Customer Reviews

Roll With It

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Roll With It" could have been called "Back in the High Life II." Both feature tasteful, intelligent, and irresistably catchy adult pop-rock. Here, Winwood continues to perfect some of the forms he began experimenting with in the early '80s. The life-affiming 1982 anthem "Still in the Game" serves as a precursor to "Shining Song," 1982's gentle ballad "There's a River" leads up to "One More Morning," and the city-at-night soundscapes of 1980's "Night Train" and 1982's "Talking Back to the Night" serve as rough demos for the classic "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" If anything, though, "Roll With It" is grittier and more rootsy than his previous solo releases, incorporating some of Winwood's earliest R&B influences - especially on the irresistable title track. By bringing together and perfecting so many of his earlier musical influences, Steve Winwood made "Roll With It" one of the best albums of the 1980s.

I have to start by saying that I don't listen to a ton of music in this genre....whatever that may be....beer commercial music???

I love this disc....it's not perfect, but Steve has a touch to both the music and his voice that puts everything he does a notch above the competition....it's instantly catchy, and instantly recognizable -- AND IT'S NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE TO SAY THAT ABOUT OTHER THAN BRITTNEY SPEARS AND NSYNC!!!!

(please forget i mentioned them -- i'm venting!!!!)...the radio was just as saturated with Steve Winwood around the time this album came out, as it is with the girl and boy bands now that are so ridiculous....

But songs like "Holding On," "Shining Song" and "Roll With It" are worthy of all the airplay they have ever gotten.....

Everything on this disc is good, most of it borders on great, but "Don't You Know What The Night Can Do" (one of my favorite songs ever) is completely unforgettable.....and worth getting this CD for, alone!

I understand Steve's yearning to return to a simpler sound as he did on his latest cd but, for me, this is his true calling. I rate this one as one of the best albums of the 80s. It literally jumps out of the speakers with enthusiasm and infectious rhythms every time I put it on. I love the horns, the background singers, the drums, the tight arrangements and clear sound and, of course, Steve's wonderful vocals throughout. This is just one great album.

Released two years after the excellent and deservedly very successful 'Back in the high life', 'Roll with it' sees Steve Winwood moving back more towards his roots, and returning to a somewhat more traditional rhythm and blues sound. Rather than complex synthesizer and percussion arrangements, 'Roll with it' is dominated by piano and organ, with punchy horns from the famed American trumpet/sax duo the Memphis Horns, and the drums of John Robinson well to the fore. The use of these natural rhythm section instruments gives the album a somewhat more organic and flowing feel than its predecessor. The powerful production sound of Tom Lord Alge has evolved significantly and gives the record a very bright and urgent quality, and even the cover, showing a mature Winwood looking self-assured in jeans and leather jacket, hints at the tough and uncompromising R&B style of the record. Two tracks ('Dancing shoes 'and 'Shining song') are not so memorable, but the rest are excellent, my particular favourites being the gospelly ballads 'One more morning' and 'The morning side', and the driving title track.

Winwood's Roll With It is one of his very best works. The songs all have infectious R & B rhythms which show Stevie's sense of soul. The title track, "Holdin On" and "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do" are the album's highlights. The arrangements do not show the subtle complexity of sounds present in more recent works, but the songs are pure magic.

For some reason, "Roll With It" seems to be Steve Winwood's most popular song. Even now, when listening to stations that play at least a little bit of 80s rock at times, I hear that song more than any other from Winwood. It baffles me. I think to myself a lot, "Why do they play this one when they could be playing his much better songs, such as Back in the High Life, The Finer Things, or Valerie?"

Don't get me wrong, I like the song, "Roll With It," I just don't find it to be his best song ever. It's one of the three hits featured here on the album of the same name. The other two are the subtle "Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?" and my personal favorite, "Holding On." "Holding On" is one of those songs that I can listen to over and over and over again without ever growing tired of it. I love it; its chorus is just TOO catchy.

