Once Upon a Time

Donna Summer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001FEE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,633 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Soul/R&B
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 12-JAN-1987

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars once upon a time Donna Summer made THE BEST RECORDS!, June 4, 2006

By 

P. Ambrose (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

Throwing this CD on this Sunday rainy morning - at ear decibal splitting levels - brings me back to the brilliance and excitement of this release. The CD does follow the original LPs tracking so the other reviewer must have a weirdo issue; the charm of this album has always been the disco flow from song to song. Following her influential breakthrough collaboration with Giorogio Moroder on "I Feel Love" from her previous LP "I Remember Yesterday", in terms of singles - this album sank. This release was never truly single oriented as the listener must take in the entire 'disc'. So many remarkable artists list this as a major influence - and it is no wonder. This is the quintessential release by a very talented woman. Moroder and Pete Bellotte created the genius that this product became and they must be honored. This is a ear candy of the highest confection. Donna's follow up, "Bad Girls" continues with this team's efforts, but this has the sweetest disco icing. Donna has had some great follow ups - but as far as discs go, this is shaking disco get - down - hallelujah dance your butt off material - "Once Upon A Time" is a masterpiece. As a concept album it is also leaps above others like Pink Floyd's "The Wall"... this is a great record. If you have never heard it you are in for an incredible, fulfilling listening experience! Add to cart!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coherent and moving, February 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

During the 1970's, it was quipped that Casablanca Records shipped gold and returned platinum. One of the few exceptions to this sometimes truth was Donna Summer's Once Upon A Time. Recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich (home also to Queen and Kraftwerk among others) as she had her previous albums, Donna and her management company set out to create a storyline for a double album. Time Magazine dubbed this , "....the first disco-opera."

Each side of the original album was called an "Act" and the songs were labeled "compositions." Summer kept the storyline simple, employing a Cinderella tale that takes place in the harsh, urban city. The point of view for each song was hers-there are no other character's voices or other singers outside the chorus.

Act One sets the up a story of a young woman, trapped in a world of make believe, where she was,"...living in a fantasy, trapped within their world." The setting of the city, the pain of being an outcast, and the relief of the spirit are the primary themes. Act Two was the most praised in the original reviews of this album. 90% electronic, full of major-minor modal shifts, and employing tape loops and noises that were groundbreaking, Moroder & Co. served up Fritz Lang-like world view of the proletariat. As Rolling Stone noted,"...the acoustic piano splash in Queen For A Day is a welcome and needed relief." Surprisingly, though the 3 songs on this album side are sampled and still played in clubs, none were released as singles.

Act Three allows Summer to stretch vocally and extend her stylistic range. Ballads, campy disco, and a brief, classical interpretation of the main album cut, show what Summer could transverse. Act Four was the most mainstream for American ears. "I Love You" was the single for the album-reaching #38 on the Billboard charts. Live versions of the first two songs of Act Four and of the title track would show up on the Live and More album.

Many critics would not notice Donna's vocal prowess until "Last Dance" stopped the floor in 1978. And her work as a composer and lyricist is still overlooked. She was one of the few women outside of the folk niche to write or co-write almost all of her material in the 1970s. Combine this with being African-American in Europe, and you have a most formidable personage.

This is Summers best and most coherent disc. The long notes aren't here and the guitars are not yet on the horizon. She was moving from the First Lady of Love to being a Bad Girl. Her stop here to be a princess and a singer in service of a song found Summer at her best.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DISCO MASTERPIECE, December 27, 2000

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

This brilliant album of great songs is on a par with her other masterpiece, the more rock-influenced Bad Girls. This one is more electronic, a majestic blend of her voice, synthesizers and drum machines, all very intelligently interwoven (Giorgio Moroder & Pete Belotte's eurodisco production at its best). Every sigh, every note and every beat of the drum is in its right place, making this a perfect album in both concept and execution. Almost every second track is a classic: the hypnotic Fairytale High, the sad Working The Midnight Shift, the triumphant Queen For A Day, the longing of Now I Need You and the trance of Faster & Faster To Nowhere. I must agree with a previous reviewer, though, about the order of tracks. Previously on vinyl there was a killer sequence of Midnight Shift, then Queen or A Day, followed by Now I Need You and it worked very well. Now these tracks are separated for no rhyme or reason. But that's a minor complaint about such a wonderful album that has aged so well.