Customer Reviews

Guaranteed

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

 

 

I became a fan of Level 42 in 1987, when they put out the fantastic
album called "Running In the Family." Those were maybe the last days
when I listened to the radio, when there was actually some new music from
time to time, Top 40, commercial, whatever, that made it worthwhile
listening to see if there was something new. It seems like for years we
have been caught in some kind of "oldies" loop, countless stations playing
oldies from different decades, with practically no new rock music worth
listening to, and even the decent music doesn't seem to hold a candle to
the great music that came out from the 1960's-80's. We seem to be stuck
musically, and that's not the only area we are stuck in (global
consciousness expansion?). Thank g-d for classical music!

Like many, I assumed that Level 42 had reached their peak on that
amazing album. I bought a number of their prior albums and liked them, esp.
"The Pursuit of Accidents," which I would highly recommend to anyone
who hasn't heard it. These great musicians can rock while putting some
"white man" kind of funk (with or without a jazzy feel) into their music,
with clever, catchy melodies. The synergy between the contrasting and yet
complementary talents of the bass and keyboard players gives them a
unique, powerful sound, and most songs are more than listenable.

But "Running In The Family" was their peak to me, and that was
confirmed when their next album came out and wasn't nearly as good,
probably because they lost their guitar player.

Until about a year ago I had pretty much stopped listening to Level 42,
but some friends were making some CD's out of "Running In The Family" and
other LP's we had, and I decided to see if they had kept going. So now
I have heard what I believe were their final 2 albums, "Guaranteed" and
"Forever Now." All I can is, they got their act back together, and then
some, in these final albums. Both are amazing, and I would rank "Guaranteed"
as their best album, by far, and that is definitely saying something.

"Guaranteed" is definitely on some other level, 42 or otherwise,
maybe higher. The songs are great, they are varied, they show superior
talent and musicianship, drive, creativity, and more. My two favorite
songs on the album are the intense rocker, track 5, "Set Me Up." It
amazes me that a group that generally follows the rock/funk/jazz
formula can turn it on in such an intense way. The other song I want
to mention is track 10, "If You Were Mine," which is my favorite Level 42
track of all time (again, this is saying something). It is 4 1/2 minutes
of beautiful rock, great melody, great themes, a "perfect" song - right
when you think it's over it has that final kick, the last 45 seconds
or so, as if they were saying, "we got this one right on the money, from
beginning to end."

If by some fluke you are a Level 42 fan who has never heard this
album, you will be blown away!

Just an FYI, this album is incorrectly listed and displayed.

It's a mixed BMG compilation of both the RCA 'Guaranteed' album of 1991 and the 'Forever Now' album of 1994. BMG decided to name this 2-in-1 album 'Guaranteed' and it throws people off. You don't get the track listings as they appear on the individual albums. And this amazon page looks to be defaulting to what it knows as the 'Guaranteed' album's tracklist.

[...]

Hope this helps.
- a Level 42 fan

This album is indeed NOT the RCA release Guaranteed album. That one is really hard to get these days. Having been a faithful Level 42 fan for a very long time.... Mark King being my main influence on the bass, this album, like most of the early ones, is a masterpiece. Allan Holdsworth also contributed in this album (in case you don't know, he's the guitar wizard worshipped by other guitar maestros). So if you're looking for the RCA release, don't look here. But this album is a true gem.

this album is so different comparing to d rest of Level's Albums. My favorite song is: My father's shoes,lasso the moon, she cant help herself and kinder eyes.Mark made those songs so different, with different style unlike many hits made in 'running on d family, it's over and lessons in love'. Guaranteed is my favorite albums cuz i've listened and collected all of Level 42 albums, maybe Level 42's fanatics would say that i have a funny opinion, but this is what i really feel.I cant forget the first time i heard 'she cant help herself' cuz that song reminds me of my bestfriend's life, and i really thought that she cant' help herself and i was there to help her. this album rocks!

If you were a fan of Level 42 in the mid eighties when "Lessons in Love" and "Running in the Family" were so popular, you will love this album. This compilation is actually better than its predecessors. I love the old stuff and have it in my music library, including the great culmination of that period, the Wembley dvd. I also have the latest cd, "Retroglide", along with the tour dvd. I highly recommend both of those and have written a review of "Retroglide." "Guaranteed" is brilliant on all levels. Many of the songs sound like vintage Level 42 without sounding like they tried to make the same music all over again. This sounds new and fresh and a little more advanced, or perhaps "now", although this band cannot sound dated, as no other bands can lay claim to this genre. Level 42 is known for their unique jazz/pop/rock/funk fusion and it is certainly all here on "Guaranteed." The songwriting is brilliant, the trademark layering of percussive sounds is all here, as is Mark King's trademark percussive bass style of playing. Mike Lindup is on this album (and he has returned after a long absence to be found on Retroglide as well) and you can't mistake him. Phil Gould was great but so is Gary Husband who plays the drums on this album and has been with Mark King for nearly twenty years now. The song, "Guaranteed" sounds like vintage Level 42 with its nice layers and a bit of a rock edge that clips right along. "Overtime" gives you the twists and turns while maintaining a groove that is just great. "Seven Years" is a truly beautiful song, every bit as lovely as their eighties hit "Leaving Me Now". The song "She Can't Help Herself" has a more adult contemporary sound, but is beautiful as well. These guys are master musicians and songwriters as ballads are either real good or make you want to cringe. Level 42 always crafts extraordinary ballads both instrumentally and vocally. "If You Were Mine" has a great groove and I find myself playing it again and again. "The Ape" has this great percussion and exceptional drumming by Gary Husband. A wonderfully moody track is "Lasso the Moon", which should have had "hit record" written all over it. The last track, "With a Little Love" is fairly well infectious. There is not a bad song on this entire cd. So if you thought the eighties saw the end of Level 42 as a creative force, let me assure you 1992 showed the band still had it and had in fact, grown musically. You can't go wrong with this cd. I should state that I have the RCA release, I have heard it is the better one while the one available here is still very good.

Surprisingly, at a time when people would have thought Level 42 had passed their best (ie. post "Running in the Family"), this album is very good and very musical - just don't be fooled by the very "pop"-y title track.