Retro Spins: Irene Cara - What A Feelin'

If Kenny Loggins was the male poster child for soundtracks in the 80's, then Irene Cara was definitely the female equivalent. Let's go through them real quick; Fame (1980), Killing 'em Softly (1982), Flashdance (1983), D.C. Cab (1983), City Heat (1984), Certain Fury (1985), Busted Up (1986), The Long Shot (1986) and All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989). Impressive!

Unfortunately, Cara's solo career could never really take off beyond that. She had great success with her 1983 album, What A Feelin', but never really seemed to break out much further from there. Some attribute the success to Giorgio Moroder, who Cara penned the tracks with. In fact, William Ruhlmann of Allmusic, is even quoted as saying Cara is no more than the mouthpiece for Moroder. All of that is kind of harsh considering she's credited with co-writing nine of the eleven songs. I'd say she earned the credit for her success.

The album takes everything Cara had shaped in her early 80's success from soundtracks such as Fame and Flashdance, and then adds onto them with a decent array of new material. It all starts off with the powerful, Why Me?, and then continues delivering with the likes of Breakdance, Keep On, The Dream (Hold On To Your Dream), Flashdance...What A Feeling, Romance '83 and Cue Me Up.

It's not perfect from start to finish, but it offers a tolerable listening session as a whole. At forty-three minutes, it's just shy of that "too long" mark for my tastes. Some of the lesser favorable tracks can feel like they're going on for quite some time - Even though none of the tracks surpass the five minute mark.

As a whole, it's just okay. A bummer really, considering the high marks of Cara. When she delivers, she delivers big. When she's not, it's almost like she's just phoning it in.

It's worth noting, if you're going to listen to this album, you're better off tracking down the 1983 LP or cassette version. The reason being, the CD version really jacks up the whole thing. It not only re-arranges songs, but also changes them to include radio edits or extended cuts rather than include the original versions. Basically, you're not getting the album as it was intended to be heard. I've never understood why record labels do this when re-issuing albums. Just leave them the way they were intended, and add a bonus disc if you feel you have to have more material to entice new buyers. This is the main reason I tend to shy away from re-issues vs. originals.

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