Manage the Damage

Jimmy Somerville | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 11, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Instinct Records
• Run Time: 43 minutes
• ASIN: B00003IE1Z
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,208 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Working with cowriter and coproducer Sally Herbert, Somerville has crafted a fine dance-pop album. There aren't any big surprises lurking within these 11 tracks, just a batch of tasteful arrangements and nuanced production accompanying Somerville's unfaltering falsetto. "Something to Live For" opens with a pop-ballad intro, but soon shifts gears into an uptempo, affirmative dance track tinged with melancholy. The song's attitude and vibe recall '70s disco classics like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." Manage the Damage's high point is the masterful pop gem "This Must Be Love," in which Somerville's relaxed singing is propelled by a trip-hop undertow and then a swooning bridge blossoms into a lovely chorus that's both dreamy and irresistibly catchy. The disc's last tune, "Rolling," features floating strings buoyed by a hypnotic bass line. The accompaniment nicely supports Somerville's vocals on this well-chosen closer. --Fred Cisterna

Product Description

Australian edition of the former Bronski Beat/ Communards leader's 1999 solo album with three bonus tracks added, 'I Believe', 'Something To Live For' (Sounds Of Life Full Vocal Club Mix) and 'Lay Down' (Disco Mix). 14 tracks total, also featuring the sin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most unique voices in pop music, April 28, 2000

By 

Eric Wahl (Bozeman, MT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manage the Damage (Audio CD)

I have to say I knew this album was out awhile before I bought it . . . cautiously. I really despised Sommerville's ultra-dull VH-1 on Nembutol last disc, but there's just no other voice like his, and I read good reviews of Manage the Damage, so I got it. Happily, it's made me entirely forget his last dud. This album is controlled and well-thought-out musically. Only one song is a bit overly-preachy (about physical abuse), but that's the only irritation (a lyrical one; the song sounds nice). The opening track reminds me of a catchier version of the song he recorded for the film Orlando--vaguely operatic/house/orientalist--very cool, and my favorite track on the disc. But what I like just as much as Sommerville's voice is that this album has the sound of something that won't grow immediately stale, and it's great finding a CD I can listen to all the way through without skipping tracks. Glad I bought it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manages the Damage rather remarkably, March 3, 2000

By 

"boy_with_the_thorn_in_his_side" (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manage the Damage (Audio CD)

Jimmy Somerville is an artist who incorporates the disco/70's style of music into the dance and EBM genre (like the lounge singer meets a modern Donna Summer). His voice flows with today's dance and electronica. A welcome soloist in the tradition of The Pet Shop Boys, but much more layered and enriched with his falsetto vocal ranges. Only the British could produce an operatic quality male singer as the "pushing 40"- but still with vision- Jimmy Somerville. A tenor with eurodisco in his blood, and even though eurodisco is getting a bad rap these days, Jimmy proves with all of these tracks that he's got "Something To Live For"... for "This Must Be Love". A beautiful man with unmatched vocals and talent.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fine enough CD, September 4, 2000

By 

Joseph M. Guada "jmg7777" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manage the Damage (Audio CD)

Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised with this latest CD, given that I thought Somerville's last one was a big disappointment. "Manage..." includes several tracks that continue his love/talent for the disco/dance anthem ("Something to Live For" or "Stone", for example) and the bellowing of the first track ("Here I Am") is reminiscent of the best of Bronski Beat. However, what I found best were those tracks where Somerville updates his sound by successfully delving into more recent styles (dabbling in trip-hop and techno) such as on the recriminating "Dark Sky" or especially on the melodiously catchy "This Must Be Love" (great single!). Other favorites are "Someday Soon" and "Rolling". Not all of these tracks worked for me. A few, upon listening for a few months, I found needed skipping over ("Lay Down" and "Eve"). But, for the most part, this is a welcome addition to Somerville's talented career.