Customer Reviews

Dancing With Strangers

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is Chris Rea's finest hour of music. I never get tired of listening to this album. It has such diversity of musical influences: the moody blues rap of Joys of Christmas, the playful I Can't Dance to That, the pure Rea blues Curse of the Traveller, the swing sound of Let's Dance, the Caribbean essence of Que Sera and the mournful Irish folk of Josie's Tune.
This was Chris Rea's commercial smash hit in South Africa. It seems to be his personal celebration as well, even though it has its somber moments. It makes you want to get up and dance, much the same way as the Traveling Wilburys' second album did. In my opinion, Rea has never matched the high of this album. He took a deliberate turn to pessimism on his next album, The Road to Hell, which is still a good album, but then he gradually stopped writing catchy tunes and squandered the lovely diverse instrumentation on low-key blues efforts.
This album had a bushel of hits and potential hits, but has not figured much on Rea's "Best of" compilations for some strange reason.

This is a really good album,Chris continues on with similar sound styling form "On the Beach" but goes more with a Dance feel. Joys Of Christmas is a above average song, with Chris doing a little rap! I Can't Dance To That is a song YOU CAN dance to. Windy Town is one of his best, lovely bits of tinkling piano, great lyrics and catchy melody. GOnna Buy A Hat is one of the average songs. Curse Of The Traveller starts of with a beautiful piece of the ulieen pipes then into a haunting song. Then there is "Lets Dance" the big single off the album. Que Sera is a great catchy song that make u wanna dance to. Josies Tune is a beautiful piece of music, an instrumental featuring mainly the ulieen pipes again. Then we go to Loving You Again which i find to be the best of the album. The rest of the album is of an average sort. Though the last remaing good song is September Blue. This would be one of the saddest songs you'll ever hear, the melody brings tears to your eyes along with the heart-wrenching lyrics. Overall though this a great album, and i'm going to give it 5 stars.

I bought this cd after listening to other Chris Rea cds for the past 3 months. I have had it a week, thanks to the other reviews here. Thanks, folks, you were right! I had this on at work and "Windy Town" jumped out at me first, but by Thursday, it became clear that "Loving You Again" was the best for me. I started cranking it up after the doors were locked and probably listened to it 20 times between work, the car, and home. Wow! It grabs you! Simple message, but any long term husband/wife or girlfriend/boyfriend should key on this one. "I'm only loving you again....After all these years; through rain and tears". If this were the only dynamite song on the cd, I would be happy with it, but each song has its way growing on you. "Joys of Christmas" is hardly a joyful song, but what a great beat. I have not been disappointed by any of my Chris Rea purchases, and I don't make copies for other people; I buy them. Do the same and make your friends happy with this great music. I now own "Blue Guitars" (11 cds + the DVD); "The Road to Hell" (6 super songs); "Dancing...."; "On the Beach"; "The Very Best...."; and have just ordered 3 more different cds. Chris Rea is so damned good, I am saddened he has remained a virtual unknown here in America. I dare say, if Chris would re-release some of his best songs over here on the top 40 stations, he would sell millions and millions more. Letterman should bring him over or something. I know my friends and family all agree with me. Better buy some while they are still available, folks.

One of my top 3 Chris Rea CD's (along with "On the Beach" and "Road to Hell"). Contrary to the mellower On the Beach, Dancing with Strangers contains some of his more rocking songs, filled with diversity, and as always, classic musicianship. Some ZZ Top influences (I Can't Dance to That), some blues (Curse of the Traveller), some instrumental jamming (Danielle's Wheel) you name it. You won't be disappointed.

There are times in life when you buy a CD, play it for months on end, and when you eventually put it away, you miss it. This is one of those albums. Bringing it out years on has reminded me just how damn good Chris Rea is. 14 superb tracks, flowing wonderful from start to finish, a start "Joys Of Christmas" telling us about miserable times in poverty stricken, recession clad England of the early eighties. "Windy Town" is a joy, recalling times on tour and times gone past, while "Gonna Buy A Hat" is a footstomping classic. "Curse Of The Traveller" is a bluesy masterpiece while the instrumental "Josie's Tune" is a beautiful piece of music that could be pulled from the middle of the Sahara Desert. There is time for the hits too, "Let's Dance" is wonderful and "Loving You Again" a great reminder of how good a long term relationship should feel. The finest moment for me is "September Blue". Apparently written for his late mother, it is sad, reflective and awesomely beautiful.

I have a lot of time for Chris Rea. His recent blues offering "Dancing Down The Stony Road" is also worth investigating, as are most of his albums. But this one is the best!

Dancing with Strangers is yet another quintessential Chris Rea album. This album is a real feast for the ears. A very diverse album that mixes styles rather well and the various styles serve to enhance the material Rea brings with him this time out. Rea's output from 1984 through 1991 is as solid as it gets. Another release I never tire of hearing. Pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

This music is another example of Chris' soulful guitar-backed love songs. If you like his music you won't go wrong with any of his CDs. If you're looking for music similar to Mark Knopler's solo work but with a little more punch, this is it.

The song "Curse Of The Traveller", is more than worth the price of the entire CD. Chris is a great songwriter, singer and can play anything. He has a wonderful voice which is at times sensual as most of his songs are if you really listen. He writes through his heart, life experiences and I love the man and his music.

Mare

For my money this is one of the top ten albums ever made and that is no exageration. It is fantastic. I was given this album for Christmas the year it was released. I played it nearly all day and probably drove everyone barmy by the end of the day. To this day I still play this album at least once a week because it is so good. For times when you feel down or when you want to just keep on feeling good this is the medicine. The music leaves you feeling elated with some wide eyed child like appreciation of the power of music. There is not one ordinary track on this album. It is the best.

It contains "curse of the traveller" my favourite Rea song, incredibly not on his greatest hits albums

a nice album to travel with, actually