Customer Reviews

Gravity's Rainbow

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have owned this CD for years but never REALLY listened to it until I heard them do "Disconnected" and "Everybody lay down" in concert, both of those songs rock like nothing she ever has done. I gave it a spin and discovered "Somebody's baby" could have been a top 40 hit. Tradin' down, Ties that bind both SMOKE! This is different in the aspect that it is LOUDER and HEAVIER than Pat and Neil usually do, I don't think the exec's knew how to market it. For the price this is worth the dough as long as your not looking for them doing blues or pop. THIS ROCKS!!!

I took a chance on this back when it was released, and the fact that it's an album that I still listen to on a regular basis 10 years later--despite all my changing tastes in music and the 1000+ CDs I own--really says something about it's quality. Not a single filler track on here, with a great variety of styles, from the rocking Everybody Lay Down, Crazy and Disconnected to the wicked acoustic guitar soaked Rise (you'll get chills when she hits those high notes!) The ballads Everytime I Fall Back and You and I have some soulful sweetness in their respective organ and clean guitar backdrops, and Kingdom Key is a simmering, moody number that is my favourite track here. Her incredible voice fires on all cylinders on this one. This is a great pop-rock album that delivers the goods. Highly recommended.

Pat's last album for the label she recorded for since her debut, Gravity's Rainbow is my favorite Pat Benatar album right behind Get Nervous. This may come as a shock (or surpise at least) to others since its probably an album most people don't even know about. For that it's a crying shame. Plus it's one of my favorite Benatar looks ever. That long hair, the 70's inspired clothing, the hats. Awesome! In between her 1988 album and this one, Pat recorded her blues album True Love; regarded as a flop because it didn't sell as well or gain as much airplay as other Benatar recordings, the experience left our girl more in control and happier than she had been in a long time. The idea of recording live and with a group sent her to the studio with a whole new attitude and the organic feel is very strong on Gravity's Rainbow. She rocks it out just like contemporaries of the time, this is after all an album from the 90's so don't look to it for a throw back to Pat's hey day of the 80's because these songs seem more influenced by the grungey punk that was popular around the time. Not that Pat is at all trying to be young and hip and go against her own grain, instead they've taken that raw feel and put it together with their natural ideals of melodic pop. What comes across is an album of sing along toe tappin' rockin' and smackin' grunge pop if you will. The opening of the album is actually just a few notes on a piano with a gigantic punch at the end before "Everybody Lay Down" comes flying up from the underground, this song was #1 on the Rock Radio stations and still Chrysalis opted not to release it as an official single, though promo copies were out; the song is along the lines of "All Fired Up" only instead of celebrating the people it's a throw down to the people who are just giving up on everything, "Everybody go round/ go round/ everybody lay down/ lay down/ don't nobody make a sound/ everybody lay down" before her growl comes barrelling in "everybody say hey!/ don't nobody say nooooo!" It's awesome! Then the opening guitar ripple of "Somebody's Baby" follows, "he used to be somebody's baby/ he used to matter", perhaps a strange subject for a rock single but the thought that the homeless, the drug addled, all the like were once somebody's light, the video is absolutely amazing and should've been huge. It's also very touching, you can view it on You Tube or on Pat's Classic Cuts DVD.

The rest of the album continues building up from those opening tracks, rousing rockers like "Santuary", "Tradin' Down" and "Disconnected" show that Pat didn't lose an ounce of spunk during her blues album, while the soulful "You & I" and the ballad "Everytime I Fall Back" show the toned down Pat in just as good of light as the rock songs. After the lack of promotion Chrysalis Records put into the album, and the third line of executives since Pat's signing in 1979, our girl asked for the money they owed her and walked off to do what she wanted. As for her Chrysalis swan song Gravity's Rainbow, if you find this one in the bargain bin, and you more than likely will, buy it! It don't matter if you don't remember the singles or know any of the songs, by the time you're done listening you will have a new favorite Pat Benatar album.

