Customer Reviews

Sail Away

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Sail Away" is such an amazing album- lyrically & musically. The arrangements on this record compliment Mr. Newman's compositions better than on the two previous albums. Though those albums are brilliant, Mr. Newman has been learning with each release. Sometimes less is more- like on "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear." Piano and voice- that's all that is necessary on this song. It comes across much better than the Harry Nillson version that has a more complex arrangement, but ultimately- is less effective than Mr. Newman's "simple" recording. Everything is accounted for on this 1972 album. There are the slow-burning late night odes, the tongue & cheek jazzy numbers, and the "lazy Sunday afternoon" songs. This is not a religious album, but God looms above the majority of the tracks- surfacing in sarcasm as a vindictive entity in "God's Song(That's why I love mankind)" and then the opposite in "He Gives Us all His Love." Every aspect of this album deserves to be experienced. You will always find something new here, and Mr. Newman is always ready to play and sing at the push of a button. Buy this disc and press that button.

Randy Newman is a master of irony. He created symphonic sweep compositions reminiscent of the film soundtracks composed by Alfred and Lionel Newman (runs in the family), then slowly dismantled it like a Jenga game with clever, cutting lyrics. This served him well in the many film soundtracks he scored, and especially well in "Sail Away," his best album and one of my "Desert Island Discs."

You've heard many of the songs here before. The lazy "Dayton, Ohio, 1903" was in a lemonade ad. The solemn "He Gives Us All His Love" ran over the final ironic scene of the 1970 film satire "Cold Turkey." "God's Song" received a bluesy treatment from Etta James, and the stomping "You Can Leave Your Hat On" has been covered by vocal studs Tom Jones and Joe Cocker (Jones'in "The Full Monty"). None of them beat Newman's versions here (although you wonder how Sinatra would've done with "Lonely At The Top," which was written for him).

No less than Brian Wilson wrote the whole of an extra 45, "Mount Vernon and Fairway" on the Beach Boys' "Holland" LP after hearing these songs. Check "Sail Away" for yourself and see how smart you feel afterward. This album is a keeper.

Wow. This album is what songwriting is all about. I ownnearly all of Randy Newman's CDs and I just keep returning over andover again to this one (which was, ironically, the first one I bought). The sense of intimacy you get listening to this album is overwhelming...the production of the disc is such that you feel as if you're right next to him in his living room, listening to him play just for you. "Sail Away" contains all the best of Randy Newman's melancholy and cynicism, without the distracting hoo-ha of his later albums, when he discovered electronic synthesizers. A perfect album for watching the sun set and reflecting on the ways of the world before you go to sleep. Any fan of genuine songwriting would do well to pick up this phenomenal CD.

I can't believe that nobody has written a review for this album yet. This is the first Randy Newman album that I ever heard, and is easily one of my favorite albums. To me, this album is a great antidote to the stresses of everyday life. It just seems like it is good for my soul. I never know what I can say to get people to buy, or at least listen to an album, so forgive me if I am not a convincing salesman. But do yourself a favor and listen to this album a few times. (I just have to say that Old Man is one of the most amazing songs that I have ever heard.)

I heard Randy Newman state during an interview that his songs should not be taken as autobiographical or expressing "his" opinions, that they are like separate characters and stories. I believe that this album is his best, and shows that he pours more of himself into his work than he may admit. The "Sail Away" album shows the full range of his thinking and emotions. Newman tends to see two sides to every situation, what we aspire to and what we actually are, but with a core of hope. There is wry but sympathetic political commentary on American history in "Sail Away", and biting political satire in "Political Science," which was written in 1969 that applies perfectly to the Bush administration. ("We give them money, but are they grateful? No they're spiteful and they're hateful. They don't respect us, so let's surprise them, We'll drop the big one and pulverize them.") There is the expression of sincere, simple, bedrock faith in God in "He Gives Us All His Love" and complex despair in watching the works of a seemingly sadistic supreme being in "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)." In between there are wonderfully crafted songs about dancing bears, rivers that burn at night, and women that give us reason to live. I listen to this album again and again and enjoy and marvel at Newman's talent every time.

Randy Newman is a master of cute, ironic ditties, a couple of which, "Short People" and "I Love L.A.," actually climbed to near the top of the pop charts. But more significantly he is a master satirist with a gentle, but penetrating style that is shown to good advantage here in perhaps his most characteristic album. In the title tune, Newman subtly assumes the character of a black slave trader to satirize and at the same time slyly celebrate the American experience: "In America you get food to eat...you won't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet...Ain't no lion or tiger, ain't no mamba snake/Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake."

