Hold an Old Friend's Hand [Import]

Tiffany | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Mvp
• ASIN: B0000074HD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,658 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Won't you c'mon around and hold this girl's hand?, October 18, 2003

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hold an Old Friend's Hand (Audio CD)

The first single, "All This Time" sounds a lot like Madonna's "Crazy For You". The difference is, one reached the Top Five, the other didn't. Her brave face shows in light of an emotional sundering, with no regrets, and full of acceptance that they'll never meet: "The sun still shines, the sun still sets/the heart forgives, the heart forgets." My third favourite song here.

A mixture of synths, string and funky bass, "Oh Jackie" has her asking questions to the title character: "you never meant to let me go", "am I all alone", "tell me I'm not just somewhere you outgrew", where the answers all seem to be "yes."

The title track has her using her scratchy pre-teen Stevie Nicks voice in places. She offers the hand of friendship of someone who's hurt her in the past and she still feels for: "I promise not to throw you/you don't have to stay; I just want to hold you/won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand." But there are other wise verses here that made her older than her teen years. This merited a Top Five at the very least, but it tanked on the charts. That she's able to convey such emotion at her age then shows a lot of maturity. This ties with another ballad here as my favourite song.

The single "Radio Romance", which is a sung radio dedication, has overtones of 60's Motown pop with a bopping 80's synth beat.

The "her" in "We're Both Thinking Of Her" happens to be the narrator's best friend. The idea here can be summed up in this line: "What's she got that I ain't got? She's got you." Nice fuzzy guitar here, and a rhythm beat reminiscent of Jeff Lynne's production.

"Walk Away While You Can" has a keyboard rhythm like Madonna's "True Blue" about a young girl advised to act out the title because the older man will use her and "your heart's in control and you don't understand."

"Drop That Bomb" has leanings towards the R&B pop of "Let's Hear It For The Boy", except I don't recall Deniece Williams using sound effects of a synth "bomb exploding."

"It's The Lover (Not The Love)" is yet another winning keyboard ballad--she was getting really good at these exhorts those hurt to try again: "Don't give up in time to find/the one who's right will come to you." The chorus is formed by adding "that deserted you" after the title.

"I'll Be The Girl" has funky keyboards like Lisa Lisa's "Head To Toe". There's some comfort when she sings "I'll be the pillow you cry on when you're feeling down/I'll be the laughter if ever you think you need a clown."

"Hearts Never Lie" has keyboards like Force MD's "Tender Love" and is the "Could've Been" of this album, with backing string synths and electric guitar. Chris Farren, her duet partner, sounds like a juvenile Steve Perry. The reconstruction of love is the theme here, be it "start[ing] all over/one emotion at a time."

The "Overture" is a brief acoustic guitar instrumental of the title song theme combined with some bits of "Hearts Never Lie." Fitting, as they are the two best songs here.

Even though Tiff doesn't write any of the songs, the songs are better in maturity and lyrical content, and her genuine voice is an excellent conveyor. An evolution over her self-titled debut. So come on around and hold her hand, or this album--you won't regret it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful album featuring some incredible ballads, September 19, 2002

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hold an Old Friend's Hand (Audio CD)

Tiffany has never received the credit or attention she deserves. Her first album, while enjoyable, can be categorized as bubble gum pop, but her second album, Hold An Old Friend's Hand, is fantastic. There is a maturity to many of these songs that too few people ever bothered to look for; those who so easily dismissed Tiffany when she was 15 have deprived themselves of some wonderful music. All This Time is a serious, emotional song about love and loss. Tiffany has a dusky, Stevie Nicks-like edginess in her voice which adds a lot of depth and feeling to her slower songs. Hold An Old Friend's Hand is poignant and beautiful; it is the best song Tiffany has ever recorded, in my opinion. It's the Lover (Not the Love) is another incredibly beautiful slow song, sung with great feeling. Her duet with Chris Farren, Hearts Never Lie, is quite special and does much to show off Tiffany's real singing ability; beautiful lyrics and a beautiful blending of voices make it a powerful conclusion to a great CD. Tiffany can really touch your heart on these ballads, as hard as that may be for some to believe.

There are some pure pop songs on here, such as Radio Romance and Drop That Bomb, but I enjoy these songs quite a bit; their fast pace is energizing, and there are some really great lines hidden among the otherwise shallow lyrics. I'll Be the Girl and Oh Jackie have a pop sound, but they seem to possess something more interesting than the pure pop tracks mentioned above. Walk Away While You Can lies in the middle between uptempo pop and ballad; while it's a nice song, it doesn't really move or excite me. We're Both Thinking of Her is the one song in which Tiffany really lets loose with unrestrained passion and sharp edginess. The juxtaposition between this fiery track and her moving slow songs says much about the wonderful variety of music offered on this CD. The fun songs are great, but clearly it is the ballads that make this album so special and meaningful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fluff surrounding the best song of Tiffan'y career, August 19, 2008

By 

Jeremy Gloff (Tampa, Fl United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hold an Old Friend's Hand (Audio CD)

Length:: 1:52 Mins