Customer Reviews

Faster Than the Speed of Night

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Listen, over on the radio there! Is it Rod Stewart? Is it Dusty Springfield, No, it's... Bonnie Tyler! Faster Than The Speed Of Night, able to do decent covers of CCR ("Have You Ever Seen The Rain") and Bryan Adams songs ("Straight From The Heart"), and with a scratchy and silky voice that needs to be appreciated more!

This is a change from the country and soul she used to do on her first four albums. With Jim Steinway wearing the producer's helmet, Bonnie definitely went into another direction, especially as evidenced by the title track. It's a seven minute plus opus that opens with a quick keyboard, a rock beat, and includes operatic backing vocals. The pace is cranked up at an exciting and excited pace in the last minutes of the song. Okay, the song sounds at home on a Meat Loaf album, but Jim Steinway produced this album, so that's hardly surprising. Right? Right.

"Total Eclipse Of The Heart", which spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard singles chart, has probably netted most of Bonnie's royalties with its countless appearance on 80's compilations and radio airplay, is another classic of that era. Even its near 7:00 running time does not hurt the song's loveliness at all. It's that opening piano, Bonnie and Rory Dodd's vocals, that repeated refrain, "Turnaround...", its split chorus, one heavy with emotion, the other subdued, and the heavy keyboard synthesizers that Heart would later do during their 80's period that really makes this song worth playing over and over.

Trivia note: Bonnie beats Meat Loaf in saying the lines "I'll do anything for love, but I won't do that" by eight years. She says the line in "Getting So Excited".

"Tears" is a worthy ballad that is only overshadowed by "Total Eclipse" and "Take Me Back" ends with the same operatic chorus present in "Faster Than The Speed Of Night".

The album ends with a version of Bryan Adams' "Straight From The Heart", which is comparable to the original. It gives Bonnie yet another chance to exercise those scratchy vocals of hers.

There's quality talent in her band. Drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist "Professor" Roy Bittan gained fame being in Bruce Springsteen's band during his Born In The U.S.A. days, and Rick Derringer gives Bonnie his own rock and roll hootchie-koo support as her guitarist.

It's a shame that Faster Than The Speed Of The Night is the one-hit album for her. She has followed through with other decent albums like Free Spirit, Bitterblue, and Silhouette In Red.

I don't usually listen to or buy commercial pop, but I like Bonnie Tyler's delivery of Total Eclipse of the Heart so much that I bought this to see what else she could do.
Well, you know, though there is nothing deep here, she's not bad. She's got a great husky, powerful voice and given the right material and promotion, she could have gone very far. And the right material is what she lacks.
There are a couple of decent songs here beside the aforementioned monster hit. Tyler does a good job covering CCR's Have You Ever Seen Rain and the title cut. But I am in the amen corner of many of the other reviewers who deplore the inclusion of the disco meat-market songs Getting So Excited and Its a Jungle Out There, the lyrics of which are cringingly jejune. In addition, the kid's chorus in Goin' Through The Motions nearly had me retching.
Despite those, I give the CD four stars because Tyler somehow manages to overcome most of the lame material she was given and presents the listener with an enjoyable overall musical experience.

I am a huge BT fan, and I have had the opportunity to meet her twice, which was quite a delight! That voice!!! It is shown off very well on this great album of the 80s, and it does not sound old! As a matter of fact, TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART has been re-released as a duet in Europe, where it has cracked the European top 5, and has held strong atop the charts for 7 weeks in Blegium and 10 weeks in France!!! This has also launched a new album available on the site entitled SIMPLY BELIEVE. Now on to this album!

It is heavy, and the background vocals are simply superb. I agree with most other reviewers; GETTING SO EXCITED has always been my least favorite song on the entire album. Oddly enough, the album title brings out the bombastic Wagnerio-Steinmanesque tone superbly, but I never really LOVED the song as such. Track #1 is absolutely superb, and charged with her powerful voice. Of course, the uncontournable TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART is the must-hear in its extended version of 6:49!!! Ravishing! GETTING THROUGH THE MOTIONS is cute, and not to be taken seriously, while IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE is quite pop. I always like that arrangement. TEARS is a raunching duet by Bonnie and Sctosman extraordinaire Frankie Miller, with whom she collaborated on two subsequent albums. TAKE ME BACK is very powerful as well, while STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART, the Bryan Adams cover is just plain great. Again, that voice alone makes you shiver! A must-have from a great woman, even if you don't like all the songs. For everyone else who is not most familiar with her work, try NOTES FROM AMERICA, my all-time favorite Bonnie Tyler release ever!

Bonnie Tyler's passionate vocals are the main reason to buy this album but certainly not the only reason. Just about everyone knows the epic, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," but there's so much more. Beginning with the shimmering, symphonic, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," the album takes off running. "Faster than the Speed of Night" will take your breath away and you'll have the feeling that if you don't keep up you'll be left behind. Pure madness!! In addition, Tyler's renditions of "Take Me Back" and "Straight from the Heart" are heart breaking. In fact, the reason I bought this album was because I heard "Take Me Back" coming from a food vendor's radio in Oslo, Norway. I went and bought the album immediately without even hearing "Total Eclipse." Upon first listen, songs like "Getting So Excited" and "Going Through the Motions" might sound like filler but upon repeated listens, the layers of the arrangements reveal themselves totally absorbing the listener into the songs. Guess you can't tell I like this album.

