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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marx Stretching His Musical Abilities To New Heights, September 3, 1999
By A Customer
Like most of his albums, Richard Marx's "Paid Vacation" was critically bashed. Unlike most earlier criticism, most of the critics didn't like Marx's venture into a more Nashville-progressive country sound, rather than the usual bashing of Marx's AOR songs. "Paid Vacation", in this author's opinion continues Marx's musical journey of writing finely-crafted songs that appeal to a broad audience, but in a new direction. "Hazard", one of the more popular songs from his previous album "Rush Street" provided a preview to the sound of "Paid Vacation". Many of the songs (Nothing Left Behind Us, Silent Scream, Heaven's Waiting) give us an acoustic-guitar based sound flavored with folk, country, and southern rock sounds only heard now on "Young Country" radio stations. Stylistically, "Paid Vacation" is Marx's first attempt at recording an album of songs that hang together as a whole. While not as diverse as his previous albums, there is the R & B sound of "Soul Motion", and the medium rocker "One More Try" that harken back to "Rush Street" and earlier days. Also continuing his tradition of writing honest songs from his own life experiences we get: "Goodbye Hollywood" (which echoes Billy Joel's song, although with Marx's own reasons for leaving L.A.), and the soul-stirring mega-smash "Now and Forever". Marx also penned the Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired "One Man" which features one of the last performances of the great drummer Jeff Pocaro before his tragic death. Also contributing: Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, and Vince Gill, among others. Finally, we get a taste of Marx singing some Blues on the too-short "Baby Blues". Again, with Marx's attention to detail, honest music writing, and sensational vocals, "Paid Vacation" is one of the best musical vacations you can take.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Richard Marx: Paid Vacation (1994), February 25, 2005
After the release of RUSH STREET, along with the release of the album's five singles, Richard Marx decided to take a two to three year break. In 1994, Richard Marx returned to the countdown with his long anticipated fourth album entitled, PAID VACATION. This album, does not quite match up to that of his first three albums, but I am, indeed, a person, who does have enough decency and common sense to give this album the chance it most certainly deserves. This album really is not that bad. You'll find out why.
THE WAY SHE LOVES ME
The second single from the album. This song does not fit in well with Richard's previous material, but what can I say? This is a great song. You all might enjoy this one if you are a diehard Richard Marx fan.
ONE MORE TRY
A song that I can listen to all day long. The sound is also something Richard hasn't done before, but it is very well to my liking. From the first 30 seconds, I knew the song was going somewhere. By the way, Richard's song and George Michael's song are two different songs with the same title.
SILENT SCREAM
The fourth & final single from the album. Not bad. Basically because I was hoping that it would've been a ballad because the title makes it sound like it should have been a ballad.
NOTHING TO HIDE
Sounds like for this song, Richard decided to go back to his original sound. This is one of my favorite songs from this album.
SOUL MOTION
Usually, I hate when a pop/rock artist records a song that is on the side of R&B, but Richard Marx recorded this song with an R&B sound that was nowhere near hateful. This song is this album's ultimate classic.
NOW AND FOREVER
The first single from the album. I knew off the bat that this song was a ballad and I was right. But I was hoping for a better song than this. I was very disappointed in the sound of this song. Richard's vocals were perfect and that is the only highlight of this song.
GOODBYE HOLLYWOOD
Do you know what I heard when I was listening to this song? I heard a hit single. This song sounds like it had a lot of potential to be released as a single and I feel that if it was a released as a single, it would have been a hit. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
HEAVEN'S WAITING
This sound was not what I had expected to hear, but the song is really catchy and it did more than just seek my approval. It made itself another favorite of mine.
NOTHING LEFT BEHIND US
The second single from the album. Sounds a bit like a country song, fused with slight pop, but it is a song that I have enjoyed, since the first time I heard it. A song nobody should miss.
WHAT YOU WANT
Another song featuring the sound of his first three albums. A song that I cannot stop playing. This is the song for you if you a Richard Marx fan like me. Listen to this one before you advance to the next song.
ONE MAN
This is the ballad that Now And Forever should have been. I got more of a feeling out of this one than I did with Now And Forever. This is a very heartfelt ballad that I cannot get enough of. And there really should be only one man for every woman in this world. They just have to find us.
BABY BLUES (Live Performance)
This is, obviously, a live performance. Frankly, this song is the worst on this album. It makes Now And Forever sound like the best song on the album. But I'll give Richard the credit he deserves, because from what I heard, he sounds great when performing live. Not just hearing other people's opinion, but also by hearing this live performance.
This album sounds like it should have sold more. If you have listened to Richard's first three albums, they sounded like he was still growing up as a solo artist and performer. When he released his first album, "Richard Marx", in 1987, he was only 24 years old. When he released his second album, "Repeat Offender", in 1989, he was only 26 years old. With the release of his third album, "Rush Street", in 1991, He was only 28. For this album, he decided to bring on album that was much more mature, than the others. One way to tell of the maturity he brought to this album was his appearance. If you look at his first three albums, he had that long dark hair. Now, with this album, his hair is short and combed very nicely, making him look more mature. This album is amazing in every way, with the exception of two songs. So, buy a copy of this album and enjoy like I have.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Family's Favourite Holiday Album, March 22, 2002
Richard Marx has always been a family favourite and we own every single one of his album is some shape or form (I own his first album on vinyl, my Mum and Dad have Repeat Offender on tape, I have Rush Street on CD, they also have this album and Flesh And Bone on CD and I own the Alvalon album on CD (Which I actually don't have in my posession at this moment in time since a friend is getting it to me).I personally really liked a lot of the tracks on "Rush Street" especially the haunting "Hazard". Sadly, too much of it was pretty heavy on the rock side, so it is not a consistant album to listen to. This album is one that I can sit through (except the last track). Some people believe this was the end of Richard Marx's days of greatness, but it seems artists that move on to bigger and better things are often misunderstood and classified as 'has beens'. This album is just fantastic, and the best track in my opinion would have to be "There Ain't Nothing Left Behind Us" since it always reminds me of the 'good old days' when we used to take a drive to the country when I was in grade 3. A very laidback effort, but nonetheless I can't understand why anyone would not like it. It will always remain a special album to me since it is a part of my childhood that I will cherish.
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by Richard Marx 
