Customer Reviews

Back in the High Life

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Steve Winwood was indeed enjoying the high life after the release of this album in 1986. Back in the High Life is one of the best albums of that musically rich decade, providing Winwood with four huge hit singles. Winwood almost became too popular as a result of these songs; the radio played Higher Love, The Finer Things, Freedom Overspill, and Back in the High Life Again so often that even I eventually began to grow tired of them. As a result, I can say that I enjoy this album even more today than I did at the time of its initial release. Winwood's distinctive, laid-back music never goes out of style, and it soothes the soul while touching the heart with some quite emotional, really meaningful lyrics. I'm afraid I can't really describe the music; all I can say is that it combines drums, guitars, and horns in a way that is all its own.

While the album is remembered primarily for commercial successes such as Higher Love (featuring memorable backup vocals by Chaka Kahn) and Back in the High Life Again (featuring harmony vocals by James Taylor), it features eight songs of incredible quality. I might note that each track exceeds five minutes in length, so this album is not as short as it may appear. Take It As It Comes had real hit potential in my opinion. Wake Me Up on Judgment Day doesn't seem that memorable yet plays itself over and over in your mind after you hear it. Split Decision features some great guitar riffs, proving that Winwood can get down and rock a little when he wants to. The final track, My Love's Leavin', may well be the best song on the album, communicating both loss and hope in a way few artists can equal. You would be hard pressed to find a more impressive album from top to bottom than Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life.

This was the album that cemented my admiration for Steve Winwood. It was the album that introducted me to Winwood's solo work, as "Higher Love" and "Back In The High Life Again" each hit the Top Ten in the U.S.

The tracks fit well together, and each track is a work of art by itself. This album was a worldwide smash and cemented Winwood's position among the great solo artists, and is among my favorite albums by any artist. Winwood received a total of three Grammys for this album, each well-deserved.

If you decide to sample just one of Winwood's solo albums, this is the one to try. It's definitely a mainstream work, unlike Winwood's earlier solo albums, which were more showcases of Winwood's engineering talent. Those albums are great too, but this one best defines his solo career, the mix of talent and hard work that makes him a success.

We are all pretty familiar with the three huge singles from this album, 'Higher Love', 'Back in the High Life" and 'Finer Things'. I'm glad for Winwood that in this case good music also meant - commercial success. That has not always been his experience. To me though, it's the eight tracks of the album as a whole, not just the hits, played in their entirety, rather than sampled, that gives us a feel for the beauty of this album. It's as if Winwood arrived somewhere in his life and he wanted to express it musically. Wherever it was it was good! This collection is personal, poignant and powerful.

After only mixed results on three solo albums which he tried to record and produce on his own, Steve Winwood turned to the production talents of Russ Titleman and a number of guest musicians for "Back in the High Life." The result: two Grammys, a #1 single and #1 album, a "comeback" album in every sense of the term, and one of the best recordings of the 1980s. Having used synthesizers as an artistic crutch on his previous solo efforts, Winwood uses them here as merely one ingredient in a masterful '80s pop-rock mix. "Higher Love," "Freedom Overspill," "Back in the High Life Again," and "The Finer Things" were massive hits at the time, and still hold up well today. "Back in the High Life" was - and still is - a triumph.

After a 20 year career with the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and as a solo artist, Steve Winwood finally hit big with this album of consistent quality from start to finish. Throughout, Winwood's high, soulful voice is on good form, and the songs are his most consistently commercial to date - every one being memorable. The Grammy-winning 'Higher love' opens the album, and from then on it's the same excellent standard, with potential hit after hit until the gentle closing ballad 'My love is leaving', with lyrics by former Bonzo Dog Band front-man and occasional Winwood collaborator Viv Stanshall.

The album's sound and style is very different from that of his earlier solo efforts, thanks to factors such as the large session band, the heavy use of percussion, synthesizers and horns, and the powerful overall sound of the recording contributed by the mixing style of Tom Lord-Alge. There are also notable contributions from a number of well-known artists, such as Chaka Khan, Dan Hartman, James Ingram and James Taylor (vocals), John Robinson and Steve Ferrone (drums) and Nile Rodgers and Joe Walsh (guitar). Although synthesizers and drum machines are quite prominent in the recording, they are tempered by Winwood's stylish vocals and Hammond organ playing, and the album certainly does not have a machine-like, soulless sound, but rolls along effortlessly assisted by the complex percussion arrangements. Guitars appear on most tracks, although the use of a synth bass rather than bass guitar does mean that the tracks do not 'flow' quite as naturally as they might have done.

