Customer Reviews

Lace

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It is such a shame that the late Benjamin Orr (also known of The Cars) could only made this solo album, because this is truly a master piece. When You're Gone is one of the great songs ever made. Strong and smooth. Benjamin Orr's excellent voice is brilliant on this song, but also on ballads as 'Stay The Night', 'Skyline' and 'This Time Around'. The Lace contains also some very good tempo songs such as 'Too Hot To Stop' and 'In Circles'. Music and lyrics by Benjamin Orr and Diane Grey Page. Production by Mike Shipley, Larry Klein and - again - Benjamin Orr. It is difficult to find this album, but if someone offers this for sale then buy it. I did. It was expensive but I did not regret it, because it is not always easy to find a great album like this. It might be, however, that the sound quality of the CD is not that great, but this not the fault of Ben Orr. Benjamin Orr was one of the world's most talented musicians!

Five stars are just not enough for an album this quality. This is still my favorite album today. From The Cars late bass player & lead singer, every song on this album is excellent. The strangest thing is that the songs probably hold more meaning now than they did then. From the starting song of Too Hot To Stop to When You're Gone on the A side and from Spinning to This Time Around on the B side this album doesn't miss a beat. This really is an extremely positive and lovely album from beginning to end.

The songs are all excellent, but the order of the songs seems a touch out of place. Stay The Night sounds like more of a song that would end side A or side B, instead of being the third song on the album. It is without a doubt my favorite song on the album. It's a shame that this was his only solo album as excellent as this one is. I wish they would re-release this album so others can listen to this lovely album. It really didn't get any better than this in the 80s and still doesn't today.

This is an excellent sounding CD--it makes you wish Benjamin Orr recorded more solo stuff before he passed away. In the Cars, he was the opposite of Ric Occask--he was the one with the emotional voice where Occask was the one with the rough voice and out & out belted out a song--I agree- both are great singers but I will take Orrs voice anytime--his voice was very emotional and clear-his songwriting is excellent.(remember the song Drive-what a vocal masterpiece!!) It shows on this cd--every song is great and it clearly shows the other side of the Cars without Occask vocals- Cars fans-get this CD--you will not be disappointed0-plus Ellott Easton the Cars lead guitar player,. is on most of the cuts --sounds like the Cars in my opinion!!!!!

Just a few words about Ben is all it should take to convince you of his talent (if you didn't already know) and it was remarkable. A year or so ago;I looked up and found the earlier CD edition of, The Lace, on the internet but like a lot of other OOP CDs; it was way to expensive so I had patience and waited and I'm glad I did. This new release is well within the price range I was looking for and the sound quality is great. I own The Cars, Just What I Needed Anthology, Double CD compilation and have for years but I wanted more of Ben's vocals and they are right here on his only Solo compilation. From his days with, The Cars, I remember him singing, Drive, from the video on MTV and VH1 and I also remember his video of a hit song on this CD which was, Stay The Night, and both were stunning! This guy had a great voice and this Disc is the perfect example of it. The other Reviewers that praise this CD are exactly right so if you liked, The Cars, you will probably like/or love this. I think it is some of the 80s best because Ben Orr was one of the best.....Highly Recommended

I first bought this album on cassette tape in 1986, my senior year of high school. I was a huge Cars fan at the time (still am today), and was excited to learn that both Mr. Orr & Mr. Ocasek were releasing solo albums. Much to my surprise, this is the one that has stuck w/ me through the years. Ocasek's "This Side of Paradise" is very good, but there is just something so fun about this album. I've been waiting for years to replace my worn-out cassette version, so when I saw that it had been re-released on CD (finally!) I was thrilled.