In the sixties tinted "Political Science" Newman assumes ironically the voice of Nixon's moral majority with a finger on the nuclear trigger ("Boom goes London!/Boom Paree!/More room for you and more room for me!") while traipsing out a very amusing lyric, including my favorite stanza, "They don't respect us/So let's surprise 'em/We'll drop the big one/Pulverize 'em!"

In "Burn On" he celebrates, again ironically, the burning of the Cuyahoga River in Ohio which was so incredibly polluted that it actually caught fire, believe it or not! "Burn on big river/Burn on big river...The lord can make you tumble/The lord make you turn/The lord can make you overflow/But the lord can't make you burn!"

In "That's Why I Love Mankind," Newman even assumes the persona of God. This is a cynical satire of the personal God of Christendom and other points west: "I burn down your cities...How blind you must be...Take from you your children...You all must be crazy/Put your faith in me...How we laugh up here in heaven...That's why I love mankind."

"Lonely at the Top," sung like a dirge, might be the self-centered, self-indulgent lament of a big time Hollywood illuminati, perhaps Marlon Brando (just a wild guess!). It might even be Randy Newman himself on a bad day.

The vampish "You Can Leave Your Hat On" is an appreciation of women and male desire done to the pounding rhythm of a lustful heart.

In "He gives us all his love" Randy sings about a gentle God that smiles down on us from up above and knows how hard we try, and gives us all his love. One might well scratch one's head wondering whether this is irony or Randy Newman's temporary assumption of a childlike viewpoint, or a little of both.

"Old Man" is a sweet, sad, but unsentimental tune about the dying of the light: "The sun has left the sky old man..ain't no use to cry...You don't need nobody/Nobody needs you...Don't cry old man, don't cry./Everybody dies."

This album is now in its fourth decade of popularity, and I suspect it will still be selling long after Randy has put away his piano and lyrics to contemplate, along with the poet, "the miraculous birth."

This album still evokes so many feelings even after listening to it for 20 some years. This album truly realizes the brilliance of Randy Newman. The first cut, "Sail Away", is a beautiful tale with such a sweet melody that it could stand on its own and carry this album...but it doesn't have to. "Lonely at the Top" is a wonderful caberet-style performance about a lonely performer. The next track, "All his Love", is in the same vein as "Sail Away" with a superb melody and understated lyrics. That is the one thing I truly admire about Randy Newman, his ability to leave in only what is necessary and not clutter a song with meaningless lyrics or instruments, the guy is a genius!! My personal favorite on the album is "Last Night I Had A Dream", it is basically three different songs in one, three very cool songs for lack of a better word. The song features some great drumming from The Byrds' Gene Parsons. It is about as rocking the album gets. The album features many more creat cuts such as "Old Man" and the hilarious political satire of "Political Science". A real gem of the record is the slow, sexy "Leave Your Hat On". All in all every song is excellent on the album, save a few not-so-up-to-par tunes. This is must have for any Newman fan who doesn't already own it, and for music lovers in general....A brilliant album!!

One of the best albums of the last century. It never gets dated and always strikes deep. Newman channeling God.

...for something completely different. Randy Newman is a musician that I have always had a fondess for(predating my "Metal" days by a couple of years). I really like his soundtrack work(and still do). However, Randy Newman's masterpiece is truly Sail Away(which I bought at a Borders Books and Music for 10 bucks).

What Randy Newman lacks in voice(honestly, he is not the most vocally talented musician), he makes up for in lyrical creativity and song composition. His piano playing is amazing, but his arrangements with his backing instruments are what really help make this record so great. Sometimes entering the realm of classical, the majority has lounge jazz feel to it. What makes for the real twist is the lyrical potency. Filled to the brim with satire(see; Political Science) and sincerity, his lyrics are what defines him and makes who he is: a great musician. I highly recommend this to any music fans, especially those who want a peak into the mind of a great American songwriter.

This album is one of the finest examples of the diversity of 70's music. This album showcases a different aspect of the singer-songwriter genre. Randy Newman was able to hide hide bitter commentary and political satire in the sweetest melodies and arrangments. His songs sound as if they could be scored for a movie, which is not surprising being as he came from a long line of motion picture composers. The album begins with the classic "Sail Away", one of his most endearing melodies, bold enough to stand on it's own. This is followed by "Lonely at The Top", a song about the pressures of being famous. Another beautiful arrangement sets "He Gives Us All His Love" as another contender for the prettiest song on the album. Next, my personal favorite "Last Night I Had A Dream" with great Gene Parsons drumming and some nice twists in the song. The only reason I did not give the album 5 stars is becuase I like Good Old Boys and Little Criminals alot more. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" has to be one of the sexiest songs ever written and worth the album on its own, a must have!