Whilst not wanting to downplay Winwood's other albums (the subsequent 'Roll with it' is also excellent) this record is so consistent that it must be regarded as probably his best so far. Very highly recommended.

There's only 8 tracks on this album, but half of it is some of his biggest hits ever. Included is "The Finer Things", "Freedom Overspill", "Back In The High Life Again", and the huge song "Higher Love". Plus the other tracks are good too. Overall a good listen, but what he needs to do, is release a best of his solo years, including the hits here, the hits from "Roll With It", and then some. Then he could call that collection "The Finer Things". I'd buy it.

In the 80's when albums were changing over to CD's,"Back in the High life"was the first one I bought.I couldn't believe the sounds I was hearing from my new stero.Later one I found out it wasn't my new system,but this Masterpiece by Steve Winwood.I've never had a record like this one,with 8 powerhouse cuts.The three big hits from the record are fantastic."Higher love," with Chaka Khan on vocals,"Back in the High Life again," with JT,and my favorite number,"The Finer Things." I love this number.Its so cool how it starts out,and keeps building to one of the greatest songs ever.The Synthesizer that Steve has always been know for,is Brilliant.The other single's not played on the radio are just as great.My favorite is the second number,"Take it as it comes." This one really is a Horn Driven,Drum Blasting Piece.Most of the songs on this tape has the same drive except for the last number,"My Love's Leaving Me." Its a sad closing cut,but beutifull,with hope that maybe she will change her mind."Back in the High Life" has got to be Steve Winwoods greatest.

"Back In the High Life" was a phenomenal commercial success when it was released in 1986, and with its skillfully deployed hooks and willful optimism (the music seems built around the sappy lyrics of the dreaded Will Jennings)this was adult pop that saturated the radio in its time. Winwood had been a star and major rock icon for over twenty years by then, so he knew how to craft radio friendly pop enriched by that legendary, soulfully expressive voice, a voice that the banal or vaguely inspirational material rarely deserves. If you like those hits, then you'll like this album. It is his easiest solo album. Myself, I was thrilled when Winwood found his own direction again on 2003's major comeback "About Time" (as in, it's about time he found a way to make organic, funky, compelling, and expansive music again after the last couple of shots at the multiplatinum hit parade turned out to be duds). I advise anyone who hasn't done so already to find this major return to form, especially the edition with the bonus cd featuring Winwood's ferocious interpretations (and his most inspired guitar/organ playing in 30 years) of Jimi Hendrix - recall that Steve made significant contributuions to "Electric Ladyland" - and Traffic classics. As he did with Traffic (and, briefly, the doomed but superb Blind Faith), Winwood has once again found a rich, personal synthesis with a superb band. If you're not already familiar with his body of work I'd suggest for the early stuff the two underrated Spencer Davis Group albums, recently expanded (20 cuts each!) and remastered on the Sundazed label, "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man" both covering the best of this teenaged prodigy's 1964 - 67 work, fronting a band that could swing or rock out, both sets packed with funky, hard-driving (or sometimes lilting, or melancholy) rock single classics (produced by Jimmy Miller, whose sense of rhythm and use of percussion is unrivalled) plus marvelous originals, classic soul and blues gems, and that amazing Ray Charles-influenced voice. Then explore the 1967 - 74 Traffic catalog, from the psych-w/song-craft first three albums with Dave Mason to the more jazz, English folk, and African influenced explorations on "John Barleycorn" and the remainder of that band's output that sound fresh to this day. Much of Winwood's work from "Arc of a Diver" through "Junction Seven", however, sounds dated, but as already stated, on "About Time" Winwood proves when he follows his muse rather than the pulse of pop radio, he still has all the grit and brilliance we knew he had, then and now.

I'm really surprised how high the ratings are for this. I'm a big Steve Winwood fan but really only three songs on here do it for me. The Celtic sounding Back In The High Life Again with nice mandolin and James Taylor harmony. Split Decision co written by Joe Walsh which gives the album an edge and My Love's Leavin' co written by former Bonzo Dog Vivian Stanshall(it's a shame the two of them didn't do this as a duet, as it's also perfect for Viv's voice). The hits Higher Love and The Finer things are okay but the rest isn't really any good in my humble opinion.

Steve Winwood's solo career peaked commericially with "Back in the High Life," which for a time made him one of the biggest pop stars in the world. "Higher Love" was a huge danceable hit and was followed by "Finer Things," "Back in the High Life Again" and "Wake Me Up on Judgement Day," on the hit singles charts. These songs are all excellent, as is the pretty ballad "My Love's Leaving" that closes the record. The rest of the material is spottier, but none of the songs are truly bad. Overall, this is a good album for Winwood fans.