Today's Retro Spin continues where we left off. Last time we talked about Phoebe Snow's 1981 album Rock Away, an album which failed to impress me, and today, we go to the opposite spectrum for her only other 80's release, 1989's Something Real.
Lackluster reviews of Snow's prior album caused her to step away from recording albums, and instead focus on commercial jingles to support her and her daughter. It wasn't until the 1988 surprise duet hit with Dreams I Dream with Dave Mason that snow would return to the studio.
However, a lot had changed in the music industry since 1981. Would Snow be able to deliver? Was the world interested in blues rock at this time? Or had we gone through the era of synth pop, and on our way to grunge?
Admittedly, I didn't intend on adding Something Real to my collection. Rather, it ended up there because of a mistake that led me to buying it instead of Rock Away. Still, I wasn't sad. Nothing wrong with adding a random 80's CD to the collection.
Going into it, I wasn't necessarily expecting much, especially based on yesterday's post. However, things quickly tanked out of the starting gate. As I fired it up, I was immediately greeted by a ballad. I've said this before, no album should start with a ballad. Your intro should rocket off the starting line, and from there find a pace, and then pull it back a bit, only to balance out and come back up a bit towards the end. A nice eb and flow.
By song three, I was still listening to ballads, and it felt like the album had already been on for an eternity. It wasn't enjoyable, and there's not much to say beyond that. A fan of Phoebe Snow, I was not. In fact, I was moreso interested in a blurb I read that she sang the jingle for a 1989 SNL skit called Colon Blow, starting the late Phil Hartman, and played that on Youtbue overtop the droning on album.
By song four I was skipping to each track, giving it a couple seconds to impress. Ballad, ballad, ballad, was all I kept hearing. Even when the pace picked up with song eight, this was still a slow tempo adult contemporary sound.
It wasn't until song nine that a truly upbeat song finally came about, a cover of the 1977 Emotions song, Best Of My Love. Then out of nowhere, track ten, Cardiac Arrest hits with a straight up hard rockin' blues sound. Too bad it was the last track on the album, too little, too late. Frankly, it should have kicked everything off, and set the tone for how the rest of the album should have been put together.
Overall, this was a corker. Unenjoyable, disappointing, and one of the rare Retro Spins that I deferred to skipping songs because I simply couldn't take it.
As for Snow, between 1991 and 2008 she would release a mix of studio and live albums. However, throughout her entire career, she was never able to find the same success she had with her gold accredited first and second albums from the 70's.
In her defence, the singer was delt a pretty hard hand throughout her life. Her at the time husband (1975 - 1978), and father of their child, informed her he was gay, leading to their divoce. Meanwhile, said daughter was born with severe brain damage, requiring signifcant care. Her overall personal life contributed to her inability to really focus on a music career, but at the same time, it's comendable that she prioritized rasing and caring for her daughter over success. Rather than chase album charts, she instead devoted her life to ensuing her child wouldn't need to be institutionalized. Her daughter sadly passed away in 2007.
Unfortuantely, it didn't get much better from there. Tragically, Snow would suffer a cerebral hemorrhage in 2010, slip into a coma, and pass away from other medical complications as a result. Man, life just really kicked her in the teeth. I suppose if there's any silver lining, at least her and her daughter are together again.
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
 |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS May 16, 1981 |
 |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS May 16, 1987 |
No comments:
Post a Comment