Customer Reviews

Portfolio (Reis)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unless you're a huge Grace Jones fan or you consider Disco to be your musical bible, this album should probably be avoided. Though I've been a fan since the days of "Living My Life," I still find it incredibly hard to sit through Grace's first two albums, including this one. It matters little that the music and presentation here are authentic disco....much of it is unlistenable.

The first three tracks should be avoided at all costs; though Grace later found a way to sing around the deficiencies of her range and vibrato, these songs suffer greatly from her vocal inexperience, just as listeners are likely to suffer. Without the benefit of seeing her original (over the top) stage shows from this period, these songs fall as flat as Grace's voice sounds when she sings them. "Tomorrow" (from the Broadway musical "Annie") is particularly repellent, the vocal equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard.

The original side two of the album is a measurable improvement, and includes a version of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" which is simply wonderful. Indeed, the production for this song is an engaging departure from disco norms: gentle accoustic guitar, delightful keyboard fills and an un-obtrusive rhythmic pulse propel this song more effectively than the standard big bass drum. Though Grace has to talk-sing in parts, her delight in and devotion for this song makes this one of her most affecting vocal performances.

The remainder of the "B" side has some pleasant moments. "Sorry" seems uncharacteristically sentimental (for Grace) but is still appealing. "I Need A Man" is dynamic and direct, like the best songs in Grace's catalog.

Grace released three albums of "old school" disco before graduating to reggae flavored dance music. Though there are memorable performances from that period, Grace's old-time Disco tracks are generally more appealing if taken out of context. That is, any "best of" that covers this period will give you the representative hits without the appalling misses. It's ironic that her best entire album from the Disco era, "Muse," has been out of print for close to twenty years. Though the only hit on "Muse" was "On Your Knees," the album is worth searching out for it's top-notch disco production, memorable songs and great vocals from Grace.

My apologies to the Grace diehards here, but I can't recommend "Portfolio" to anyone who isn't already a fan. This album is more likely to alienate listeners (on the whole) than it is likely to win Miss Jones any new supporters.

-Mic

Grace's debut works so well exactly because of her robotic delivery and her aloof vocal style. This was the sneering, cynical but glamorous disco queen irreverently covering classics like La Vie En Rose, Send In The Clowns and Tomorrow. I love it.

The story is well known-- Grace Jones, club acolyte, was approached at a disco to consider recording her own style of dance music. Her fierce yet campy persona lent itself to just such an endeavor. She readily admitted to not having much of a singing voice, but like her, who wouldn't have accepted such an opportunity? This initial effort contained the seeds for her subsequent career, spanning the icy, detached aspect, the campy show biz side, and the romantic. As a whole, the CD is terrible; as a document of the predecessor to the more interesting and substantial things to come, it is a novelty. "I Need A Man" worked the disco sensibility effectively, both as a high-BPM dance number and as as reflection of the sexual mores of the time. "La Vie En Rose" combined the showy with the feminine sides of Grace. Both of these standout tracks are available elsewhere. "That's The Trouble" is only notable for its history as the first song Grace recorded. "Sorry" is the other workable track, conveying the singer's (mock?) regret that her lover won't share her with another man in true camp style.

This is one of her BESt albums. According to me she made three good ones,next to MUZE this is the BEST. Grace,Jamaican born,has all the punch in this album. It's an old album,but like they say,oldies are goodies! I met Grace during the International Film Festival in Cannes in 1990,she left the Miramar hotel,and was more than eager to give authographs. Also in Belgium,she was taken off stage and her show cancelled because she appeared topless on top of a motorcycle on stage to perform.

Everywhere she came there's chaos,but that's Grace's trademark. Afterall,this album is a highly Collectible!

from ALTER EGO in Tulsa OK.

This cd is the epitome of all that was disco: animal lust and pulse pounding dance beats! Grace growls her way through "La Vie En Rose" like no other singer making it her own call of the wild. She belts out "I Need A Man" in a blatantly orgiastic frenzy. Hard to believe this music is over 20 years old! Boogie down disco lovers!

Where to start? ohh well! This is the first of three disco albums by Grace in the period from 77-79.
Her first album is quite unique, the album is filled with typical disco music from the late seventies, on the exeption of "La Vie En Rose", the mentioned song is stunning it's a beautiful song with a touch of "grace" and beauty. It slowly beats to a rhythm that's quite unique. Grace delivers a fine vocal performance her voice is strong and she has her vibrator under full control. (Unlike on the song "That's The Trouble" where her vibrator is wobbly and unearing to listen to).

