Customer Reviews

Objects of Desire

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I've owned this recording in some form or another since it was issued and have always liked it. But somehow, I just never got around to writing about it.
Objects of Desire was recorded toward the merciful end of the disco era. Franks never followed that fad but here takes a couple of cracks at some aspects of disco culture using tunes faintly redolent of that form to press his point. Ladies Night and No Deposit Love are the chief examples of this.
Jealousy and Flirtation are horn-driven tunes that tastefully give off a teasing whiff of disco while remaining firmly rooted in jazz. All-star sidemen Randy Brecker and Lew Soloff provide the brass pyrotechnics that give these two a funky edge.
No Franks album would be complete without some reference to the tropics. Here this is given two places, on the dreamy Tahitian Moon and in the cover art that reproduces a Gaugin painting.
Jealousy, Laughing Gas, and Wonderland are my favorite cuts but the whole CD is testimony to Franks' status as one of the finest composers and wordsmiths in modern music. I highly recommend this overlooked gem which still sounds great nearly 20 years after its release.

"Objects Of Desire" I feel is one of Michael's breeziest albums. Coming off the disco craze, this recording features upbeat melodies with electronic keyboards and horn arrangements. "No Deposit Love" is a track with Michael doing multi-vocal overdubbing, something he rarely does. Bonnie Raitt was an already established Warner Brothers star when she was featured on the duet "Ladies Night." This style of song is clearly a departure for her, yet here she sounds relaxed; as if she's been doing this kind of material for years. The opening track "Jealousy" in it's lyric, refers to "Othello" interestingly enough. Further proof of Michael's never ending supply of reference for his subject matter. The mastering of this disc, or for that matter the album itself, is a bit quiet. This little bit aside, this is a fun album.

This is an excellent album. Superbly arranged and recorded. if you are a MF fan, this album is a must. Put on some headphones and be transported into another world of pure class and style. Gets better and better even after 16 years of listening. I also recommend Passionfruit, Skin Dive and The Camera Never Lies..... Your life will never be the same!

Honestly my knowledge of Michael Franks comes largely from the the album Camera Never Lies and his famous song "Popsicle Toes". Much as with Steely Dan,Bobby Caldwell and Gino Vannelli Franks possesses this rare talent of being able to bring his immense verbal and musical vocabulary improvisations into a different pop oriented contexts. The imagery he creates with his music has the ability to create different setting and atmospheres that are able to be soothing,witty and thoughtful all at the same time. Not only that but he writes extremely well constructed songs and has the best taste in musicians and producers that I've ever seen. During the early 80's his kind of music was about as tailor made for the urban record buyer/radio audience as one could get. Yet all the same bursting from top to bottom with much creative delight and often whimsy. This album was released in 1982,at a time when the music industry in general was recovering from a recession. Much like the the artists who had the most longjevity from this era Michael Franks was intent on following his creative muse as opposed to cow towing to passing fads. And this is an excellent example.

Within this albums nine songs there's an excellent sense of musical and lyrical variety. On "Jealousy","Ladies Night",No Deposit Love" and "Flirtation" the sophistifunk grooves provided by the well oiled and well known session players involved are downright infectious. One of the reason is they are involved with melodically clever and instrumentally inventive songwriting as well. On "Laughing Gas" there's more of a shuffle and some of the wittiest lyrics on the album,in this case kind of comparing his romantic interest in someone to...well the title says it all. On "Tahitian Moon" (apparently Michael Franks is quite the beach comber from how many songs seem to have that lyrical pattern),"Love Duet" and "No One But You" he's dealing with the same intricately crafted pop jazz approach only on a slower end.

It's albums such as this,which in my case was discovered used and collecting a good deal of dust in a lower bin in the jazz section,that made a lot of different during this era. Because the dance music of the late 70's and early 70's was causing so much trouble,the best way to make uptempo music with a funky twist during this era was to give it as much of a jazzy and/or soulful twist as possible. It worked for just about every one who went with this approach and it made it possible for Michael Franks to still put his intricately jazzy pop melodies into songs with a variety of tempos,textures and flavors. And all the while still maintain a very distinctive sound he could call his own. Admittedly not having heard every single one of his albums I have to say this is one of my favorites regardless.

This is classic Michael Franks. This is the album that started it all for me. Check out the track Ladies' Nite - he sings a duet with Bonnie Rait. This album also contains Tahitian Moon - a soulful song that always makes me wish I could crawl into a bungelow on the beach of Tahiti with the island girl he meets in this song. If you want a mellow collection of some of Mr. Franks greatest, this is it!

been obsessed on his music lately. obsessed with everything before and around this but not this. self titled (previously unreleased), art of tea, sleeping gypsy, tiger in the rain, burchfield nines, one bad habit, passionfruit, abandoned garden all amazing stuff. those albumns should be acquired first then go here i guess.

I have been a Michael Franks fan since the early 1980's. I have all of his earlier record and his later work on CD's. Now I have most of my music on my I-Pod so I am replacing records with CDs. You just can't play a record in a car.

Although I like Michael Frank's newer work, the older work is the best. The more you listen to Michael Frank's songs, the more you like them. He writes everything that he does.

I have been listening to Michael Franks since high school 1978, fell in love with the great music/musicians and storytelling / meaningful lyrics.

Great music that expresses being in love, absence of love and getting over love. Released more than 30 years ago, Objects of Desire is timeless.