Circle of Love [Import, Original recording remastered]

Steve Miller Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 31, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Eagle
• ASIN: B00000B92A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,020 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered 'collector's edition' reissue of 1981 album for Polydor that's out-of-print domestically, includes extensive sleeve notes. Eagle. 1998.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars UNBROKEN CIRCLE, June 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Circle of Love (Audio CD)

This is a fine record, nothing wrong with it. The production values are high, the performances are solid. The sound is more "layered" than I typically prefer today, but I wouldn't say Steve overdid it. The opening track, "Heart Like a Wheel," is a jaunty, rockabilly romp with plenty of chipper guitar work and the smoothest of Miller lead and harmony vocal blends. I always did like Steve's voice. "Get on Home" is Miller's reworking of the traditional folk song "Cindy" and he manages to make it distinctive without losing the themes and references of the song; the "call-and-response" style of the chorus is especially likeable. "Baby Wanna Dance" sort of echoes the country tune "Dance Dance Dance" from 'Fly Like an Eagle' of five years before. The words are simple ("There've been some lonely, lonely nights/ I've seen some lonely, lonely sights") but the tune is catchy and, of course, it gets you moving. The title track is exceptionally beautiful. I once had an 8-track tape of this record and I always kept it in my brother's station wagon so that I could listen to "Circle of Love" with my dates. It never failed to set the mood properly. When I listened to it alone I grew appreciative of how the lead guitar glides over the chugging rhythm guitar as a perfect complement. As much as I loved (and still enjoy) Steve's earlier records ("Rock 'n Me" was one of my first 45s), this record has always had a special place in my heart, and much of its strength can be attributed to the title track. The final track (all of side 2 in the old days), "Macho City," is a 16 (or is it 18?) minute tour-de-force rap/space song that is still pertinent today ("El Salvador/ Afghanistan/ Ask those people about the Macho Plan"). Steve said he wanted to put this one out as a single (edited for radio play) but the record company balked because of the political content. One wonders whether they'd been paying attention to 'Number 5'... Musically, Gerald Johnson's bass playing is still irresistible; Johnson can also be heard prominently on the 'Joker' album, most notably "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma," and on 'Recall the Beginning.' Here the bass becomes a lead instrument throughout the second half of the track while Steve experiments with spacey synthesizer sounds as he had with 'Eagle' and 'Dreams.' At one point the song fades out and you think it's over, but it comes back in with a spicier bass line and then culminates in a summer storm. Admittedly there's nothing here that equals the power of a song like "Jackson-Kent Blues" but it is beautiful music. Thanks, Steve.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of its time, March 6, 2006

By 

dalepres "dalepres" (Park Hill, OK United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Circle of Love (Audio CD)

This is another great performance by Steve Miller. Every song on the album is worth listening to:

Heart Like a Wheel - A great upbeat tune. Very catchy.

Get On Home - An excellent precursor to Born 2 Be Blue which wouldn't come out for another 7 years.

Baby Wanna Dance - Another very catch tune. This one gets me rocking and twisting in my chair at work when it plays in my headset.

Circle of Love - Though the title track is the weakest track on the album, it is a very listenable song and I enjoy laying back with the volume up loud in my headset at home and letting the music relax me. It's like a shot of good single-malt Scotch. It sort of just takes you away from it all for a few minutes.

Macho City - This is the track that seems to bother most people who comment here or elsewhere about the Circle of Love album. Most don't like it. I have liked it from the very first time I listened to it when I bought this album originally in vinyl when it first came out. You should listen to it. It is as on-the-mark in today's socio-political environment as it was when it first came out. I am typing this review while on the TV there are velcro people with x-ray sight making judgments about what's wrong and what's right, telling about macho man taking over this and taking over that. Like Steve Miller's Jackson-Kent Blues and Industrial Military Complex Hex, from the album Number 5, the much-maligned Macho City shows that Steve's music goes much deeper than The Joker.

This is an album, like all of Steve's albums, not to be missed.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vinylly mine, November 8, 1999

By 

Jim LaRegina ([e-mail]) (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Circle of Love (Audio CD)

You might dismiss CIRCLE OF LOVE lyrics such as, "I gave her my heart, I was in love right from the start," as trite until the next day when you find these Steve Miller songs playing in your head! And the man can play - witness the guitar-pickin' on the title track. Then there's "Macho City," Steve's musical take on modern Manifest Destiny that will challenge those who think he's all happy-go-lucky. I recommend CICLE OF LOVE but as I write this it is available only as a rather pricey import. Also, this 1981 release may not seem like much bang for the bucks - five songs totaling less than 40 minutes. That's why I'm glad I got my copy of CIRCLE OF LOVE used, on vinyl, for two dollars.