Customer Reviews

Branigan

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember buying this on LP when it first came out and the sound was incredible. I couldn't afford to buy my own so I always went over to my best friends house to listen to it. Listening to the CD version brings me back to that. Since the original was an audio recording that's all they could do when they brought this to CD and I think the sound is incredible. All of her songs that she ever sang are the best especially "Gloria". She did a remix of this song called "Gloria 2004" which is kind of cool but the original is the best. I never was able to see her live in concert because my parents couldn't afford it so all I could do is listen to her music and it's not the same. She will be greatly missed.

Kathleen Atkinson

"Branigan" exploded onto the scene with the unforgettable pop-rock anthem "Gloria". The "meaty-beaty" dance tune was a top rate hit dominating the pop and club charts around the world. The song immediately catapulted Laura into the "Disco/Pop Stratosphere". The single to date remains the second best selling single in Atlantics archives. The singles success garnered Laura her first Grammy Award Nomination while also placing the single into the coveted list of early eighties records exceeding the 1,000, 000 mark in sales, eventually being certified "Gold". "Gloria" still remains one of the longest running singles in "Billboards top 100", remaining on the charts for most of '82 and the first half of '83. The cabaret-style album alternates pop/rocker's containing strong guitar riffs and solid ballads which usually serve Laura's 4 octave range extremely well. Laura's self-penned "I Wish We Could Be Alone" is a wonderful tune about trying to hide "a secret love". The first single which charted mildly, "All Night With Me", is a passionate plea for an "all-nighter", (only Laura can pull off this material with such "finesse" and "class" that it almost sounds "wholesome".) The album contains several treasures like "Down Like A Rock" a tale of being "wrung throught the wringer of love" and "Please Stay, Go Away" about the ambiguousness of a love/hate relationship. The album was certified "Gold" in '84.

this is where to start exploring the booming voice of Laura Branigan....best include "living a lie", "down like a rock", "lovin' you baby", "gloria" and "all nite with me"...and more....a very entertaining vocalist!

The most well known song on this album is, without a doubt, "Gloria." But there is so much more to Branigan than this. Laura's debut is a very strong album, which showed that the ones to come would also be excellent. She has an incredible voice to add on to the great material. There are meaningful ballads as well as neat dance and rock tracks. My favorite ones are: "Loving You Baby," which is so powerful and touching; "Living a Lie" which is very energetic; "Gloria" which is obvious by just listening to it why it was such a big hit; "Please Stay, Go Away" which is a great dance track; and "Down Like a Rock" which is a fun upbeat song. Laura Branigan's debut is one of her best, and could definitely be a great album to choose as the beginning of a collection.

Since the only song from this album that's heard on the radio is "Gloria" this album appears to be full of "filler material", but this is far from the truth! Branigan is as good as they come. In fact, this album is one of the best albums ever made; every song is solid, engaging, and memorable. This is a must-have CD for anyone who wants a `complete music collection'. The reason this CD is so captivating is due to Laura's remarkably strong vocals. Her voice is in full power, yet she never approaches the point of screaming or even coming close to straining her voice; in fact Laura has a tender vulnerability and innocence that adds great depth to these songs. The album contains only 9 songs, alternating between up-tempo songs to soft ballads, but all 9 songs were wonderfully written, arranged and sung. The ballads offer strong, and sometimes unusual, instrumentation with a solid base, yet they still allow her powerful vocals to take the spotlight. When Laura sings the up-tempo songs, both her vocals and the music are in full power. This CD is remarkable because Branigan is Laura Branigan's debut release and it is unusual for a new artists to have such strength and control of his/her voice. This CD includes her self-penned ballad titled "I Wish We Could Be Alone", as well as her #2 charting dance song "Gloria". "All Night With Me" is a touching ballad exposing the vulnerable side of Laura Branigan while "Living A Lie" shows Laura in a confrontational state of mind. Diane Warren, who at the time was a just starting to be noticed as a song writer, wrote "If You Loved Me" (she has written hits for numerous singers such as Celine Dion, Michael Boltin and Bette Midler). "If You Loved Me" is a dramatic plea to a lost love. An unusual piano introduction begins the dance song, "Please Stay, Go Away". Listen and enjoy... then listen again and again and again...

- Joe

For her first album Laura Branigan established what was to be a format for her first four albums, either heartbreak piano ballads asking why it happened, or women of independence celebrated or critiqued by a blast of synthesizer-laced 80's dance numbers.

"All Night With Me" is a classic 80's piano-ballad that then gets volume at the chorus. It's akin to what Whitney would do with "Saving All My Love For You." Call it a pop power-ballad. And that potent powerhouse voice of hers is what saved some of her lesser albums.
Then comes her most famous song, intro'd by a blazing synthesizer, then those familiar infectious synth chords. "Gloria" is about a woman on the run whose frantic goals are gonna lead to a reckoning, a breakdown, or something else: "Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria)/I think they got the alias (Gloria) that you've been living under (Gloria)/But you really don't remember, was it something that they said?/Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?"
"Lovin' You Baby" sets the standard for her heartbreak/being dumped songs that would permeate on her future albums. A rock guitar punctuates this pop power ballad, especially sung in the chorus: "Where would I be, how could I live?/Where would I go, and what would I give?/What can I say, how do I stand?/Where do I fall if there's no more lovin' you baby?"

