11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nicolette's 4th and Final Warner's LP a Return to Form!, March 7, 2005
This review is from: All Dressed Up & No Place to Go (Audio CD)
Ted Templeman gave the production reigns to pop artist Andrew Gold [known mostly for his 70s single smash "Lonely Boy"] for Nicolette's final pop outing on the Warners label in 1982, and the results were just short of stellar, which was a very needed thing for Nicolette, who had been declining in the years since her phenomenal 1978 debut, "Nicolette."
It's too bad Warners didn't commit more of a marketing budget to "All Dressed Up," though, and ultimately, the LP, which critics then raved about, went nowhere in sales. It's hard to know whom to fault for what could have been Nicolette's saving grace and return to the top 40, but whoever chose the likeable and winning remake of "I Only Want to Be with You" as the first [and only, I think] single off the album just wasn't thinking: not 3 or 4 years before, perhaps even closer in time, the same song was covered by the Bay City Rollers and was a super-smash for that group. Pop radio's memory was long enough at that time to prevent Nicolette's version of the song from gaining any real momentum, and the single could only get to number 53 or so, and exited the Hot 100 after about 7 weeks or so. A better choice for the album's single would have been the lilting ballad, "Just Say I Love You," but I guess everyone felt more confident in the possibility that Nicolette might be able to take over as Pop's Covers Queen from then-descending Linda Ronstadt, and thus "I Only Want to Be with You" became the album's single release.
If "All Dressed Up and No Place to Go" suffers from anything, it's a kind of dated sound, instrumentation and backing vocals that sound too much alike from track to track [Templeman as producer can be faulted for deviating too much from Nicolette's first effort, but he cannot be faulted for his better, fuller, lusher instrumentations that accompanied Nicolette on her three earlier LPs]. But make no mistake: Nicolette returned to fine form with this LP, and some of her finest work is here. Andrew Gold finally gave Nicolette fans what they had been waiting for, and didn't get with the second and third LPs: a few different musical genres and strong song selections for Nicolette's gorgeous vocals, including even some reggae-flavored pop here [Leon Russell's "Say You Will"]. Rock ["Two Trains"], pop ["I'll Fly Away"], country-fused jazz [the takes-a-couple-of-listens-to-really-like "Love, Sweet, Love"], blue-eyed soul [the remake of "Nathan Jones"] are all given great representation here, and the LP overall is excellent, classy, demanding repeated plays. As was usual for Nicolette's Warner LPs, the album closes with a ballad, one of Nicolette's most haunting recordings, "Still You Linger On." Weak tracks on the LP, which are responsible for making this LP second only to "Nicolette" in my book [which had no weak tracks] are the rocking "I Want You So Bad" and bubble-gummish "Talk to Me," but on the latter track, anyway, Nicolette's vocals are stunning.
This LP ended Nicolette's time with Warners, and it wouldn't be until 1985 that Nicolette's fans would see another Nicolette album, which was sad at the time, since we fans had enjoyed "Nicolette" in 1978, "In the Nick of Time" in 1979, "Radioland" in late 1980, and "All Dressed Up" in the summer of '82. When she did return, with 1985's "...Say When," she was with a new label, and she was pure country, or as pure as an artist who refused to be pigeon-holed into one genre could get. And even if you didn't really like country music, what you liked about Nicolette, if you were a fan, was still present in her two country LPs: that wonderful voice [or should I say those wonderful voices], and some wonderful songs for displaying that wonderful voice. Hopefully one day soon "...Say When" and "Rose of My Heart" will be released on cd's, because the best of Nicolette's catalog wouldn't be completed without some fine tracks from those two LPs [and I'm not talking about the songs from those LPs that appear on "The Very Best of Nicolette Larson" from a few years back, either].
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nicolette's Best Album, April 8, 2005
This review is from: All Dressed Up & No Place to Go (Audio CD)
In this fan's opinion, after years of toying with all kinds of musical genres, Nicolette dished out her most sound (and best) record with 1982's sexy "All Dressed Up..." Over the years, this CD became harder to come by and I'm extremely happy it's back in print for fans who hadn't had the chance to hear it in its day.
No song on the album drags. From the impressive cover of "I Only Want To Be With You" to the 'let it be' sentiment of "Two Trains", every song is memorable and with some of Nicolette's best vocals of the time.
Other favorites are "Nathan Jones", which should have been a killer hit, and "I Want You So Bad", featuring a beautiful yearning vocal by Larson.
Let's keep our finger's crossed for Nicolette's next 2 country albums to FINALLY be released on CD!!!
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