Customer Reviews

In the City of Angels

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"City of Love" is a good - but not great- solo album from Yes singer Jon Anderson. Half of the songs are terrific, mostly in the second half of the album.

The album was released in 1988, a challenging time for Jon. He was looking to quit his day job - as leader singer for Yes - and probably hoped to emulate Phil Collins' solo success by appealing to the adult contemporary crowd.

Nonetheless, at least half of the album is very good. "Top Of The World" is the closest to a Yes song on the album. It's an extended track with a dramatic, prog-rock feel. Another highlight is "New Civilization," which features a children's choir and bubbles with optimism. Hurry Home, with its timeless, world-music feel, could have been on Jon's solo masterpiece, "Olias of Sunhillow."

Three other tracks - "For You," " If It Wasn't for Love," and "It's On Fire" - are mellow, atmospheric tracks focusing on Jon's angelic vocals, reminiscent of Jon's 1980 solo release, "Song of Seven."

The downside to the album is that some of the tracks are easy-listening ballads. Members of Toto played on this album, so some parts sound a lot like Toto, especially "Hold On To Love," "Is It Me," and "In A Lifetime." And we're talking Toto ballads.

But while "In the City of Angels" isn't Jon's best solo album, there are enough good tracks to make this of interest to any Yes fan. Recommended.

From interviews and press reports, one would believe that Jon Anderson was pretty much fed up with "mainstream pop" in the late 80's when _Big Generator_ came out. However, recorded and released around that time, _In The City Of Angels_ is a pretty mainstream pop album. Certain songs such as "Sundancing", "Top of the World", and "Hurry Home" are a little experimental and similar to what would come on _Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe_, but songs such as "Is It Me", "In A Lifetime", and "If It Wasn't For Love" are in the same mold of MOR late 80's love songs. However, with Anderson singing, these songs become bearable. The highlights on this album include a very tender "For You" (with Anderson playing the harp), a very energetic "New Civilization", and the uplifting "It's On Fire", "Hurry Home", and "Top of the World". Many of the musicians and songwriters on this album were members of Toto so there is an 80's Rock sheen on most of the songs. However, if you're a fan of Anderson even at his most "twee", this is an enjoyable album. If you're searching for something on the same level as _Olias of Sunhillow_, look elsewhere.

I must say when I heard this Cd in 1988, I was delighted to hear more music about Love from a musician who has never been afraid to show his Heart........ The first song "Hold on to Love" is a great catchy song,the lyrics make you think about just that, Holding on to Love, in all forms..... 'If it wasn't for Love' is just dying to be re-done by JON, I hope to see it pop up on one of his CDs some day, it is beautiful!..... " Sun Dancing" is a wonderful song of electronic world visions that bring the Earth and you alive with delight....if you're not dancing with this one somethings wrong...... "Is it Me" is a song about hurt and sadness, its beautiful in that Jon takes you inside his heart and bares his soul...... "In a lifetime" is slow and rewarding with its gentle touch and lasting look at love.... " For You" is a beautiful love song that could bring tears to the eyes of anyone with an open heart. {This song is for you!!}..... " New Civilization" is wild and free, exploring many of Jon's past musical experiences. How could you not hear this song and not sing ...Oh the magic of it!...... "It's on Fire" another love song, revisted on the "Change we Must" Cd as "Under the Sun" fantastic! ..."Betcha" is a jazzy little song that doesn't quite fit on this album. Betcha like it though.... "Top of the world" is a spiritual journey into light and vibration, this song could go on forever it has a push about it that moves you, and always reminds you that it loves you..... " Hurry Home" also re-visited on "Change we Must" is a touching song that is not easy to forget, Moving throughtout your soul reminding you of love, and the warmth of your own heart.... All in all this is music that will be around for a long time. Jon made a album of Love Songs,its just that simple, and who better to do that than JON ANDERSON!!, Perhaps the CD should have been called " In the City of your Soul" For this music clearly takes you there. Buy it, and listen.....

THIS IS BAD (except a couple of songs where the real Anderson comes through).

This is not soulful. This is disco pop of the late 1980s (when disco had evolved away from the Bee Gees and Donna Summer).

Released in 1988, this was recorded when Anderson left Yes for the second time. It is 47 minutes long. The original CD sound quality was OK (better than most of the Yes CDs released in the 1980s), but still not great. There is some harshness on the high end, which is a bad thing for someone who sings like Anderson. I have not heard the remastered version, but the original sure could use some fixing.

