Customer Reviews

Black Cars

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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THIS ALBUM MADE A CHANGE IN GINO'S HISTORY: HE ABANDONED (IN A CERTAIN WAY ) HIS REGISTERED GOOD-TASTING BLEND OF SOUL/JAZZ/POP/FUNK THAT SPICED HIS EARLY WORKS , AND TOOK THEN THE "TECHNO" SOUNDS OF THE 80`S AND MADE AN INTERESTING COCKTAIL OF "OLD AND NEW" INGREDIENTS THAT REALLY SURPRISED THE POP MUSIC FOLLOWERS, AND EVEN THE MOST HARDCORE FANS OF HIS INITIAL RECORDINGS, AND ALLOWED HIM TO GAIN A NEW WIDE GENERATION OF YOUNG FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD (FOR EXAMPLE, HERE IN MY COUNTRY HE BEGAN TO BE FAMOUS WHEN PEOPLE HEARD THE ALBUM...)

POINTS OF INTEREST: "BLACK CARS", "HURTS TO BE IN LOVE" (A CLASSIC OF ALL TIMES POP MUSIC),"IMAGINATION" & ALL THE REST OF THIS EXCELLENT RECORDING THAT DEFINED THE NEW SOUND AND APROACH OF GINO FOR HIS GOOD TASTING POP SONGWRITING.

A MUST FOR ANY POP MUSIC LOVER .... REALLY...

If you think Black Cars (the single and the album) is great---you're right. But Gino wrote so much beautiful music, it's difficult to believe he's virtually anonymous now. If this world doesn't end soon, Gino Vannelli will be regarded by history as one of the best musicians/performers/vocalists of the modern era. His music smashes the heart; it's often difficult to listen to Living Inside Myself, Hurts to Be in Love and others without being reduced to tears (regardless of how tough you are). His melodies and lyrics are equally beautiful. His voice is as good as they come. Not Sinatra, not Pavrotti, not Bocelli, not Bono and not even Freddie Mercury (known for having an extremely powerful voice) had a voice like Gino's. And if that wasn't enough, virtually any woman who watched him perform was never the same as he was sex idol extraordinaire from the mid-70s to mid-80s. I've been to some of his concerts and they were fantastic. As I said---it's unbelievable that many people don't even know who he is and are just discovering him now. In a way, I envy them.

This music is awesome. I never even heard these songs in 1985 so it was never played as much as it should have been. The glossy, polished sound is just spectacular. You can't even tell it's from 1985 it sounds so good.Gino struck gold with this one.

Black Cars, fast cars, whatever! This was the greatest CD of the eighties. Most of this material went un-noticed. Every song is great. This is remastered and it includes a great "extended mix" of "Black Cars". The crazy thing is that Gino pretty much disappeared after this great Cd ran its course.

After looking to try to update his work by singing more rock oriented material on 1981's Nightwalker Gino entered into a contract dispute not unlike those faced over the years by other talented artists such as Prince and George Michael whose creativity was stifled by the realities of their chosen business.When Gino Vannelli re emmerged it was 1985 and he was sporting a new haircut and a totally different style. While much has been made of the synth/new wave style of the music on this album (particularly the title track) but that is not one of the points of this review.Another part of Gino's new direction here results in my one major beef with this music. For starters,from the beginning of Gino's career his latin/jazz/funk-pop style was so difficult to classify he was pigeonholed as "soft rock".For an Air Supply,Bread and Kenny Loggins Gino was NOT,but because of that classification and the success of the uncharacteristic "I Just Wanna Stop" most people were not to know that. By this point Gino's music was modified,despite the new wave pop inflections,to really appeal to adult contemporary audiences. But Gino made one critical error to me;he traded in his powerful,awe inspiring,mellismatic singing voice of his mid 70's albums in for a a thinner,transparent sound. The problem is on all this music is that Gino's tremendous singing gifts totally defy his attempts to soften his vocal attack,so he sounds like he's straining to sing softer. That is exactly what happens on "Hurts To Be In Love";it's a nice song but it kind of affirms his stereotypical "soft rock" style that baught him success with "I Just Wanna Stop" and even the somewhat more dynamic "Living Inside Myself". Some Barry White/Isaac Hayes style monologues on "It's Over" try to soften the mood but,only in that one case the chilly synth pop production doesn't create much passion. If Gino had taken an approch to this music closer to what Thomas Dolby did during this period,mixing jazz and funk into a new wave style on his The Flat Earth album then this could've been a grand new commercial AND artistic beginning.Sadly enough the only time that comes close to happening is on the final cut "How Much",which falls into that "should've been a huge hit" catagory. So in the end I was not expecting the same musical ambition and grandure that was featured on Gino's Storm at Sunupfrom a decade before this. But as indicated there was a way to bring a similar sound into the new decade. Considering Gino's excellent work of late I don't consider this as much a comeback for Gino as it was a musical detour but it does have a few good moments despite being a bit uneven and lacking in some of Gino's trademark vocal power and soul. If you can find this inexpensively as I did and your a huge Gino Vannelli fan whose already heard his 70's classics this is worth hearing. But don't pay too much for it. And this is not the place to start getting into Gino's music.

I always laugh when people hear the song,"Black Cars" because inevitably someone will ask if its about his car ! If you're wondering what its all about buy it and listen to it ! Figure it out for yourself. This release is loaded with great songs, and witty lyrics abound. This is Gino's "new wave" entry - very upbeat,"rock" influenced and fun to listen to. I especially love the voice-overs - very sexy. Some of my fav lyrics are on this LP, including, "Here she comes, the ghost of Venus de Milo." (Okay maybe its just the say he says it !?) Terrific !