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From:Steve Winwood , Island ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#2731 |
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 Great upbeat, feel good music., 2006-11-03
I have had this album for years in cassette form and so I wanted to be able to listen to it in CD form. When I first put it in and listen for the first time that I had heard it in years, it was great. I thought I need to listen to this more often, it makes you want to tap you foot and get up and dance. Overall I really enjoy this album and would reccomend it, it is upbeat and makes you feel good and you want to sing along.
one of the best 80's albums ever, 2006-09-07
I was only 3 years old in 1986 and heavily into Madonna's True Blue album. I must have heard higher love at the time and forgotten about it cause when I heard it on a retro night on a radio station about 2 years ago the song just hit home and every note, instrument, and melodic vocal just touched me and not many songs do that for me, and I felt a sense of nogalastia. After the deejay said the song and the name of the artist, I didn't care what I had to own this CD and went out and bought it the next day. I listened to the entire thing and still play it everyday.
Higher Love is full of emotions that made me cry and is very simplistic lyrically and yet goes deep while questioning our purpose in life and having hope that there is something or someone out there, which I could also relate to at this point in my life. I could go on and on about this song and how much I love how the percussion changes each time there is a new verse, bridge and chorus, how the vocals build up, how the harmonies and chords build up, the choir at the end with chaka khan(WOW!), the instrumental sections, need I go on?
Take It As It Comes has yet another keyboard beat, and one that sounded familiar to me as well. I love the harmonies and key change in this piece and the vocal energy executed throughout
Freedom Overspill-this song reminded me of nintendo and peter gabriel(don't ask) yet another good song with a continous flow to it. What I like about this music is that the chorus is completely distinctive from the verses with it's key change and beat structure change, as also displayed in the 2 previous tracks
Back in the high life-the title track. It's so soothing, and pretty calm with a message about having hope that things will go back to normal after a hard time, be it a relationship, job loss, grief etc. The drink and dance part after the chorus is a bit cheesy but this song is good overall
Wake Me Up on Judgement Day-as soon as I heard this song the hook sounded so familiar and it wouldn't get out of my head. But what impressed me even more is that the song's intro sounded like the intro of a hair band or power ballad but it turned out to be yet another song with keyboards and yet another catchy chorus with excellent harmonies as a prelude to these chorus. It's little snippets like these between verses and choruses that make the sound
Split Decision-when i first heard this song I thought it was too noisy but I respect it for sounding different from the rest of the songs on this album, and it actually reminds me of funk more than rock.
My Love's Leavin-a perfect way to end the album. The melodic percussion and piano chords blissfully create the emotion of lonliness once again, in a manner similar to back in the high life again but with a sadness that leaves you hoping for more
As one reviewer stated previously, this album is considered hip enough to be competiting with those like janet jackson's control(although it has mass appeal and can be for youth and adults to relate to as well). When I think of the 1986-87 period I quickly associate it with fabulous albums like madonna's true blue, janet jackson's control, michael jackson's bad, prince's sign o the times, u2's joshua tree and george michael's faith; but now I also associate it with steve winwood's back in the high life again. Not only was it a great 80's album but it has aged really well despite the distinctive 80's keyboard/synthesizer sounded combined with instrument playing, and is one of my favourite albums of all time.
Excellent pop songcraft, 2006-06-28
Just a few weeks ago, I listened to Higher Love again as I have many times, and thought about this album from 1986. This is one of the best pop songs to come out of that decade, and 20 years later it still holds up! This album is such excellent pop songcraft, a strong emphasis on melody, song structure and dramatic landscapes. And I recognized Chaka Khan's voice singing in the song! Along with Higher, I still love The Finer Things (though cutting 2 minutes of it for the single sounded a little tacky--they took the best parts out of it for the radio single). The title track is wonderful. Freedom Overspill sounds a little bit like Higher, though with a slower groove. I love the horns as well as Steve's keyboard playing throughout the song. It can be industrial at times in the sound, and even hip enough to compete with young artists like Janet Jackson's hit album Control that same year. One other favorite is Wake Me Up on Judgment Day. It is still a dynamic album to this day!
5 of 14 customers found the following review helpful:
 Do yourself a favor and buy Arc of the Diver instead, 2006-01-09
I don't own this cd right now, but had borrowed it from a friend one time. This is music that yuppies rave about. It's just too poppy and polished sounding for my tastes. I think I'll stick with Winwood's Traffic, Blind Faith, and his first two solo albums instead. Of his stuff past the Arc of the Diver album, I only like the song "Valerie", and that's about it. I know I'm gonna get a lot of unhelpful votes on this, because everybody who comes here to read these reviews are fanatics of Steve Winwood, but I still felt like I needed to put my two cents in about Steve the sellout. His songs are just too saccharin sweet for my tastes, but I guess everyone's different, and have different tastes in music, but if this is your thing, go for it.
1 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
Without a doubt my favorite Winwood album!, 2005-11-01
There will never be anything that Steve's post-1986 will create that will top "Back In The High Life" as it's easily my favorite album that he's ever done and deservedly was and remains his highest selling album to date.
Having much superior production quality than his previous outings, BITHL literally makes "Arc of A Diver" and "Talking Back" sound as ancient as the days of Queen Elizabeth the first and it's clear why. The volume quality is so much better and the music alone is more well-produced as well. "Higher Love" is a much deserved classic with a tropical color and a happy and fun groove. "My Love's Leaving" is a tribute to a friend of his that passed away during this albums making and even though it's more of a melancholy track, even this song has an optimistic glare to it. The beauty is stunning and is light years ahead of it's time.
Although Back In The High Life may sound a bit dated in places by today's standards, it has withstood the tests of time and is highly recommended.
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