Almost everyone has heard 'that' song. That wierd 'turn around' diddy, sung by that raspy chick. It seems to be one of the most enduring songs in musical history.

This is THAT album that contains THAT song. Jim Steinman's second big project, Bonnie Tyler, ingrained Total Eclipse of the Heart into a generation. It's an unforgettable song, driven by a haunting piano melody, ambient background duet vocals from Rory Dodd, and Bonnie Tyler singing with as much fire, passion, and rasp as any artist out there. 6 and a half minutes just seems way too short.

But wait, there's an ALBUM here, too. Yes. There's one more Jim Steinman penned song on this album, the title track. And it's even better than that well-known Total Eclipse diddy. If you can believe that. Starting with a light-hearted piano intro, it bursts into an explosion of drums, guitars, background chants, and an orgasm-inducing operatic wail at the song's climax. Bonnie matches the ferver note-for-note.

Oh wait, yes, there's an album here too. Aside from the two Steinman masterpeices (two jewels in his extensive catalogue) there's a fine cover of CCR's 'Have you Ever Seen the Rain', as well as a good rendition of Bryan Adam's 'Straight From the Heart'. The other single off the album 'Take Me Back' is ok as well. The rest of this album borders on awful, at times. Steinman, as a songwriter and producer, is unmatched, but even He cannot rescue such drivel as 'Gettin so Excited' and 'It's a Jungle Out There'. The Blue Oyster Cult's 'Goin Through the Motions' is given half-parody treatment here as well, with a kid's choir thrown in.

'Faster than the Speed of Night' is a good pickup for Tyler and Steinman fans alike, but if you can fetch yourself a compilation with the two Steinman songs on it (such as Super Hits) then you're probably better off passing this one up. Aside from the must-hear Steinman material, you're not missing much.

Definately, one of the best albums of the 80s. Featuring the #1 single "Total Eclipse of The Heart". Also contains 8 other equally good tracks. Meatloaf coloaborator Jim Steinman produced the album and wrote two songs for it including "Eclipse". Bonnie Tyler's rough voice (often compared to Tina Turner, Kim Carnes, and Stevie Nicks) is beautifully showcased in the 9 tracks on this album. Look for the title track as being a catchy song with a great hook for a course, also a highlight of the albun is Tyler's rendition of the Bryan Adams hit "Straight From The Heart", She brings it out with perfection. I suggest this album for any fan of 80s music. Or any fan of a good love song, this album is for you. Definately worth the listen.

The title track is cool, despite the fact that is is an overwrought, melodramtic epic in the Jim Steinman vein. You should get this only because it has the full length version of Total Eclipse of the Heart, one of the best pop singles ever.What remains is a bland, slightly dated but not unenjoyable mix of pop/rock drama whose one and only saving grace is the incredible voice of Bonnie Tyler.

This cd shows how people were ahead of the times. If we think for a minute we realize that thes is a very old cd and it`s kind of modern in it`s own right or way. Bonnie Tyler really gets people to really think and reflect on thier lives when you hear her music you will. It`s a very good price for the cd. I had bought it for Total Eclipse of the heart and realized that she had so many other good songs. Let me know what you think of the cd if you have it or want to get it.

i started appreciating really well-written and produced songs when i bought and listen to this album, Bonnie deserves all our applause! the (stupid) world has yet to wisen up to the gifts of this woman! when you do a cover (haveyoueverseentherain) you must make it sure you can top the original, she did and how! with 2 steinman tracks (totaleclipse,fasterthan...) Bonnie delivered the goods as required by the hard to please perfectionist Jimmy, and these songs can never ever be (and don't they dare try, nikki french-one hit wonder and back to obscurity, are you listening?) equalled by any other male or female (dead or alive)artist! that's how songs achieve immortality - because of the one of a kind voice that Bonnie (and ONLY Bonnie!) has. The rest of the cuts are, in my opinion, meant to be as ... singles (getting excited/ itsjungle/ goingthrumotions.) StraighfromtheHeart is a bit syrupy but has a great recall, Tears and TakemeBack are very good ballads but not really radio friendly. I gave it 5 stars because (that's the maximum you allowed) of HER MAGICAL VOICE. I WILL HASTEN TO ADD: NO ONE IN THIS WORLD HAS THAT KIND OF VOICE, MAYBE IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE, ITS A VOICE THAT INSTANTLY CAPTURE YOUR SOUL AND MAKE YOU THINK OF THE BETTER THINGS IN LIFE. WHY THE WHOLE DAMN STUPID WORLD HAS YET TO WISEN UP TO BONNIE'S GIFTS IS BEYOND ME.

This cd is wonderful. I love the 80`s music and think this is the best. Bonnie Tyler will have you following along in no time with this cd. My favroite song is "Total Eclipse Of The Heart"