Customer Reviews

All This & Heaven Too

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When I hear this MASTER-PIECE Andrew Gold album I think of the 3 ladies that broke my heart in high-school. This isn't a bad thing, mind you, it's just that I associate this GRAND album with these intense emotional times of my teen years. And that's the beauty of really good+timeless music: it let's us instantly relive/re-enter precious moments of days gone by.

Andrew Gold's "Heaven" album is at the top of my list of "live-forever" '70s recordings for 2 reasons: (a)his work is all original & what I call "Thinking Man's Pop"; (b)there is NOT a single "dated" track on this album. It sounds just as appealing, relevant & "hip" today as it did 25 years ago.

There are VERY few artists of the '70s that can say that. As an example, Steely Dan & Gino Vanelli are another 2 of this elite but small pool that qualify for this distinction.

Here's another thing I notice: just about ALL of these songs WOULD *WORK* FOR AN R&B ARTIST & not just the pop/rock genre. His songs are multi-faceted, well-nuanced without being over-produced, & the whole album just flows & goes straight to the heart!

Genevieve, Urania -- there are NO stinkers on this album.

Roll down the windows for a Sunday afternoon drive & BLAST this baby as loud as she'll go! Go for it!

Once upon a time there was music on vinyl and it was good, for its time. I found this album in a cut out bin. Cut out bins are where they put albumns that didn't sell quickly. As a matter of fact, most of my favorites have come from cut out bins. Years later I was searching for this album on CD and at the time all I could find was Andrew Gold's Greatest hits. The funny part is, Andrew Gold's hits were not his best songs. Take one listen to this disc and you will not be sorry. Excellent songwriting and singing. The playing is also beyond compare. Every song is a gem.

I was so glad to find this album on CD at last. Along with my Stephen Bishop and David Gates albums, this was one of the records I played non-stop for years in the 1970's. Songs like HOW CAN THIS BE LOVE, NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY and THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND are rightly famous now, and the rest of the album, happily, stands comparison with those songs. Some are better. Andrew Gold is great at writing catchy tunes with catchy lyrics, and never more successful than here, I reckon. These songs will stay with you for a long time. If you were lucky enough to hear them back when the album came out, prepare yourself for a delightful nostalgia trip. If not, you may be impressed at how solid these songs still sound. This album is a true classic.

IMHO, the best effort from Mr. Gold. I've been waiting for this in CD forever. Wore out my album and cassette. Urania, Genevieve (in which Andrew plays all the instruments), Looking for My Love are all worth the price of the CD alone. Ooh, there are #1 hits on the CD too! But Mr. Gold's best work lurks in the shadows and nooks and crannies of his albums.

I originally wrote this review in April of 2003 when it was unavailable on CD.

Once upon a time there was music on vinyl and it was good, for its time. I found this album in a cut out bin. Cut out bins are where they put albums that didn't sell quickly. As a matter of fact, most of my favorites have come from cut out bins. Years later I was searching for this album on CD and at the time all I could find was Andrew Gold's Greatest hits. The funny part is, Andrew Gold's hits were not his best songs. Take one listen to this disc and you will not be sorry. Excellent songwriting and singing. The playing is also beyond compare. Every song is a gem.

This is THE underated pop album of the 70s - while some got into pomp-rock, some rebelled with punk and some just played dreadful bubblegum, Andrew Gold wrote and mostly performed all the instruments on this catchy-yet-intelligent collection of songs that are a joy to listen to individually, but also make up an album that is greater than the sum of its parts. The one mystery is WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO GET HOLD OF?!?!? Why is it not available on CD? I've seen second hand copies going for up to $100 - that should tell you something about what a charming, thoroughly enjoyable album this is. If you know anyone with a spare copy, please, please let me know.

Circa 1978: I'm sixteen years old and an avid fan of good ole' rock n' roll bands like RUSH, JOURNEY, and YES. One day I stumbled upon my dad playing this Andrew Gold album (yes, my dad!) and I was immediately hooked on its catchy melodies and lyrics. Enough so to go out and spend my minimum-wage earnings to buy my own copy. I played it non-stop for weeks/months. While I continued to like the heavier rock bands of the time, this album gave me the opportunity to enjoy well-done pop for what it can and should be: great music.

Circa 2001: I'm looking through my dad's old album collection, and between the Frank Sinatra and Perry Como albums, a feeling of deja vu hits me. Is Andrew Gold in here? I've long ago lost my copy. Unfortunately, so has he. No problem, later that day I look it up on Amazon.com and low and behold, it's available on CD! I order it and it's here within a week. What a nostalgic walk through my own musical history. It sounds as great today as it did 20 years ago. What's more, my kids are enjoying it, too. Even my 13-year-old son, though he's too cool to admit he likes one of "dad's" CDs. Some things never change, especially great music, and this album ranks as one of my all-time favorites. Pure pop, pure joy and pure Gold!

I first remember hearing the song, "Thank You for Being a Friend," when it was the theme of the TV show, "Golden Girls." Hearing that theme I had the idea the composer must be ab old lady, and then hearing the theme of "MAD ABOUT YOU" with Helen Hunt, the dj said that ANDREW GOLD was the writer. Soon enough I picked up some of my father's old records by Gold, and I was in for a treat. I think that ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO is my favorite of the 4 70s LPs. Though some say that Linda Ronstadt's early 70s LPs are almost as much by Andrew Gold as they are by her. I still don't understand how he managed to play all the insruments and sing too. His father was the eminent film composer Ernest Gold who wrote the music not only for EXODUS but for many of the Stanley Kramer films. I wonder if the two, father and son, ever collaborated.

His mother was Marni Nixon, the voice of many of Hollywood's "golden girls" such as Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn. From two such musical parents it is no wonder that Andrew was so talented at writing. The love songs on this LP, including "Oh, Urania," are as good as the ones Paul McCartney was writing around the same time.

ANOTHER GREAT PURCHASE FROM AMAZON. I HAD THIS ALBUM ON TAPE FOR YEARS. IT FINALLY WORE OUT. IT HAD BEEN AT LEAST A YEAR AND HALF SINCE, I LAST HEARD HIS MUSIC. IT KEPT EATING AT ME. WHEN I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO ACQUIRE SOME FUNDS, I STARTED REBUILDING MY COLLECTION. I SEARCHED AND SEARCHED, BUT COULD NOT FIND IN MIAMI. THANK GOD THAT AMAZON HAS JUST ABOUT 99% OF EVERTHING I NEED TO REBUILD MY MOVIE AND MUSIC LIBRARY! ANDREW GOLD WAS AND IS FANTASTIC FOR ME. HIS SONGS HAVE SUCH BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL MELODIES, HIS STYLE, HIS ARRANGEMENTS ARE SUPERB! I LISTEN TO HIM ALMOST ALMOST EVERYDAY. "NEVER LET HER SLIP AWAY" AND "GENEVIEVE" MAKES ME MELT. ANDREW! FROM ME TO YOU, THANKS!

One of the local stations in Philadelphia used to have an 11:00 Album Hour. I can remember hearing this all the way through for the first time and thinking that Paul McCartney should be making albums like this, but he never did. Gold drew a lot of attention working for Linda Rondstat as a guitarist/arranger/keyboardist but this is where he shines. Songwriting, multi-instuments, good singing, everything you want in pop-rock. This album is kind of a precursor to some of the music of today, like Guster and Matt Nathanson. Great to have it on CD after pretty much wearing out the vinyl.