Always Guaranteed [Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered]

Cliff Richard | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B00009L1O2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,563 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. One Night

2. Once Upon A Time

3. Some People

4. Forever

5. Two Hearts

6. Under Your Spell

7. This Time Now

8. My Pretty One

9. Remember Me

10. Always Guaranteed

11. Under The Gun

12. Brave New World

13. Wild Geese

14. Love Ya

15. One Time Lover Man

16. Another Christmas Day

17. Yesterday, Today, Forever

18. Reunion Of The Heart

Editorial Reviews

2005 reissue of the UK pop icon's 1987 album. EMI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Jorney of Fantasy, May 8, 2004

By 

Louise Lacaille "Cliff fan" (Amersham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Always Guaranteed (Audio CD)

This Cliff album will transport you to the realms of beautiful fantasies and dreams. I love most of Cliff's work but I don't think I've ever seen a Cliff album with so much imagination and creativity, both in the strength of the songwriting, in the production/blend of instruments and in the way Cliff's voice is used.

Reading the sleeve notes, it seems that Alan Tarney, who authored all the songs bar one, and produced the whole album, had some doubts about his songwriting. But he is a genius. His backing tracks are so ethereal, so funky, so boppy, they make you drift into a blissful haze and trance. But when Cliff's vocals, crystal-clear and smooth as dripping honey and fluttering delicately into the music like a bluesy butterfly, are allied to this, the result is the most perfect and utopic (and still sounding ultra contemporary) album you could ever hear.

Cliff's versatile voice is brilliantly accomplished and sensual. He uses the influences of his rock n roll roots, dating back to the fifties, and he throbs with blues, rockabilly, harmonies, jazz and soul to breathe life into these funky rock/dance ballads. "One Night" is soulful and sexy, "Once Upon A Time" passionnate and warm; "This Time Now" is mellow and bluesy (sublime satiny vocals); "Under Your Spell" (written by Chris Eaton) is soaring and `spell'binding; "My Pretty One" is fairy-like; "Forever" is a luscious romantic epic and the title track is a darker rocker, hotter and sultrier. Listen to the lyrics too, as they have some very moving stories to tell eg "Some People".

The eight bonus tracks with this album make this cd excellent value for money. I've got three faves - "Brave New World", listen to Cliff's silky high notes at the end; the mellifluous "Wild Geese" and the sweet reggae "Another Christmas Day" which is about the true meaning of the festive season.

"Always Guaranteed" was Cliff's biggest selling studio album, and it's certainly rates as one of his finest and that's saying something! It is out of this world. Pure bliss!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Selling Cliff Album Of Them ALL!!!, March 27, 2004

By 

Jesse Tibbits "Made In England!" (Bull Shoals, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Always Guaranteed (Audio CD)

Alright all you USA Cliff fans that don't know this record you are missing a great one! With many records in his career, This album from 1987 has out sold every other record Cliff ever made!!! YES, This includes ALL of them. Summer Holiday, The Young Ones, I'm No Hero ect. Don't just take my word for it look it up yourself. In England, Always Guaranteed was/and still is his biggest seller. It still sounds very fresh and very current even after all these years. In 1987 in England, FIVE of the tracks off this record went to #1 or top 10!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of Warranty, August 26, 2009

By 

Wizard Prang "Who is General Failure and why ... (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Always Guaranteed (Audio CD)

"Always Guaranteed" originally hit the streets in 1987, when the CD format was fairly new. A remastered version came out in 1992 with eight additional tracks. My review is of the original.

The album opens with "One Night", a hard-driving number (for Cliff) that makes it clear that this is not going to be an album full of ballads. Not bad, but by no means the best track, and Cliff's falsetto sounds weak in places (7/10).

Next up is "Once Upon a Time"; not unpleasant, but it sounds like a piece of very well-produced filler. I have always questioned the wisdom behind soppy ballads sung by a guy who has remained celibate for decades (3/10).

On to "Some People", my favorite cut from the album, and one of four"five-star" tracks on the album. The heavy synth backing gives this song an ethereal, otherworldly feel (10/10)

The next track, "Forever", reminds me of the saying "Given enough power, even a brick can fly". It is dull and repetitive, but like a pig with lipstick it is immaculately dressed with lavish production values which make it barely pleasant enough not to press the fast-forward button,. The best thing about this song is the fade-out at the end (3/10)

"Two Hearts" is one of those songs that has Cliff written all over it. Driving without being an out-and-out rocker, not slow enough to be considered soppy, with two predictable-yet-nonetheless-interesting electric guitar solos in the middle and at the end (8/10).

"Under your spell" is a workable enough number; good enough to make it as an album track but not quite good enough to make it as a single (7/10).

"This Time Now" is the second of the choice cuts. The 3-3-2 rhythm drives it relentlessly onwards, and the melody is pitched at a level that can be sung by ordinary men without the need for nutcrackers or pliers (10/10).

The good-bad see-saw nature of the album ends with "My Pretty One", the third of four top-notchers, this one was released as a single and received quite a lot of airplay. It has an absolutely killer bridge (9/10).

The winning streak continues with "Remember Me", which drives along nicely and has some interesting synth/guitar work (9/10).

The album is rounded out by the title track, which has the dubious distinction of being neither particularly good nor particularly bad, in which Cliff tried to be an old-school rocker... and fails. The lyrics are pretty ropey, too (5/10).

Bottom line: 40% brilliant, 40% ok, 20% dire. Not a bad score for a non-greatest-hits package. Worth the shekels if you are a Cliff Richard fan.