Customer Reviews

David Foster

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I discovered this CD in my moms CD collection and it had the St. Elmos Fire theme. That song is so captivating even after all these years.

St. Elmos Fire has that awesome orchestra sound and a sunny roimantic pop sound. It was a well deserved hit.

I later discovered other great songs on this CD. The Best Of Me is a romantic power ballad with a brooding atmosphere and a vocal guest appearance by Olivia Newton John. Whos Gonna Love You tonight is a dramatic song with a very rockish sound. The song Elizabeth to me is like a darker more minor note version of St. Elmos Fire theme.

The song that made this album forever a treasure in my CD collection is Flight Of The Snowbirds. Snowbirds is so incredible that it makes all the other songs on this CD seem average compared to Flight Of The Snowbirds. This song is absolutely incredible, powerful and far more addictive than St. Elmos Fire. I just love how it builds up at the beginning and goes through that repetitive melodic pattern towards the ending. I was in bliss when listening to it when flying in a jetliner over the clouds. It gives that incredible feeling of flying. Flight of Snowbirds will never die.

This is one CD will become a gem. It's worth the hard search. I guarantee it.

I love talent of David Foster! While I love his instrumental music the best, I really like his vocal as well. I've heard his music for the first time in St.Elmo's Fire, and I love the album "Citron" that he did with some Japanese artist! It's shame it is not available in this country..."Flight of the snowbirds" is my all time favorite! If it's rock'n Roll or ballad, funky or mellow, he does it perfect! His multi talent really amaze me!

I love this album. Every song is moving with heavy keyboards, powerful guitar riffs thrown in by Michael Landau, and solid drum beats by Tris Imbodien of Chicago. Most of the album is instrumental but Dave sings well on 2 songs including a duet with Olivia Newton-John. This is one the best lite rock CD's ever made. Flight Of The Snowbirds and Elizabeth are soft rock masterpieces. Nobody plays the keyboards like Foster can.

Back in 1986, when I had heard that David Foster had a solo album coming out - I was very excited. I had long been familiar with David Foster's work as a producer and songwriter (i.e. producer for Chicago, songwriter for Lionel Richie, his involvement with the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack and more). Therefore, I was thrilled to discover that David Foster had a solo album coming out. His self-titled debut album "David Foster" doesn't disappoint - in fact it is outstanding. There are 10 tracks to the collection. Eight of the ten tracks are instrumental tracks. The remaining two tracks feature vocals by Foster. In a lot of ways, Foster's music reminds you of John Tesh's early days - I like to think of it as "pop/New Age". Another way to look at things is that "David Foster" is "pop instrumentation". The "pop" isn't meant to be a negative here - in fact, this album brings a nice change of pace by bringing instumental tunes into the pop landscape.

One thing that is most noticeable about Foster's music is that it has a certain style. His keyboard arrangements have a distinct style that makes it easily recognizable to be "David Foster" music. I can't say this is style is something very tangible, but it does become obvious when you listen to his music. This is especially true when you compare this style to the work that Foster did with artists such as Chicago and Lionel Richie (Foster wrote "The Only One" from Richie's "Can't Slow Down" album). When you listen to his contributions he made to those artists, you will see this style will come to the forefront. Although Foster plays Keyboards on these tracks, you will hear a diverse array of instrumentation on many of the tracks. In addition to the vocals, there is a terrific infusion of horns and guitar. This helps put "icing on the cake" for the selections and really helps to make them stand out.

The collection begins with the most popular of the songs, Foster's "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire". This song was a part of the "St. Elmo's Fire" soundtrack. There were actually two versions of this song on that soundtrack by David Foster - one with vocals (Foster) and one as an instumental. The instrumental version became the released single and more popular version. The instrumentals seem to bring some real passion to this theme. This song has a great effect by combining a modern-day musicbox sound with some horns at the end. I think it would have been also nice if the vocals version was included, but at same time - this isn't a rehash of the "St.Elmo's Fire" soundtrack and the better version of the song was included.

The second track is also a soundtrack cut - this time it is the "Theme From the Color Purple (Mailbox/Proud Theme)". This is actually not a Foster penned song, but it was co-written by Quincy Jones and Jeremy Lubbock (Foster's collaborator on 4 songs). This song mirrors the "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" in that Foster introduces the horns to overlay a musicbox-like instrumental. Not quite as passionate as "Love Theme", but still a good cut.