"Livin A Lie" puts the pedal on the metal, with a quick-paced rock-beat accompanying this speeding down the highway number. Laura advises a man that the girl he loves does not reciprocate, hence his living a lie: "You're living a lie, you're wasting your time/
Caught in a dream, I said you're living a lie/You're living a lie, you're wasting your time/
Caught in a dream, you're living a lie" The bridge really reinforces this point: "Somebody better help this boy/He's chasing rainbows in the sky/But there's a fool in every boy/The things you never question why." One of the best reasons for Branigan being around.

Another heartbreak song, "If You Loved Me" and it sounds akin to something that Debbie Gibson would later do in "Lost In Your Eyes." Clear message here: "You had me walkin' on a rainbow that vanished at my feet/Now that it's over, I see the truth my heart refused to see" And in the chorus, with a swirl of Lionel Richie synthesizers: "If you loved me the way I love you from the start/Wouldn't be so easy for you to break my heart/If you loved me, you'd give it one more try/You wouldn't let it die, you'd hold me close forever" Since he doesn't love her... well, figure it out.

A Survivor-style rocker of "Please Stay, Go Away," which has a chorus rhythm akin to "Gloria" follows. Then comes "I Wish We Could Be Alone," which falls under the illicit affair category (q.v. Self Control's "Silent Partners") with the moral questioning inbetween.

"Down Like A Rock" is her attempt to inject Sheena Easton/Juice Newton track something that Andy Taylor would do solo. It kinda works.

The searching question of maintaining a dubious relationship is explored on the pop power-ballad "Maybe I Love You." To put it in lyrics: "Maybe I love you, maybe I don't/Maybe I'll need you, and maybe, baby, I won't" and juxtaposing that with "But if I went away, I'd be afraid I should have stayed/Maybe I'm afraid that maybe I love you" explores that indecision further.

A worthy first effort, to be improved with Branigan 2.

When I started to do this review I relised.... How do you review greatness?. It may sound corny, but how else can I describe this Album. All nine songs are terrific, but Laura's voice is almost other worldly, making each song an experiance to listen too.
Iam trying to collect all of Laura Branigans albums and to be honest, no matter which of her albums I listen too I can not help but feel moved by that incrediable voice. so I sugest that if your thinking of buying any of Laura's Albums, do so while you still can. I have nearly all of them exepet for Hold Me and I will be ordering that one from Amazon very soon, regardless of price. Thats really how good she is.
Laura we still miss you and always will.

1982 was a good year for me especially on radio, (it would be another year before I would get my own record player and start buying records) I was still into tapes. Anyway, it started with watching TV by accident and seeing and hearing this female singer singing "Gloria", at that stage I didn't know who she (Laura Branigan) was, but I was going to find out pretty soon.

The song "Gloria" was my song for 1982, and Laura Branigan was the girl (what a spunk) I liked to listen to the most, her debut album `Branigan' was a must for me, (I got my copy on tape first, then I bought record later) the album went gold and platinum in Canada and the U.S. in 1983-84.

`Branigan' the album only had 9 tracks when released in 1982 (what is it with 9-track albums?), nonetheless the first single off the album was "All Night with Me", which had climbed to number 69 on the Billboards charts, this soft ballad was the beginning of a successful career in music although the song had potential, it didn't really do anything, but Laura had to start somewhere; but it did prove that Laura had great vocal talent as her second single "Gloria" attested, this rock-pop-dance-groove with tight strong vocals was originally an Italian love song recorded by Umberto Tozzi in 1979; this was the song that made everybody stand to attention and take notice it was a hit all around the world and stayed on the Billboard's Hot 100 for a record-setting 36 weeks. It was a gold and platinum hit in Canada and the U.S. Laura was also nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance - by a Female Artist at the Grammy Awards in 1982 for her song "Gloria", and it seemed from then on Laura could only build on her success, which she did the following years as her maturity in the music industry flourished.

Laura's other songs on the album: "Lovin You Baby", with electro-ambient rock, and dominate piano, "Living a Lie", with tangy guitar and again with piano, "If You Loved Me", "I Wish We Could Be Alone" (written by Laura) and "Maybe I Love You", all with a soft mellow ballad feel, "Please Stay Go Away", the only hard-rock tempo style beat, (in my mind) although "Gloria" maybe in this category also, with finally "Down Like a Rock", again with the tangy guitar with an electro upbeat resonance, all with the classic 80's style feel-but diverse just the same plus naturally throughout the album Laura's strong vocal talents can be heard as physically powerful, gutsy, hard and energetic with a touch of feminine softness where it counts. Her second album `Branigan 2' would continue the tradition in sound and feel overall with the changing of the years and is also an improvement as each of Laura's albums would be better than the last. (You have to have listened to all of them to tell the difference)

Sadly, Laura passed away in 2004, but her eight albums (`Remember Me' released in 2004 would be classified as her last album) are a testament to her talent as an artist in song and as a live performer on stage, which I was lucky enough to witness about 1997-8 in Australia. (I was in the front row, no more than 12 feet away from her-an experience you can't beat)

The only way you are going to appreciate this lady is to listen to all her albums, so start collecting today.

Special thanks to Wikipedia for additional information for compiling this review.

Laura Branigan's debut album is filled with classic treasures sung with her big, rich, vulnerable soprano voice. The ballads are heart-wrenching and leave you wanting more.

Length:: 0:31 Mins