Customer Reviews

Into the Light

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

 

 

I bought this album because 'The Lady In Red' is one of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard. I had never heard of Chris De Burgh, but "Into The Light:" quickly became one of my favorite albums. The lyrics and music are very thoughtfully written. 'Fire On The Water' . . .sensual, 'Fatal Hesitation' . . .sad and lonely, 'For Rosanna' . . .just beautiful (for his daughter), and 'Ballroom Of Romance' . . .a fiery tale (! ). 'The Spirit of Man' is hopeful, and 'Say Goodbye To It All' is about closure after the war. De Burgh has a beautiful, powerful voice. Harmonies, back-up vocals, and those small but oh so significant touches ("I love you" whispered at the end of 'The Lady In Red') are examples of the care he takes with every song. After all this time (1987) I still love the album and when I hear 'The Lady In Red,' my heart still melts!

I'll start this review by saying "Perfect Day" is a 5 star recording, and is easily my favorite by him.

Back to Into the Light. This was DeBurgh's big breakthrough into the American music scene. ... I believe that after the success of Don't Pay the Ferryman, DeBurgh and his record company believed that high energy songs were where Chris would make his bread and butter, at least here in the U.S.

As a result, the first single that was released was the energetic The Spirit of Man, which sounded influenced by St. Elmo's Fire theme, Man in Motion. If memory serves correctly -- and this is 14 years ago, so forgive me if I don't get it exactly -- The Spirit of Man was in its infancy in terms of release when The Lady in Red was released in England to stunning success. I doubt anyone thought it would do as well as it did, moving from 40 - 10 - 2 - 1, knocking off Madonna's Papa Don't Preach (that is correct, by the way). Given this remarkable success, The Lady in Red was released here, but did not enjoy the same success it did across the ocean. I believe it was around one year later that some adult contemporary stations began playing the song again, and it was then re-released in the U.S., where it peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at #3. I was, by this time, a rabid fan of DeBurgh's music, and was sad that it didn't reach #1. Regardless, it was DeBurgh's biggest hit here and a classic that still gets airplay.

There is another one of DeBurgh's "stories" on the album (The Leader, The Vision, What About Me), which attempts to be reminiscent of Crusader, but falls far short. One Word (Straight to the Heart) is one of my least favorite DeBurgh songs ever (as the lyrics contain "straight to the heart -- like a cannonball..." eck).

And then there is "For Rosanna", the song DeBurgh wrote his daughter. I've mentioned before that DeBurgh is strong when he writes of love, and this song is evidence that it's not only romantic love he is in touch with, for even though I wasn't a father then, and am not now, when I listen to that song I *feel* like a father. I see what he sees when he looks into her eyes, I feel everything he writes about. It's DeBurgh's strength as an artist that he can do this so effectively.

These days, it's so rare to find a CD that you can actually play all the way through. This is one of those gems that music listeners rarely find. I admit- I did buy it for "Lady in Red." But there's so much more than that on it. Since then, my favorite part of the CD has become the trilogy at the end: The Leader, The Vision, and What About Me? It really gives one a lot to think about. There's a lot to Chris deBurgh and unfortunately, fans in the U.S. haven't gotten to see much of him.

I'm sure you'll love this CD. If you do, I'd definitely recommend checking out some more of Chris' music, in particular, The Love Songs and Crusader. Some of the imports cost a little more, but wouldn't you rather spend on a CD you can listen to over and over again, than on a CD you only like one or two songs on?

If I play this album one more time, I may just burn out my CD player. What a find! The song, "The Ballroom of Romance" rates right up there with "Lady in Red". Highly recommend this album and the "Flying Colors" album. The only two I have so far, but will be trying out his others!)

This is Chris DeBurgh's most well known album (at least here in the U.S.A.), and for good reason. Every song is excellent. It has a good sampling of all of CdeB's styles. This album contains the well-known "Lady in Red" as well as other great songs including, but not limited to "The Spirit of Man", "Fatal Hesitation", "The Ballroom of Romance" and the triple song about the apocalypse "The Leader/The Vision/What About Me?".

If you don't own any other CdeB albums, get this one. You will not be sorry.

Chris DeBurgh hit real popularity in the US with his Into the Light album, and the Lady in Red love song. That visual image is so strong, of the woman in a red dress, and the adoring guy who realizes just how special she is. It's no wonder that many studies show that the ladies in red dresses are the ones that get the most attention in a crowd.

But this CD really has much more to offer than that one (admittedly quite wonderful) song! The other songs are equally engrossing in their own way. You've got a tender ode from a father to his daughter in "For Rosanna". You've got stories being told across multiple songs.

Some of the songs are a bit more poppy if you want to dance around a bit, but really for me the quality shines best in the romantic songs. He really gets to the heart of that emotion, and brings it out in the listener. Perfect for curling up with your loved one, and gazing into each others eyes.

I've been a De Burgh fan since the early MTV days, but never bought any of his work. "The Lady in Red" has always been my favorite. I found that there is not a bad song on this album. From the soft "For Rosanna" to the hard driving "The Leader/The Vision/What About Me ?", you'll love it too.

that adds splendid flair to romantic music

Cd was received on time ...item is is Great condition it was listed as used good. I am very satisfied with this dealer

`Into the Light' is one of Chris De Burghs albums I love despite `Lady In Red', which made him more mainstream but gave people a false idea of what his music is really like. He manages to weave powerful, moving stories into his songs, often coupled with a great rocky feel and `LIR' is a false representation of what a good songwriter he is. This album has plenty of great tracks, but the epic interlinked songs at the end make up this album more than any other. `The Leader', `The Vision' and `What About Me?', that flow into each other to create a whole, are powerful and heartfelt and the perfect way to end this album. `For Rosanna' is a touching ballad written for his daughter and is a beautiful song with more superb lyrics. I get a sudden rush of nostalgia when I put this CD on now, I grew up on this and it has lost none of it's magic for me. It does sound dated, but it was made in the eighties and sounds of it's time and if you like that era of music you should be fine. A standout album in De Burghs fine back catalogue.

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