Customer Reviews

Mistaken Identity

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Summer came out with this collection, the forces of fate left her unable to do any promotional work - zero.

Mistaken Identity was overlooked by almost everyone. The underground dance scene jumped on it, but the mainstream ignored it. The mainstream missed out.

Side one boasts an almost flawless set of aggressive dance music, far beyond the mechanical anonymity of Another Place and Time. Summer, always best when deeply involved in her projects, gets lots of songwriting credit.

Get Ethnic showcases Summer's clear command over her vocal prowess; it's one of her more aggressively sung tunes. Summer lets herself venture into her bygone specialty - global blends of rock, soul, alternative and dance. Body Talk follows. Again, Summer wraps her vocal power and finesse around an otherwise so-so song. Work That Magic is a breezy pop infected dance track with an irresistible verse, and When Love Cries returns Summer to the sensual falsetto (I Feel Love, Love To Love You) that first mesmerized the world.

Some were put off that Summer so blatantly updated her sound; but they miss the point that she did it well.

Possibly the two most interesting - not necessarily the best - songs come at the end. What Is It You Want is a flawed house track that doesn't quite work. However, it also boasts some of the rawest Donna Summer belting recorded. Really exposes an earthy side to Summer when she's obviously having some serious fun. And then, Cry of a Waking Heart is an off the beaten path dance track with an alternative bent to it. Beautiful piano over a hypnotic beat. Real fans will recall Grand Illusion from The Wanderer. This one's in that vein but far more complex and melodic.

The whole mix results in a great Donna Summer recording that was fatefully bypassed by those who might enjoy it the most. Worth the purchase.

'Mistaken identity' was Donna Summer's second urban album (the previous being the 1982 Quincy Jones produced 'Donna Summer') and was an attempt at incorporating current trends in black music. Unfortunately, it was given a wide berth by fans especially as they had excitedly embraced her return to Eurodisco two years previously with the Stock Aitken Waterman produced smash hit 'Another place and time' album.

This, however, wasn't a reflection of the music, which was good and well sung (produced by the late Keith Diamond), just that people wanted Donna singing dance/disco only.

Opening track 'Get ethnic' kicks things off with screaming rock guitars, African talking drums, and a powerful vocal performance from Summer.

'Body talk' had a driving new jack swing beat, great sax all over, and playful, teasing vocals from Summer.

The catchy 'Work that magic', and the kooky but fun 'What is it you want' (the latter with razor sharp synths and drum machines working overtime, and a killer accapella outro) were the two lone dance tracks on the CD.

Lead off single 'When love cries' found Summer cooing seductively in a 'Love to love you baby' style falsetto to a sparse bassline, Soul II Soul beats, and even had a little rap bridge. This was the lone single to crack the Billboard Hot 100. In a similar vein is the ethereal, new age sound of 'Cry of a waking heart' which features a dazzling keyboard solo. One of the standouts on this CD.

'Fred Astare' is classic Summer; slow ballad intro leading to a funky upbeat dance song with bouncy synths and lyrics about wanting to be Ginger Rogers to your Fred Astare.

Title track 'Mistaken identity' is a synth/drum machine driven funk/dance number inspired, Summer says, by the Rodney King incident. The lyrics tell the tale of some blonde blue eyed lady falsely accused, hence the blonde mane and cropped upper half of Donna's face on the CD cover, but there's no mistaking those famous features. Similar to this is 'Say a little prayer'.

Then there are the ballads; The acoustic 'Heaven's just a whisper away' (with passionate vocals from Summer), her thank you to her fans in 'Friends unknown', and the Gulf war inspired 'Let there be peace' featuring an awesome backing choir and fiery vocals from Summer.

An underrated gem in Summer's brilliant repertoire which I'd urge anyone to discover.

