Customer Reviews

Coming Out

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

great tunes on this CD! It's more of a "pop" cd than usual. It was recorded in the '70's and I THINK the last album recorded with Laurel Masse, their "soprano".

Laurel Masse does a GREAT job on "Scotch and Soda" and Janis Siegel does quite a few tunes that should have been big hits!

Alan Paul does "The Speak Up Mambo" which is really fun!

My favorite tune is called "Occapella" which has this great Acapella "counterpoint" in it!! It's hard to describe, but it's funky and fun.

And there's a quirky tune called "Popsicle Toes" you GOTTA hear!

All in all, this is another great TMT CD! It's amazing how much really good stuff they've put out over the years, with such variety.

I wanted to have this CD. I knew the vynil version years ago and that reminds me a full of good feelings. Theirs voices are at their best, the sound is very jazzy and that sounds as a very happy song collection. "Scotch and soda" is one of my favourites.

Call me sentimental & old fashioned but I un-ashamedly like this album for the "tunes"... POINCIANA, CHANSON D'AMOUR, SCOTCH & SODA, IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE ANY DIFFERENCE as well as the whimsical Popsicle Toes & zany Speak up Mambo. It's the most "conventional sounding album" MT has to date but it still has the characteristic sound and for want of a more adequate description, is a nice compilation. And so what's so darned wrong with "nice" anyways ??!!!

I bought this on LP back in 1977 in New York City. My copy of their first release was almost worn out and this one was on the shelf. What a treat to find it released on CD! Nobody does harmony like the Manhattan Transfer. They may not be for everybody's taste, but they sure are great to me. This is a neat albumn with a pretty good range of material.

this is old Transfer with an eclectic selection of songs, more pop than jazz but great harmonies as only they can do

Terrific! Fantastic! The Manhattan Transfer's Coming Out is the most ... from coast to coast!

I had searched high and low for this CD as a gift for my Dad and found it in minutes on Amazon...He loves it!

"Coming Out" was released about a year after the group's Atlantic Records debut, and what a difference a year makes! The first thing I notice is that the album's graphics are all vivid color images, unlike the retro black and white illustrations from the previous album. Though the material on "Coming Out" still veers perilously close to nostalgia, I get the impression that MT (and their record company) were hoping to create an image of the group as contemporary artists with "Coming Out."

Given the fact that most of the oldies that MT covers here are relatively obscure, the pure '70s Pop production of this album isn't likely to give them away. MT "samples" a number of musical styles that include Rockabilly, Motown, Jazz, Mambo and sophisticated Euro-Pop. The fact that they cross genres so effortlessly is, unfortunately, a blessing and a curse. While the group itself never betrays the musical "roots" of these songs, the studio gloss and AM-Radio friendly arrangements of "Coming Out" tends to blur the distinctive qualities of each genre represented. The result is "flavoring," if you will. For example, instead of getting Jazz, listeners get Jazz-flavored Pop. That may sound like nit-picking, but for fans it can mean the difference between a standout album and something you don't mind playing as background music.

I wouldn't describe this album as bland, because there is nothing "vanilla" about the vocal chops of MT. They may not "steal" any of these songs from the original artists, but they certainly give their all in performance. Their ensemble harmonies on "Zindy Lou," "Chanson D'Amour" and "Poinciana" are almost spine-tingling in their sonic purity. The rest of these songs feature vocal soloists, with each MT member taking his/her turn. Janis shines in "Don't Let Go" and "It's Not The Spotlight," but her real tour de force is the Holland-Dozier-Holland classic, "Helpless." Laurel's take on "Scotch and Soda" is a woozy delight, though "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" is a rather dull vehicle for her full-bodied soprano. Alan pulls out all the stops in "The Speak Up Mambo," but his Supremes cover is lukewarm at best. Tim's lone solo is the charming "Popsicle Toes," which is one of this album's oddball highlights.

There were no breakout singles from this album in the U.S., though "Chanson D'Amour" was a hit in the UK and France. In spite of it's commercial negligibility, there is a bounty of vocal talent in "Coming Out," which makes it an essential (if somewhat un-exceptional) addition to any MT collection. Even an "average" Manhattan Transfer album is miles ahead of the closest competition.

-Mic

The Manhattan Transfer were somewhat new on the block in the mid seventies and this album amid other great music of the era - stands out for being fresh and sharp. Admittedly, I have a soft spot for this album for sentimental reasons and was only 7 when I first heard it.

It is vintage MT - and as one reviewer points out - the album comprises mainly of solo performances but that was what made MT special: each member had their own style and voice and yet they pulled it together to make it a group effort as the Beatles did. This is one of MT's most eclectic and interesting albums with the signature tracks Chanson D'Amour and Scotch N Soda. My personal favourites were the high octane tracks with Janis Siegal's powerhouse voice - Helpless and SOS - where she cuts loose.

The name of the game here was variety. MT were never stuck in one mode. Although they become more of an ensemble later on - I prefer the early to mid MT sound where each track varied from one another. There's more of a pop oriented feel here but the sophistication and class of MT never loses focus.

Okay, I'm giving this 5 stars for nostalgic reasons but there really isn't a bad track on this at all. You can feel the passion.

I expected the close harmony blending of MT. This collection is mostly solos. They are somewhat interesting, but I was disappointed. "Scoth & Soda" and "Poinciana" are keepers; the rest I'll ignore.

The collection of recordings in other CDs, e.g. "Swing" far surpass this collection in terms of group participation.