After her third Album "Precious Time", Pat Benatar seemed to have lost her heart to new wave pop. At the end of the eightiesher career had sagged and felt she needed a change of direction to breathe some life back into it. She tried to do so with a blues album and all it seemed to do was drive the nail in deeper.
Than in 1993 came Gravity' Rainbow, her strongest, hardest collection of songs since Crimes of Passion in 1980. For those expecting over-polished power ballads, you'd better think again. This here is stripped down, back to basics rock n roll with Pats voice ripping through the material with complete abandon. "Everybody Lay Down"( The REAL missed opportunity for a hit single) was a groove laden rocker with Jimi Hendrix styled playing. "Somebody's Baby" is a moving track about a homeless man. "Disconnected" is a head banger about the LA riots.
Pat had updated her sound successfully but unfortunately reeped few rewards aside from critical acclaim. This CD was pleasant surprise from one that you thought had seen better days. Her voice is in fine form and her band rocks and grooves more than ever.

Give it a listen

After her third Album "Precious Time", Pat Benatar seemed to have lost her heart to new wave pop. At the end of the eightiesher career had sagged and felt she needed a change of direction to breathe some life back into it. She tried to do so with a blues album and all it seemed to do was drive the nail in deeper.
Than in 1993 came Gravity' Rainbow, her strongest, hardest collection of songs since Crimes of Passion in 1980. For those expecting over-polished power ballads, you'd better think again. This here is stripped down, back to basics rock n roll with Pats voice ripping through the material with complete abandon. "Everybody Lay Down"( The REAL missed opportunity for a hit single) was a groove laden rocker with Jimi Hendrix styled playing. "Somebody's Baby" is a moving track about a homeless man. "Disconnected" is a head banger about the LA riots.
Pat had updated her sound successfully but unfortunately reeped few rewards aside from critical acclaim. This CD was pleasant surprise from one that you thought had seen better days. Her voice is in fine form and her band rocks and grooves more than ever.

Give it a listen

Pat continues to belt out great songs! Her vocal strength and ability will keep this listener a fan for years to come. This album contains one of the best Benatar songs ever recorded, "Every Time I Fall Back". If you haven't heard this song, it's worth getting the CD. The lyrics are mature and the vocals are incredible. Pat continues to get better!

And that makes me sad because in my opinion this album is as good as anything Pat Benatar ever did. I guess timing is everything.

1. Picture of a Gone World (intro) 10/10
2. Everybody Lay Down 12/10.
3. Somebody's Baby 10/10
4. Ties That Bind 10/10
5. You & I 9/10
6. Disconnected 10/10
7. Crazy 10/10
8. Everytime I Fall Back 10/10
9. Sanctuary 10/10
10. Rise, Pt. 2 9/10
11. Kingdom Key 10/10
12. Tradin' Down 11/10.

I can't believe this album didn't even go Gold. However, considering the time of release, I do understand why. Nowadays, so many female and male singer are dropping albums that sound very much like this, chances are you will like it after the first listen! Plus, her voice is awesome! You can hear and feel the honesty, passion and/or pain when she is singing the songs. The intro "Pictures of a Gone World" is a very haunting piano piece that ends with sharp dramaticism! The first single, "Everybody Lay Down" did become a hit peaking at #3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The second single, "Somebody's Baby" was not picked up by radio, even though it is another awesome song. For anyone Pop/Rock or Hard Rock fan, I highly recommend this album from one of the originators of Hard Rock music.

For some reason, this album didn't top the charts. But I'm telling you Pat fans out there, this is tops. She still proves that she's got the best pipes in the business. Quite a wide range in the style of songs, from ballads to classic Benatar/Geraldo rockers. And in her own subtle way, she packs an emotional punch that still floors me!

This is an exceptional album that was fated to disappear into the vacuum of a music industry for whom Benatar was old news in 1998. And that's too bad, as "Gravity's Rainbow" documents the solid music evolution that carried Benatar and Neil Giraldo through the early pre-fab hit fodder and through the more personal excursions of their later works. An excellent and hard-edged balance of the styles and influences that filter through much of Benatar's work, and well worth experiencing.