Customer Reviews

Hai Hai

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm astonished by some of the negative reviews for Roger Hodgson's 2nd solo album, 1987's "Hai Hai." I guess some fans feel that Hodgson should stay in his "serious rock" box and never come out. Hey, I love the dramatic, emotional side to Roger's music, but there's nothing wrong with a "serious" music artist cutting loose every so often. To MY ears, this is Roger's solo masterpiece. After the serious tone of his solo debut, "In The Eye Of The Storm," Roger decided to loosen up & make an album that was lighter, poppier and more rockin', and just plain fun. I think he succeeded brilliantly. The songs on "Hai Hai" are wonderfully catchy and upbeat, and any one of these songs could've been big hits for Roger if only they'd had the right push at radio. Favorites include the dirty rock of "My Magazine," the poppy "You Make Me Love You," the powerful pop-rock of the title song, the dreamy "Desert Love," the charming "Land Ho" (an old 1974 song Hodgson co-wrote with his Supertramp partner Rick Davies that was never issued on any 'Tramp album), and the beautiful album closer, "Puppet Dance." Yes, the album has a late-80's polish to it's production, but it works.It's very unfortunate that "Hai Hai" is currently out-of-print in the States, but it's *totally* worth getting on import. "Hai Hai" is an outstanding Roger Hodgson album, and his best solo release to date.

Roger Hodgson's second solo album may not have the expansive grandeur of his first solo foray "In the Eye of the Storm," but it is certainly no less likeable. The songs on "Hai Hai" are tighter; gone are the seven and eight-minute opuses, in favor of more typical, radio-friendly, four and five-minute pop structures. All the better, because what isn't gone is Hodgson's flare for melodies that linger in the mind, that unique combination of his voice and his songwriting that made Supertramp's hits so memorable. Check out "Right Place," the quirky "London," the gorgeous ballad "You Make Me Love You," and the irresistably lilting "House on the Corner" (the kind of song you have to sing along to, you just can't help it). Don't let the album's lack of commercial success dissuade you. On "Hai Hai," R.H. was still bringin' it.

I first bought this on cassette back in 1991 and was really impressed. I wasn't the biggest Supertramp fan, more into Styx, REO,Kansas,Zeppelin etc. but this is a truly good pop record. The production is crisp and clear, the songs are well written. I think I love you, could've been a huge pop hit. Hai,Hai(title track),Magazine, London, Who's Afraid, Land Ho, are the highlights. But the whole record is good. The bad reviews above are bogus, this is Hodgson's masterpiece hands down. Remember I'm not the biggest Supertramp fan but I am a Roger Hodgson fan because of this gem. Thank you.

Hai Hai was a step back in the solo career of Roger Hodgson. The songs' compositions are not brilliant, only good. The only remarkable song for my taste is 'London', despite the unusual production in 'Hai Hai'. Recently I was lucky to be at his magnificent concert, and he played songs of the Supertramp era and of his solo career, but he did not played none of the songs on this album. This fact is clearly meaningful.
If you want to hear his real masterpiece in his solo career, take 'In the eye of the storm'.
'Open the door' is another great work (four stars) plenty enjoyable.

"Hai Hai" is such a pleasure to listen to if you're a Supertramp fan. (Even if you're not either) This release can probably only be found now online or in a discount bin at your local music store. Roger's voice has never sounded better on every track. The song "London" makes you wish you were actually longing to visit, with Roger in tow. "You Make Me Love You" is a song that could have been released as a single. ( ha ha .. nothing this good seems to get appreciated by most of the record buying public). "Hai Hai" is fun, easy on the ears and a guilty pleasure that you shouldn't pass on. The hard part is trying to locate it. "The Eye of the Storm", also released by Hodgson, is excellent as well. Pick that one up to if you get a chance. Released in '87, and produced by Hodgson and Jack Joseph Puig, you can tell these two really have an ear for what fans of Supertramp would want. I bet you could re-release this under Supertramp today and it could go platinum. It's that good.

Suprising might be a good general desciptor for this album. Here we find an older more conventional Hodgson than on his first LP. Gone are the usual lyrics from the man who was always looking for meaning of life and the direction for his soul. Instead we find a man who seems to have found his direction, often in love songs, some bright, some sad (one even slightly sleazy!) - all of them unique. Roger Hodgson is one of the most underrated lyricists in rock music, and even in more conventional fair, such as found here, his lyrics are both beautiful and unpredictable - proving the immense creative powers of one of rock's best poets.