Well, 20 some-odd years down the road, this album has aged fairly well. Does it sound like your typically over-produced '80's album? Yes. Too many synth's? Check. Programmed drum machines? Check. Studio echo? Uh-huh. But it doesn't really matter. Take all of that with a grain of salt and chalk it up to being a product of the times. What really matters here is that there are some ridiculously catchy tunes. Fantastic melodies and choruses. Yes, it can be a bit cheesy at times, but for me that ends up being part of the fun and charm of this album. This wasn't meant to be heady, deep stuff! It is a true guilty pleasure with pop songs that run through my brain long after I am done listening. There's also an under-current of sadness to many of these songs for me. Not sure if it's because of Orr's passing, or just my own nostalgia for a simpler time.

Favorite Tracks: In Circles, Stay The Night, Skyline, Spinning & Hold On
Solid Tracks: Too Hot to Stop, When You're Gone & This Time Around
Ones to Skip: The Lace & That's The Way

I highly recommend The Lace for a fun trip down '80's memory lane. Benjamin Orr's vocals are in fine form, and he even shows that he was a halfway decent songwriter - a talent that he was not able to showcase with The Cars. It's too bad that he never got the chance to release a follow-up album, and that his time passed much too soon.

Im only 25 and really enjoy this CD. I bought it because I was getting back into listening to the Cars (last time was when I was 6 in the UK) and I wanted to listen to more of Ben Orr's voice. This is a great album and the slow ballads are just awesome, makes you feel like your in a 80's romantic flick, very cruisey and sexy. The track 'When your gone' sounds a little like an 80's Cliff Richard, which is good! The first track 'Too Hot to Stop' is very cool, I didnt expect to hear such a popish and rockish song from Orr...if you can watch the video for it on Yahoo, its very funny (Ben looks confined in his Flash Gordan leather). My favourite track is the single 'Stay the Night', I really enjoy everything about it. I cant provide a very good description, but if your a fan of Orr's voice, the Cars, 80's synth etc etc, get this.

Overall, the Lace is a decent album, but at times it sounds dated by some overwhelming synth parts and the lack of a driving guitar. Most of the songs are quite good and "Too Hot to Stop", "Hold On", and "Stay the Night" would have not sounded out of place on a Cars album. Orr's voice was one of the best in rock and you won't be disappointed if you like the commercial side of the Cars' music.

no there are no bonus tracks on the album. fortunately there are no dvd menus to navigate either. i own the lp/vinyl and it contains the same tracks and sounds very similar. bottom line is if your favorite cars track was "drive" then this is the album for you. the songs do stick in your head. frankly i'm glad they issued the cd, because i was tired of putting off cleaning the vinyl to listen to it.

I bought this in 86 on cassette,due to the fact that my local record shop at the time was out of the LP.I love this album! Ben was a chief factor in the Cars succsess.He sang Just What I needed,Moving In Stereo,Drive,Lets Go etc.Many thought Ric did them uh nope.I played this tape to death.Circles is a great track as well as Stay the Night and even Lace has a good feeling to it.This album might be the sound of the Cars album if they didn't go in separate directions.After Shake It Up they took a break.Ben worked with another group of musicians and continued to tour until his death in 2000.He was a huge part of The Cars success.Ric Ocasek plays a tribute song on his latest effort called Silver.Its hard to maintain a dry eye with that song.I heard maybe that the Cars are going to regroup with Todd Rundgren. It might just be a rumour but if it turns out to be true I'm game.I'm sure with Todd it will be great.Everthing he touches turns to gold.Keep my fingers crossed.

I don't think non-Carsfans would find any review helpful prior to making a decision to purchase this excellent, rare, and quite perfect album. I don't consider the album "dated"; it takes one back to that wonderful time for music and The Cars -- the 1980's; a period of time I wish I could have back. I applaud the New Cars for their efforts in re-releasing this great album and Elliot Easton's Change No Change, even though I was one of those fans who bought up every CD in the cutout section of Tower Records. Yes, I am a biased Carsfan and I don't think anyone who does not know them should review their work. I met Ben Orr 13 months before his untimely passing, so some songs are still hard to hear, like "This Time Around". But when you listen to each song, they are each a work of art -- timeless balads -- a reflection of a rare and gifted musician and vocalist who left us way too soon. I'm sure Carsfans would agree that our world is a smaller, darker place without him.