Mistaken Identity showcases Donna Summer's extreme versatility. From rhythm and blues urban songs, dance tunes, pretty ballads or jazzy pop stylings, she hits it out of the park with this CD. Too many people who gave this work negative reviews would prefer that she sing nothing but disco and dance music. I have no real problem with the Another Place And Time CD except that she sings the same song over ten different times which is typical of a Stock, Aitken, Waterman opus. Whether they have Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Jason Donovan, Hazell Dean, Bananarama or Donna Summer singing their songs, everything is extremely formulaic and utterly predictable. Not so with this CD. Heaven's Just A Whisper Away and Friends Unknown are stunning vocal performances, Work That Magic and Fred Astaire really make one want to get up and dance and the rest of the songs show what a marvelous vocalist Miss Summer really is. You can pick this CD up really cheap either on Amazon or EBay. Get a copy!!

This is one of Donnas best albums. Period! Early in the 90s she tried to update her style and explore urban music and other street sounds and I guess she scored big with it,though most critics and fans got confused and disappointed. We all would better reconsider and listen to tracks like GET ETHNIC, BODY TALK and the gorgeous anthemic WHAT IS IT YOU WANT. Go listen to her acapella rap at the end of the song: PURE BLISS!-@

Every time I return to this CD over the years I'm impressed by how strong a collection it is. "Get Ethnic" and "Body Talk" get the proceedings off to a rocky start. The former is almost camp, but it grows on you. From there, the album really takes off. Good songs, crisp production, and her lovely voice. These are some of the best songs of her career. I rank this album alongside "Another Place and Time."

On this album, Donna Summer teamed up with Keith Diamond. Donna returned to her style of aggressive dance music that made her late 70's albums popular in 1991. Highlights on this album are "Work That Magic", "Be My Fred Astaire", and "What Is It You Want?". The albums also includes the beauitful acostic ballad "Heaven Is Just a Whisper Away" and the pop anthem "Let There Be Peace".

Mistaken Identity took many people by surprise as it featured many new sounds for Donna. Yet this album shows the full spectrum of Donna's unmatched vocal and style range. Songs like "Get Ethnic", "Body Talk" and "What It Is You Want" are far more "urban" than anything that she ever recorded since "Bad Girls". However her signature sound is not lost here either as tracks like "Work That Magic", and "Fred Astire" are made for the clubs. Rounding off this CD are the great ballads "Heaven's Just a Whisper Away" (later recorded by Regina Belle), "Let There Be Peace" , and the CD's best cut a heartfelt tribute to her hardcore fans "Friend's Unkown". I can't think of another orginal song ever written to top this one. If this CD took you aback the first go around, rediscover it, you may find yourself loving it.

In 1991, Donna Summer released her ninteenth album entitled, MISTAKEN IDENTITY. Donna Summer seemed to have gone in a new direction, not only in her musical sound and musical style, but also in her fashion style: seems she decided that she has "Blonde Ambition". If you don't know what I mean by that, just look at the album's front cover. That's all I have to say. But this album is simply amazing. I was kind of expecting this album to not sound as good as her first eighteen albums, but I was wrong. This album is incredible.

GET ETHNIC
This is simply an amazing song. I love its funky sound. This is a song I could listen to over and over again...and I have.

BODY TALK
An okay song. I was not too pleased with this one.

WORK THAT MAGIC
Great song.

WHEN LOVE CRIES
The first single from the album. Good song.

HEAVEN'S JUST A WHISPER AWAY
A very relaxing ballad.

CRY OF A WAKING HEART
Great song.

FRIENDS UNKNOWN
The second & final single from the album. Another amazing ballad.

FRED ASTAIRE
When I first listened to this song, I immeditely took to the song because I have always been a Fred Astaire fan. This is a great song.

SAY A LITTLE PRAYER
Great song.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY
The album's awesome title track. This is a great track.

WHAT IS IT YOU WANT
Okay song.

LET THERE BE PEACE
Great song.

This is an album that I really enjoy hearing. It is an amazing album and none of you will be disappointed when you buy a copy for yourselves: that is if you haven't already.

I live in Brazil, my fear was how the cd would come to me. For my tranquility it came in a good shape and became one of my favourites! Donna is amazing, and thanks for this site and for those who sells itens here. Ok, I waited almost 2 months and a half to receive everything I bought but only because of things like this I could take a chance to have this treasures!

DONNA SUMMER MISTAKEN IDENTITY IS A GOOD CD.DONNA SUMMER HAS A BEUTIFUL VOICE COMBINED WITH THE MUSIC.THIS IS A CD FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT.FIVE STARS.