Another highlight of this album is Hodgson's singing which had matured like a fine wine into something exquisitely beautiful by this point in his career. His versatility and range on this album is astonishing and something of a suprise on to itself.

I've read the other reviews here, and I agree with them up to a point. This is not the progressive rock of Supertramp, but that's okay. Hodgson had been a player in the music business for almost 20 years by this point, and his move towards conventionality would have been somewhat predictable. He doesn't take as many chances with the direction of his songs as he once did, but that's okay. What he does take chances with is the pursuit of more musical stylings with this album than he ever had before, with somewhat mixed results. But that's evident right from the begining, as it's predictable that any time a keyboardist moves the keyboards to the back of the mix, that the results are going to be varied and rather suprising, to say the least! Yes I know he can play a lot more than just the keyboards, and he's always been a more than adequate guitarist, but I don't think it can be denied that before this point in his career, most of what he had written had been highly keyboard-centric. Not so on this album, and maybe that's the most suprising thing about it. Songs like the sexy/sleazy My Magazine, the quirky London, the sweet/catchy You Make Me Love You, the rocking title track Hai, Hai, and especially the silky smooth Desert Love are absolute delights, and tell to the truth if someone else had done them, I doubt if I ever would have guessed they belonged to Roger Hodgson, but again that doesn't make them any less absolute gems, and definately worth a listen... or 2 or three or four or ten.

A1 Right Place
A2 My Magazine
A3 London
A4 You Make Me Love You
A5 Hai Hai
B1 Who's Afraid ?
B2 Desert Love
B3 Land Ho
B4 House On The Corner
B5 Puppet Dance

I consider Supertramp in my top 5 favorite groups so I've been seeking everything they ever made as I pretty much enjoy every track on every album with few exceptions - some certainly more than others. Then I went for Hodgson's solo's. After only a second play I got hooked on nearly every track from "Open the Door" and "In the Eye of the Storm", but I was stunned at how different "Hai Hai" is. Except for "Land Ho" which is an old Supertramp single that never made an album, the best way I can describe this album is bubble gum music - and I don't mean that affectionately. Yes, Hodgson experimented with his sound, but it was a bad experiment. I play Supertramp for soothing relaxation and to put me in a wonderful mood - this is teeny booper.

I'm sorry, but this project does nothing for me. Believe me, I am a huge Supertramp fan and I love Eye Of the Storm and his latest Open the Door. I knew about this CD, but had not listened to it until recently. It's not horrible; it's just background noise. There isn't one song on here to make me want to listen to it again.

I frankly cannot suss the reason some are so hard on this album,is it "Breakfast in America" no,is it "In the eye of the Storm" no,but it is a very fine recording.It seems to me that there are still those who long for the days when Supertramp was putting out a great album every two or three years.Yes Roger left them and neither he nor Supertramp are as good as they were together but this is still a very fine recording.When I first bought this it 17 years ago it was strange to hear him sing Reggae and harder rock type music but once I got over the shock I got to like this a lot.You make me love you would have made a great single,London is pure ear candy which I can listen to over and over and over.My magazine is a good hard rock song but I'm not sure it's one he feels comfotable singing or confident in writing.Right place would have fit on any supertramp album although the production would have been a little different I believe.Hai Hai is fierce fun with a harder edge to it.Who's afraid sounds like Supertramp to me but with a different production.Desert Love is one of my favorite tracks on this Cd and it would have fit quite nicely on ITEOTS,Land Ho is alright but it really doesn't do much for me,House on the corner is great and would have fit very nicely on Crisis what crisis,Puppet Dance is a song I enjoy but I have to be in the mood for it.Supertramp was one of my favorite bands,their production was second to none,they were a band who somewhat like the Beatles could streach the boundaries of music and still have great singles.I have spent days listening to each of their CD's but they did have a certain sound,when you heard a new song by them on the radio or at a record store you knew immediately who it was. I think Roger just wants to push himself a little and try new sounds and more often than not he gets great results.I have to say though that Rick Davies wrote and sang some of my favorite Supertramp songs and I was very disapointed in Supertamp after Roger left,have I not given them enough of a chance,can anyone advise me?