This is more of a producer's album than an artist's album. It was produced by Stewart Levine, who produced the jazz/soul/disco band Simply Red. Some are going to argue that Simply Red is not Disco, but that is what Disco had evolved into in the late 1980s until Grunge wiped it off the map. So, many of the songs have that kind of Simply Red feeling to them.

The lyrics on many of the songs were written by others, including Lamont Dozier of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame. He has written a number of classic songs, but his writing here is just horrible. Although we all complain about it, Anderson is better off just singing his spacy nonsensical lyrics than this pap.

There are a couple of good songs on this CD (Sundancing and Top of the World) where Anderson breaks away from the pop and sounds more like he does on his other solo albums.

To sum up:
-I like Jon Anderson
-I like Simply Red
-I don't like Jon Anderson doing Simply Red (it was like when Eric Clapton tried to do Phil Collins on August...another project involving Dozier)

I hate to admit that I enjoyed this album. The idea of one of my favorite prog rockers singing a bunch of pop ditties made me roll my eyes. And the corny video that Jon did for "Hold on to Love" almost made me lose my coffee.

But "pop" is short for "popular," and that's what this album deserved to be. They may be pop ditties, but they are all good. Anderson had a hand in writing all of them.

And you aging prog fans who make it through the first ten tracks are in for a treat with the eleventh, "Hurry Home." It has a sound and feel that is one part "Olias of Sunhillow," one part "Jon and Vangelis," and one part something else entirely.

The album title is a play on the name Los Angeles.
It's 1988 and Jon Anderson is in town. He teams up with music legends and heavyweights Lamont Dozier, David Paich, Rhett Lawrence, Stewart Levine etc to produce a more "commercial" sounding album. It's not YES, Vangelis or Olias Of Sunhillow. It's almost like an FM-friendly album for the MOR/AOR market of 1988.

Occasionally reminiscient of AWBH with some good moments, but in the scheme of things not among his greatest works. It seems he just wanted to play with some different energy at the time.

Jon Anderson is a superb vocalist. No one else sounds like him. In the City of Angels is a pleasant listening experience. The production is very clean and spacious. The musicianship is also very good. In the City of Angels is mostly in a pop direction. My favorite songs are "Hold on to Love" and "In a Lifetime." I still enjoy hearing both of them--they are very well-written. The rest of the album is pretty good also. Jon Anderson has different musicians playing on various songs. Members of Toto play on a handful of them. Toto member (David Paich) helped write a couple of the tunes. The songwriting throughout is good and also experimental in places. In the City of Angels is worth a listen.

I bought Jon's 'City Of Angels' when it came out in the spring of '88 and wasn't too impressed by it at first, it being a total contrast to Yes' excellent 'Big Generator' released a half year before it. It does however have some fine moments. '..Angels' is firmly a more upbeat, soul-influenced pop album which is clearly a mixed bag of fine pop music and fluff filler. Less personal than a some of his other work, Jon had a lot of co-writing help from several writers and the boatload of session players(including most of Toto) are an indication that this one may have been an easier one to put out. Some of this will have to grow on you, and there are some weak moments(It May Be A Fire, For You). The best moments here are the opener, 'Hold On To Love', which is an excellent soul/pop song of the highest degree(which garnered some airplay back then, I remember, but not much), the latin-infused 'Sungazing' and 'The Glass Bead Game', which rocks like it could have been on a Yes album between 90125 and Generator. The sound quality in the vocal department is strong on this album as well. Definately a record-company overseen album which may infuriate casual Yes fans, but not without moments.

Jon Anderson is an excellent vocalist. There is a lot of esoteric material on here. Some of it isn't really my style, but their are a couple of real gems that I like. "Hold on to Love" is a great upbeat song with signature Anderson vocals, and "In a Lifetime" is a beautiful catchy ballad that I never get tired of listening to.

...TOP OF THE WORLD and HURRY HOME. Apart from IF IT WASN'T FOR LOVE and FOR YOU, most (if not all) of the remaining tracks fall flat comparatively. By the way, you haven't felt the pure energy of HURRY HOME if you've only heard the softer arrangement on the CD "CHANGE WE MUST" and not here. Play both TOP and HURRY loud and indoors. That way you won't have so far to fall when you come back down! : )