Customer Reviews

Here Comes the Night (Japanese Import)

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

 

 

Barry Manilow is one of the most talented artists ever. I love the ballads as well as the upbeat tunes. When this album came out, I was thrilled to hear Barry do an upbeat, fun album. I love the beautifully orchestrated ballads from the 70s, but this is a nice change of pace. It has a 50s kind of pop sound, but what's wrong with that? Most people either love Manilow or hate him. I personally love him and every song he's ever done. He has recorded a variety of styles over the years and sounds great on all of them! I would recommend this album to anyone who loves Barry Manilow and the 50s-60s style of music. If you don't care for his music, then don't buy it and keep your rude comments to yourself. There are plenty of artists I don't care for, but I don't go around insulting them or writting rude comments. I simply don't buy their music.

Luis Mejia - This got to be a very popular album in the UK and still a charting one in the US, it got it's singles, and yet I regret there is no findable non import CD version of this album (hope the remaster comes soon, specially after Manilow's collection of "Greatest Songs Of" and the remaster of Manilow). Even when the only sound quality I've heard of this album was the one of an LP, the songs are way too good to be stopped for that. This album got me all the way through, from top to bottom. Here Comes The Night is an excellent product of Barry Manilow's capabilities to put a collection of worthy songs on an album, where there are no highs and lows through it, something painfully notorious in his most famous works. "I Wanna Do It With You", very worthy '50s like pop rock opener. The title track blows away with the chorus melody, very beautiful, and then Cats' "Memory", I've heard better interpretations but this one is very likeable and short. Manilow's quality piano is heard better than in any other album. Going through the compelling middle section there is "Some Kind of Friend", a hit song recognizeable from the beginning, a hit providing us a rythm explosion of guitars and synth melodies (even when you start to draw conclusions about Manilow and synths, this is no over-the-top). "Getting Over Loosing You" is one of the top pieces of the album, hit material, and the popular "Stay", which got better play with the album Barry Live In Britain, providing the ballad sector with a memorable R&B Funk choruses. Apart from the powerful ballads, the album sort of falls weak with the rest of the pop rock showtunes, but luckily they don't get experimental at all. After a while of listening to his popular material, is difficult not to stay focused with the material on this album so full of potential.

The item purchased was everything I hoped it would be. It arrived quickly and I am very pleased with the quality of the tape.
Thank you very much.

"Here Comes The Night," released in 1982, was Barry Manilow's ninth studio album and the beginning of the end of his popularity. Though it went platinum, its first release, "Memory," barely broke the top-40 at #39 and the followup, "Some Kind of Friend," peaked at #26.

His best songs are the title track, "Memory," and "Stay," all ballads in typical Manilow fashion - lots of key changes, backing vocals and strings. He crosses over into the country realm with "Getting Over Losing You," which would have been a great release in the early 1990's when country turned pop - but not for 1982.

The album has two likeable upbeat numbers: the synth-driven "Some Kind of Friend" and "Heart of Steel." Most Manilow fans are familiar with the former; the latter is akin to "Break Down the Door" from his 1981 album and features a great alto saxophone solo.

Aside from these tunes, the rest of the album goes downhill. The worst are "I Wanna Do It With You" and "Some Girls." Both tunes bring down the content of the album and are lame attempts at 1950's doo-wop. The remaining two songs are filler - nothing really memorable.

I received this album for Christmas, 1982. It was my first Manilow album, and, at that time, I didn't think it was all that bad; however, with thirty years to reflect on it and the rest of his reperatoire to compare it too, I can honestly say that it's not his best effort and I think I know why.

In 1982, he had just come off of an exhaustive tour and released "Live in Britain" that January. It was a huge success in Britain, topping the charts at #1 and going platinum. I'm not sure what transpired between then and when "Here Comes the Night" was released that November, but I believe that he was utterly burned out when putting this album together. On over half of the numbers, someone else is playing the piano, which was Manilow's signature instrument, and there just isn't much emotion in his voice. I think that the ten years of composing, arranging, producing, and touring had finally caught up with him and he was worn out. Thus, what we get is an album that doesn't rise to the same standards as his previous ones.