The album is great, and Grace was one of the headliners in studio 54 where she had a really big audience.
Her song "I Need A Man" peaked at number #1 in dance clubs and her rendition of "La Vie En Rose" went gold in Europe.
Otherwise, the rest of the album is quite delibriant songs such as: "Tommorrow" and "Send In The Clowns" are made in a very graceful way and on "Sorry" Grace has a shinning moment.

Album and single statics:
Album: Portfolio - Pop albums #109, Black albums #52.
Club Play Singles: I Need A Man #1.
Club Play Singles: That's The Trouble/Sorry #7.
Club Play Singles: La Vie En Rose #10.
European Chart Singles: La Vie En Rose #1.
Pop Singles: I Need A Man #83.
Pop Singles: Sorry #71.
Pop Singles: That's The Trouble #71.

Length:: 1:44 Mins

'Portfolio' is Grace Jones's debut album.It is comprised of seven tracks-six of which are based in mid 70's broadway disco,in other words the covers of show tunes done up in a very campy,stereotypical cartoon disco style.Now the first three cuts are nothing but that-"Tomorrow" and "Send In The Clowns" are embarrassing songs done in an embarrassing way.The compisitions are well mixed by Tom Moulton.But Grace Jones is not a real singer-she has no range,a very awkward vibrato and is sometimes off key.The only thing she does have is a lot of soul and expressive power and that's about all that saves the first three songs from being pretty stupid.The next set of songs are much better-"La Vie En Rose",sung and spoken parcially in French is a pleasant loungey groove with a good arrangement and more of Grace's personality."Sorry",That's The Trouble" and "I Need A Man" are far more credible disco tunes with much better singing on Grace's part and much stronger compositions.You could enjoy "Portfolio" as a causionary example of music-as camp or kitch if you'd like.But there are some elements towards the end that are very enjoyable and even though everything here is unashamadely dated to the extreme it's still a joy to hear some of it to bring back at least some happy little guilty pleasures.Mind you-this is also Grace's debut.

I must confess that her disco period never really grab me just like her other albums like Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing, Living My Life did. But, never the less, it's a great and fun listening; Grace is so much detached, totally disconnected from the rest of the world that you enjoy it even if she haven't find a way to use her very special and unconventional voice. It's no way near a masterpiece, far from being the greatest album of Grace but with "La Vie En Rose" onboard it gives a little something special... But I don't really recommend it to someone who's diving in Grace Jones.

SEND IN THE CLOWNS: Great opening, her voice does come to is limitation but the grandiose, Broadway style (yes I know it's a Broadway cover...) give the track enough pleasure to keep it to the end...

WHAT I DID FOR LOVE: ... Well now we are totally expose to the limitations of Grace's voice. It not a very good song but not a catastrophe, it's fairly produce but really the voice of Grace prevent it form being a standout.

TOMORROW: Fun track, again in this big grand, Broadway style (I know it's another Broadway cover). It's pleasurable, and totally detached from the rest of the album... A good track, not a classic, but so much fun to listen to.

LA VIE EN ROSE: Great, amazing, romantic, dreamy and so simple... It's odd to see that the simplest track on the album is the best. It has that little acoustic guitar with a little beat and relying totally on Grace vocals that are superb, simply stunning...

SORRY: Beautiful song but simply gets a bit repetitive by the end, Grace seems to be really at ease with her vocals...

THAT'S THE TROUBLE: Upbeat, danceable track that seems to get stuck in my mind and head each time I listen to it... It has a great production, confident Jones on the commands that really make the song shines.

I NEED A MAN: Greatly produce, direct but seems a bit flat after a couple of listening... It had a lot of popularity with the gay community at the time it was release but being a 16 years old straight guy, I think maybe the song just loose a bit of it's punch...

Grace Jones albums are like a box of chocolate. You never know what you are going to get. Grace Jones started out as a disco queen and then moved into new wave and finally came back to pop.

This is Grace Jones' first album. It is disco versions of show tunes and original songs. Her voice is really stiff. It does not go well with the material. She would use her unique sound much better in her new wave material, such as Warm Leatherette. The music is also very stiff. It has the basic disco beat, but there is no interest to the music. It is all very boring.

On her next disco attempt, Fame, she would open up a little more and the results are more satisfying.