, especially for those whose musical tastes lean more towards the eclectic like mine naturally do (lol).