This album is extremely difficult to find on CD. Before you purchase it, I'd encourage you to listen to samples online first. Unless the price comes down, owning his Greatest Hits will be satisfactory enough. Happy listening.

Ooooo--I LOVE IT! This CD has a 50s/60s feel to it, even with a little doo-wop mixed in. There are 11 tracks, totaling almost ¾ hour. This is a Japanese release, so it's really cool. It has all this Japanese writing on the cover and in the enclosed booklet. So, you have a 20-page booklet with the words to all the songs (yes, in English), surrounded by all this Japanese writing. Too cool! I think the lyrics are repeated in Japanese, but who knows. It could be a recipe for squid burgers for all I know. On the back cover of the booklet and the album is a super-sexy pix of Barry *sigh*. I'm guessing he was about 30-something there.

This CD is just chocked full of high-energy music and it is awesome! I am a HUGE Barry fan and collector of his CDs. I have over 50 of them, so it's a real treat for me to find some Barry songs that I don't already have. Well, I found 7 out of 11 on this album. They are marked below with an *. The 11 tracks are:

1. I Wanna Do It With You (3:47)--A naughty little song that I have on maybe 2 or 3 albums. I love this one. I think he must primarily do this one in England. It's fast/up-beat. ". . .I lay around in a daze, and think about all the ways, I wanna do it with you. . ."
*2. Here Comes the Night (3:54)--slow and pretty ". . .here comes the night and I go crazy missing you. . ."
3. Memory (4:59)--slow and pretty--On another album. I think it's on the Songs of the `70s CD.
*4. Let's Get On With It (4:57)--I love it. The music and the relaxed, but driving, beat makes me want to wiggle, tap my feet, dance, play the drums, etc.
*5. Some Girls (3:10)--A hot song. Another one that makes me wanna move. I had a little trouble driving with this song and the one before it. I really needed to dance, but unfortunately my feet and hands were pre-occupied with driving (and dodging the 2-legged squirrels on the road). Sounds like a 50s fast twist. I love this one too.
6. Some Kind of Friend (4:07)--From several other Barry albums, you have likely heard this peppy song before.
*7. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter (3:15)--An old song, but a new one for B. He does a great version of it. Sounds like the early Elvis stuff--twangy guitar, heavy base, slight echo, etc.
*8. Getting Over Losing You (4:21)--slow song--pretty--lots of feeling. I love the way that B. builds on the emotion in a song and then crescendos.
*9. Oh Julie (2:17)--Another peppy song. Makes you want to twist, Charleston, or bop.
*10. Heart of Steel (2:53)--Nice driving beat. Makes me wanna dance, AGAIN!, or bop all over the place, at minimum.
11. Stay (3:58)--One of my favorite B. songs, slow and beautiful.

As you can see by the marks above, even with my not-too-shabby collection, many of these songs are nowhere else. I am sooooo glad I found this album.

If you are after those Manilow piano orchestrated ballads, this is not for you. Most of the tracks are upbeat, and this, for the most part, does not work. There is the dull doo-wop 1950's pastiche 'I'm gonna sit right down...', then there's the two utterly tuneless tracks 'let's get on with it' and the dreadful 'some girls', which may be the worst thing he has done. The opener 'I wanna do it with you' is utterly forgettable, I've already forgotten the melody. As for 'memory', it is a piano ballad, in the style Manilow is known for, but he hardly sings with conviction and seems to forget the key changes and is often out of tune. 'Some kind of friend' is also upbeat, but actually works, and has a really good, memorable synthesiser line and some effective electric guitar parts.
'Getting over (losing you)' is loyal to Manilow's usual sound, and is effective, with the climaxes and cliches, that he does so well. He also sings this quite well. 'Heart of steel' is ok, but very 1980's and he just sounds like he is trying to rock out too much. Finally, 'stay' is extremely likeable. but has a touch of sappiness and the lyrics are, quite frankly, even for him, pukeworthy.