But from there, the album takes a turn downward. The other five songs weren't hits at all, and apart from "Morning Side," I don't like any of them much at all. So that means that I usually listen to half the tape and skip the other half.

Steve Winwood rolled with the success of Roll With It. But don't mistaken it for his best album, which is definitely Back In The High Life. If there's a song on Roll With It that you just gotta have (I HAD to have "Holding On"), then get this one. If you're just looking for a nice sampling of Steve Winwood's best (he hasn't had a good compilation album made yet), then get Back In The High Life.

I tell ya people, I was on my way to the Caribbean (my fourth trip there since leaving my reviews) and I realized how boring retirement is. So, when I arrived home I found bundles and bundles of mail. All from fans all over the world. In truth, there was so much mail that I couldn't get into my castle! And that entrance is at least 50 feet high. It was easy to see that I was sorely missed by the earth's population. A tear came to my eye (but only briefly).

Then Seering Stone Magazine contacted me and wanted an interview. Yes people- the accolades and pure unadulterated fawning made me graciously accept. However, there was one glitch which caused a great stir. The magazine quoted me as saying "I'm more popular than Santa now", and from that point there was a big outcry and backlash. I had to go on t.v. to explain that it was just a silly joke to appease the masses. (Although, deep in my heart, I believed it to be true). In any case, here it is, another review. It will have a Christmas flavor to it (since it is that time again), and I hope you all are not disappointed.

You better not cry, you better not pout

Or all your votes, they won't count,

Santa Seer is now back in Town

He's making a Hiss, he's screaming it loud

one could go deaf, so says the crowd

Santa Seer is now back in Town

He reviews Steve Winwood's music

It's soul-rock-pop he smiles

Steve's smokey vocal alluring

Will make dancing shoes dance for miles

So, you better hear good, you better hear well

Rolling with it all, is truth to tell

Santa Seer is now back in town

Steve is in fine form, polished music indeed

doesn't need no reindeer, just a noble steed

Santa Seer is now back in Town

The reviewers and folks in Amazonland, will have a jubilee

You have this soulful music, and now you even have me!

So, you better go buy, you better go gift

My advice is always golden, if you catch my drift

Santa Seer is now back in Town

Santa Seer is now back in Town

SANTA SEER IS NOW BACK IN TOWN!!!

Well,,,, that was fun. But, if you have admired the musicianship of Winwood in the past, this effort will not disappoint. Makes a great present for the holidays or to hear on a plane to the Caribbean.

Now it's time for a brandy and cigar!

Have a wonderful season my trillions of fans.

Seers that We Have Heard On High.......... Metamorpho ;)

Roll With It is a song I just enjoy dancing and listening to any time. This is one of his best and still rocks on after some 20 years! There are some other great tracks but Roll With It is the best!!

I admit this album reminds me of his last one in a few ways. Mostly because I think half of the 8 tracks are excellent, and of course the other half is just so-so. Obviously, like "Back In The Highlife", it's the singles that really shine here. The title track is a great upbeat song, even if it was overplayed at the time, and I really do like "Holding On" as well. However, it's "Don't You Know What The Night Can Do" that keeps this in my collection. It's link to the late 80's beer commercial has faded from my memory, and now I just enjoy it as the great song it is. This is a good album for any fan, but what he really needs now is a simple 15-20 track "Greatest Hits" of his solo years, or a double including everything he's done.

Although being hard rock fans for a long time, sometimes I need time to relax a bit. Particularly at night. In that occasion I turn to Dan Forgelburg, Inside Job(Don Henley), Jackson Browne and Steve Winwood.

Am I a minority that thinks Talking Back To The Night is the best Steve Winwood album I have heard so far? Roll With It is nearly as good as that masterpiece. If your first encounter with Steve Winwood is Back In The High Life it might be true that this album sounds bland. But the rest of five tracks which didn't become singles are great in its own right. Particularly I like Put On Your Dancing Shoes a lot.

This Steve Winwood has subtle beauty and that is what adult rock is all about.