Customer Reviews

One Voice (Exp)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"One Voice" is one of Barry Manilow's moodiest albums and ranks among my favorites. The album's black-and-gray cover suits most of these songs, which sounded especially good as the weather turned colder in late 1979 and hold up very well today. Ultimately hopeful, the famous title track starts with a stark, attention-getting a cappella intro. The first single, "Ships," featured the already familiar, starts-quiet-ends-big arrangement of previous hits, but the lyric (by veteran British rocker Ian Hunter) about a fading father-son relationship was different from what Barry'd done before. Fans aware of Barry Manilow's non-relationship with his biological father sensed that "Ships" was more personal than his other Top 10 hits. This is also true of "Sunday Father", about a divorced dad trying to make the most of his one day a week with his son..."one day to keep the two from turning to strangers." "Where Are They Now" is a lament to lost friends which sadly becomes more applicable each passing year. "Rain" is an excellent midtempo song built around Michael Boddicker's hypnotic synthesizer playing.

The pace changes in the second half with two fast songs. The blistering, rock-disco "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" just kicks. I wish Barry had pursued this direction a little more; if you haven't heard it, this aggressive song will surprise you. "Sleeping" would have been a far better single release than either "When I Wanted You" or "I Don't Want To Walk Without You", which made the Top 40 but didn't reach many radio listeners outside the loyal fan base. "Bobbie Lee" is a well-done rock song that continued a series of young girls-for-hire-songs last seen with Even Now"'s bonus track "No Love For Jenny". Hmmm...

The bonus track, "They Gave In To The Blues," was originally the B-side to "Ships." It's a good addition to the album, though it's not blues.

Barry's singing is excellent here. (Phrasing much improved.) "One Voice" grew on me in disco-heavy 1979 thanks to the fine songs and fantastic singing. I hope more fans discover "One Voice" despite its relative lack of hit singles. P.S.: after this fine effort, the bottom dropped out for a short while with 1980's "Barry" album, which Arista skipped over in its late '90's reissue campaign.

I'm so grateful for CD's. Otherwise, I would already have worn a groove into "Why Don't We Try A Slow Dance", (swoony-romantic) "One Voice", (I always loved this one, try it loud in the shower) and the Just Plain Excellent "I Don't Want to Walk Without You." (Also fabulous shower singing as well as true cheer-you-up music)
I love this music. I love the way Barry wraps his voice around his song creations and lets it float out into the air the way roses send out their perfume.... OK, so I'm over the top but rediscovering Barry is so much fun! I DARE you to listen to "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and not want to dance and sing along.
So... If you're looking for your "Happy Place", this will help you get there!

This is Manilow at his best. An excellent piece of work from a master. The music in this CD flows with grace and energy. A true musical experience. It's a wonderful CD filled with music to melt your heart and charm your soul. I love it.

"One Voice" the album and "One Voice" the song showcase Manilow at what he's always done best - grabbing you by the vocal chords and forcing you to sing your lungs out!

School musical directors could do worse than to open their how with "One Voice" - it's pure theatre all the way...

"Slow Dance" takes disco and slows the whole crazy decade down to make the perfect song for that after dinner slow dance...

"Ships" is a song to learn and sing on an empty beach when you've got the blues...

"I Don't Want To Walk Without You" takes you back to another time when life was simple - if you like this song you'll love Barry's "Singing With the Big Bands" album...

"Sunday Father" reminds us how hard Sunday around five o'clock can be for so many people all over the world...

All twelve songs are gems and, after a few listens, become classics to enjoy for years to come.

One Voice was the album that came immediately after one of Barry's most traumatic times in his life. Months before, backstage, a man came and visited him after a concert. That man was his father. Someone he hadn't seen in over 20 years. This is the man who left him and his mother forever.

The meeting was brief and uneventful. This led to the somber state of this very album called One Voice. Listen to the words of the song SHIPS. You'll see what I mean.

Song's like Rain, Where Are They Now and Sunday Father have a real meaning to Barry. Songs like Bobby Lee and I Don't Want To Walk Without You are more standards and convey a somewhat positive side of seeing old friends and feeling old feelings.

This is a good album and my favorite song - again, think of his father is When I Wanted You. A really really good song and one that makes think about old times and memories. You'll enjoy this one!

This review is not so much an artistic review as much as an emotional one. Not only is this one of the best albums Manilow has ever produced... it came out at a time when it very much mirrored the events and relationships in my own very young life. When I listen to "Ships" the memories flood back and I am taken back to a time of searching and healing and to a time when I had a very strong desire to bridge a relationship gap that seemed forever "unbridgeable." I feel, I love and I cry with this one. Unforgettable!

"One Voice" was Barry Manilow's sixth studio album and his seventh release (his 1977 "Live" album was his top-seller, selling over four million albums). A year earlier, "Even Now," which went triple-platinum, spawned four hits and he won a grammy for his song "Copacabana." Though "One Voice" went double-platinum, "Even Now" was a hard act to follow and only had two hits - "Ships," which peaked at #9 and "When I Wanted You," which only made it as far as #20.

