Customer Reviews

Camera Never Lies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Camera Never Lies" is full on synth pop. The title track features a harmony vocal by Art Garfunkel, "Face To Face" is a nice upbeat opener, I had trouble convincing a dear freind of mine "I Surrender" is really a good song, "just listen to it a couple times, it'll grow on you." She never got it. "Island Life" was a video subject, it got some airplay on VH1. "Now You're In My Dreams" was played on radio and Patti Austin is a great partner for Michael on this song, it really deserved more attention than it ultimately recieved. "Lip Service" is Michael at his wordplay best, "Doctor Sax" has a similar arrangement as "Queen Of The Underground" from the previous release "Skin Dive," which was two years prior to this album's release. "Doctor Sax" centers around a blistering sax solo, it tells a tale of a grease monkey by day, sax player at night. What is Michael if not fantasy? The final track, "Innuendo," is a beautiful song featuring accoustic guitar, a departure from the rest of this album. Some believe this is a routine release, a floater album. Michael does sound very at ease here, but I feel this album, as with all Michael's albums, are far from routine, it's a great body of work.

I have this album on cassette and I have never been able to find it on cd. Subsequently I have played it so much that only a few of the songs are playable. It is absolutely an amazing album. It is one of few ablum that you are always in a mood for. The lyrics are rich and powereful.

I once sat in the rain to listen to Michael Franks in concert and would gladly do so again if I hear The Camera Never Lies and Island Life. I love Innuendo! It's such a quiet, sexy song. This is my current favorite Michael Franks title.

This CD is filled with terrific songs and great productions - Michael at his seductive, sensuous best! He may too sophisticated for wide pop appeal, but he sure satisfies the musically and lyrically educated taste!

One of my good friends once praised me for my interest in what he defined as "adult funk". For the point of not bragging for starters there is a truth to that. Michael Franks is one of these people who has a definate appeal to me because he can bring a collection of contemporary jazz and pop musicians that could almost rival Quincy Jones,if not in terms of Q's breadth and scope in genre of those people and create a style of music that blends together all their important individual elements into his own well established sound. The man has a quiet voice. Another reason for that grown up appeal is the witty,intelligent and droll lyrical approch that he always takes. At the same time there's this sassy jazz quality and implicitness to it all which easily matched his lyrics. Considering his music is based both in jazz and funk it's a reminder of that special quality those two genres share. On this album he collects a series of torrid 80's contempo funk-type songs that are sweet to an extant but,from the lyrics to the heavy rhythms has a heavy sass and a strong nasty groove courtesy of many a solid bass line. "Face To Face" and "I Surrender" get things off to a pretty good start with songs that are heavier on the dance-pop flavor than jazz but,at the same time he claims to personal complication by going as far as mentioning Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool as his "theme song". Which can be said in truth since Frank,like Miles knows how to jam while tugging at your ears a little softer. My theme song on this album is the title tune which has a brezzier,more atmospheric dance-pop/jazz kind of flavor. I relate to it because I use the medium of photography and painting myself to express certain ideas about the world TO the world which,in it's implication is kind of at the core of what this tune is about. "Lip Service" is a deeply funky one with just a tad of that James Brown style rhythm mixed in (only far heavier produced of course) as Frank's delivers some friendly payback to a lover who seems to be able to talk the talk but never walk the walk. "When I Think Of Us" is...well to me an excellent example of how a romantic,grooving tune can work in the 80's. It's not a ballad but this jazzy,smoking midtempo piece with one of the most appealing and sexy vocal arrangements on the whole album. "Now You're In My Dreams" with Patti Austin and "Innuendo" are the softer ends musically of the album and not too bad "after the act" kind of tunes. "Doctor Sax" really lets go on the contempo funk end even adding a bit of the pre New Jack Swing hip-hop flavor into the groove to shake things up a bit. In terms of how I discovered this album there's a little story I shared with you. I was first exposed to this when an odd janitor at the TV station my dad worked at dug a cassette of this album out of the dumpster,disinfected it and presented it to my father. For something that was bein literally thrown in the garbage pile,once I heard this I could'nt get enough and it compelled me to look for the CD for my own collection. So do I recommend this album?You better believe I do. You might THINK you won't like it at first,maybe you wont. But there's always more a mild possibility,if it's good taste and high quality doesn't hit you over the head right away that you might get a little delayed reaction.

Michael Franks' soothing voice and jazzy rhythms makes for the type of music you want to keep in your car and play after a hard day's work or cleaning in the house. In this day and age of overprocessed pop and the quasi-barely talented, Michael Franks is a welcome change.

I once sat in the rain to listen to Michael Franks in concert and would gladly do so again if I hear The Camera Never Lies and Island Life. I love Innuendo! It's such a quiet, sexy song. This is my current favorite Michael Franks title.

I bought it back in '87 for the title cut and have recently rediscovered the joys held within. My particular favorite is Face to Face. I'm not terribly fond of Innuendo and Doctor Sax. Otherwise a terrific listen.

This is the best album by him. I really like this one! The only one I don't like is Innuendo, but the rest of them get a thumbs up.

Hailed as one of the smoothest and most creative Jazz/Pop artists around - Michael Franks is extremely discerning about who performs with him...and it clearly shows, in the quality of the finished product. The title track, "Dr. Sax" and "Island Life" are my favorites. Brit Chris Hunter absolutely shines, in "Dr. Sax." His incredible solo emerges straight from the song like a Bullet Train! An incredible, experimental fusion of pop and smooth jazz...only found in this Eighties gem!!!