The third track is the best cut of the collection - "Flight of the Snowbirds". This song starts out with a "new-age" like beginning. This song then builds up with both intensity and passion and it goes on. It almost has a theatrical-like quality to it and it does seem to tell a story without words. This song will grow on you as you hear it. It proves that when it comes to passionate instrumentals, Foster is the top of the game.

Foster's talents are not just limited to instumentals. There are two tracks where Foster contributes vocals. The fifth track "The Best of Me" is a duet that Foster does with Olivia Newton-John. This track not only features Foster and Haddock as the songwriters, but it also features Richard Marx as a songwriter (before Marx became a star in his own right - perhaps they met when both collaborated on Lionel Richie's "Can't Slow Down"). Although this isn't the strongest Olivia Newton-John vocals you will hear, it still is a very good duet - and surprisingly it's Foster's vocals that will carry the song. The other song featuring Foster vocals is "Who's Gonna Love You Tonight". On this song, Foster brings a high level of intensity like he has brought to many of the other songs on this collection. This song has an almost Richard Marx quality to it even though Marx didn't collaborate with Foster on it. This song also has some great horns.

Two other songs worth noting are "tapDance" and "Playing with Fire". The title "tapDance" is exactly what the song title says - an uptempo Tap Dance-like simulation through music. Again no absence of horns as Foster integrates the horns beautifully into the song. You will hear actual moments of tap dancing in the song. "Playing with Fire" is a song that was co-written by Foster and Mike Landau. This is another superb song that features Chicago's Horn Players - James Pankow, Walter Parazider, and Lee Loughnane. This song has a definite "Chicago"-like quality thanks to horns playing. What is amazing is that many accused Foster (as a producer) of taking the classic horn sound out of Chicago (which I think is unfair), yet this song has qualities of classic (pre-Foster) Chicago. Foster's keyboards shine well on this song. Like many of the other tracks on this collection, this will feature a high level of intensity.

Although Foster has built his reputation as a songwriter and producer, this album also proves he is a terrific musical artist in his own right. This collection proves it. It is one of the better instrumental collections out there. This is a highly recommended album.

Not many music can stand the challenge of time --This one will. Attention should not be placed just on the more popular Love Theme from St Elmo's Fire, don't over look The Best Of Me and Who's Gonna Love You Tonight. It is an item you would cherish in years to come.

This is the first record i bought of Mr.Foster.Now í'm looking for anything that's available and i have even cdr's of my original cd's kept in different places.do you think i'm crazy?.In Spain (Europe) i have bought records of David Foster to all of my friends.He is the best songwritter i know.I am a musican and i wish i would be a 0.1% as good.

This album is absolutely, without doubt a great listen. David Foster offers hints of his style through his masterpieces in this self-titled album.

Conocí a David Foster por casualidad y quedé encantado con la canción "Quién te amará esta noche." Al tiempo supe que era uno de los más famosos arregladores y productores y que era también intérprete del "Tema de Amor de St. Elmo's Fire", que ha sido fondo musical de un programa de TV de mi país durante años. Excelente contenido y también excelente calidad de sonido. Muy buena música.

This is just what my boyfriend wanted. He had this music on a cassette years ago and thought it would not be available. I found it on the web and ordered it for him. He was really excited to get it. It arrived in perfect shape and only took a few days.

David Foster might not be a household name but he is in the music world. This small collection which is why I deducted one star has his hits like the St. Elmo's Fire (which by the way wasn't a great movie but had a great soundtrack), "Who's Going to Love You Tonight?" is also another classic on this collection disc which was initially probably an audio cassette which would explain where there are not more than ten songs on this disc. Regardless, the "Flight of the Snowbirds" is magical listening as is the "St. Elmo's Love Theme" and "Who's Going to Love You Tonight." His musical style on this compact disc is both instrumental and with vocal arrangements on some songs. He writes the kind of inspirational music like the "St. Elmo's Love Theme" which is far better than the movie ever was in 1984 to outlast and become a classic melody. It's a great song and the others are as well on this disc but there could be so much more. David Foster deserves lots of accolades for his services and contributions to the music industry.