His strongest songs are the title track (of which he sung forty backgroud vocals), "Ships," and "Sunday Father." "Ships," written by Ian Hunter, was his 15th top-30 hit. Both it, "When I Wanted You" and "Where are They Now" are the typical Manilow power-ballads: melancholy piano intro; simple 1st verse and chorus; a gradual build into the 2nd verse with high-hat, strings and backing vocals; possible bridge; then full-on chorus and drum set for the climax into the final chorus.

"Sunday Father," written by Manilow, is a song that centers around a broken home and the child who goes back and forth between mom and dad. It is a simple tune with a powerful message about the hurts of divorce. The setting is just Manilow, acoustic guitar, bass, and the digital piano. Manilow at his best.

Two other memorable tracks are "Rain" and "I Don't Want To Walk Without You," a remake of the 1941 Frank Loesser song. "Rain," the third track on the album, is a Manilow original Here, Manilow ventures into the smooth jazz arena and offers up a very nice, but simple, piano solo.

Aside from these tunes, the rest of the album goes downhill. The worst are "Bobbie Lee" - a song about a prostitute - and "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed." Both tunes are lame attempts at disco and thematically bring down the album. The other four songs are filler - nothing really memorable - which is probably why Arista didn't offer a third release.

In a nutshell, I bought the CD release. I grew up on Manilow -both of my parents were fans, so between Dad, Mom and myself, we owned his entire collection up through 1983. 3/4 "good" tunes I listed above are only found on this album, so it was worth it for me to purchase it. The remake offers one additional track, which isn't all that stellar. Listen to samples online first - that's my suggestion.

just about the time of growing up and Barry held me together through the terrible teens. Very fond of this album cause it was to be the last one my best buddy and grandmother gave me before she went to Heaven. Of course, had she listened to it, she may not have approved, but hey Barry might pop out and nasty word every five albums or so, but compared to the music of today, thats a feather in his cap.

this album is more laid back and the mood is very somber and tragic. most of the songs are about missing people or broken relationships: "Where Are They Now?", "Ships", "Sunday Father", and "You Could Show Me". i continue to be amazed with "When I Wanted You" and it's arrangement. the lyrics are so powerful and 'person-to-person' and that's what gets me along with the killer hook line "...now you're on your own? how does it feel? to feel the way i used to feel...". "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" was a huge #2 AC hit but nobody hardly remembers it (it's #36 pop peak might explain things?) the song that shocked me was "Bobbie Lee" in which is about teenage prostitution(?) hence the sub-title: What's The Difference I Gotta Live. this is another excellent CD from Manilow.

"One Voice"--yeah, but whaddah voice! Great album. It is AWESOME! The more I listen to it, the more I LOVE it!!!! Some standard songs like "One Voice, I Don't Wanna Walk Without You, Ships, Who's Been Sleeping in my Bed, & When I Wanted You." They are all great, of course. "Who's Been Sleeping in my Bed" is a wee bit different version than the other version I have and it's cool. It has this guitar-drum bridge that is awesome--I mean, it ROCKS!!! I LOVE it! The song lasts over 4 1/2 minutes, too. Man, play that one loud in the morning and blast down the interstate! (and I do, too!) Everytime I hear this song, I wanna DANCE!!!

There are some new-to-me songs "Why Don't We Try A Slow Dance, Rain, You Could Show Me, Where Are They Now, Bobbie Lee, Sunday Father" and 4 bonus tracks "They Gave in to the Blues" is one plus there and 3 demos "Learning to Live Without You, Where I Want to Be, and I Let Myself Believe." (and these last 3 are outstandingly beautuful). 15 songs in all--digitally remastered. "Why Don't We Try A Slow Dance" makes me think of the high-school dances--you know, slow dancing with a boy. Very pretty song, Heck, they're all such pretty songs! "Rain" has a catchy tune and beat to it. Makes me wanna dance. Kinda in between slow and fast. Sort of an easy beat, like 35 miles per hour. "Rain" (I can't stop the rain, kissin my love goodbye) so pretty. Also, in Rain, they make these plunk, plunk rain sounds on the guitar all through the song. Really creative. Really cool.

Great album, great sound quality! Runs a wee bit under 51 minutes. I highly recommend it. On a scale of 1 - 5, I give it at least an 20. I find myself getting hopelessly addicted to it. I have to listen to it at least once a day, if not more. It has definitely become one of my favorite Barry albums! Oh, and there's a booklet included with the words to all the songs, so you can sing along with Barry Blue-Eyes.

Update July 2008: This has become one of my absolute favorite Barry albums, along with Summer of '78. It was really hard for me to pick favorites. People sometimes write and ask me. I truly love everything Barry does.