Secret Dreams & Forbidden Fire

Bonnie Tyler | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000008UAY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,121 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This shouldve done a total eclipse on the charts!, December 5, 2002

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret Dreams & Forbidden Fire (Audio CD)

Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire is Bonnie's second Jim Steinman-produced album. Looks like the Meat Loaf got a little too rancid. Anyway, like Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell, operatic choruses abound on this album more than Steinman's first Bonnie Tyler album, Faster Than The Speed Of Night, which while having its moments, was kind of uneven in consistency. Secret Dreams is more polished than its predecessor even though none of its songs blazed up the charts like "Total Eclipse." In fact Jim Steinman penned four of the songs here, including the first two singles.

However, the honour of penning the Bon-Jovi-like "If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man) belongs to ace songwriter Desmond Child, who also cowrote Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name". Compare the stylings of the music,as applied to these lyrics: "If you were a woman, and I was a man, would it be so hard to understand. That a heart's a heart and we do what we can" with "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame/You give love a bad name." Identical tempos and rhythms. This was the single following "Holding Out For A Hero" and it's one of the best songs here.

"No Way To Treat A Lady" is the second Bryan Adams-Jim Vallance song done by Bonnie, although if I recall correctly, this wasn't done by the Adams-Vallance team previously. The rhythms in the chorus make it a close cousin of Aretha Franklin's "Who's Zooming Who."

The centerpiece and crown jewel of this album is nearly eight minute opus "Loving You Is A Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It", which is a combination of "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" and "Faster Than The Speed Of Night," meaning that it's the big emotional hit of the album plus the racing intense operatic Meat Loaf style song. Bonnie would do another long epic in the same vein when she covered Air Supply's "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" on Free Spirit. Todd Rundgren's strident vocals compliment Bonnie's scratchy vocals brilliantly. This sad song recalling a relationship whose spark has gone out can be summed up in the line: "There were times when we had it all." Yes, it's a Steinman tune.

Then there's a cover of Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold," which was also covered by Belinda Carlisle on her debut album that same year. This version has the 80's techno beat and bass-like synthesizers and is more upbeat than Belinda's cover. "All that's left is a band of gold/All that's left of the dreams I hold" could well be a codicil to the "Dirty Job" song.

"Rebel Without A Clue" done by Steinman, opens with a heavy guitar, followed by the fast-paced 80's rhythm and synthesizers. It's a pale version of "Holding Out For A Hero", which is quicker and more intense.

"Lovers Again" is the ballad that Bonnie should have covered on Faster Than The Speed Of Night instead of "Tears." She's backed by an operatic gospelish chorus. This is a Desmond Child song here.

"Before This Night Is Through" is a nice mid-paced ballad that reminds me a bit of the rhythms of both the Police's "Every Breath You Take" and Blondie's "English Boys."

This album left me sated by the time I got to the finale of the Footloose single, "Holding Out For A Hero," which is a racy 80's-techno number, calling out for the archetypal hero to the rescue. This was played in the tractor chicken scene in Footloose. It's my second favourite song here after "Dirty Job."

A pity this didn't do as well as Faster Than The Speed Of Night, because in some ways, Secret Dreams has a more consistent sound. It's a great showcase for Bonnie's voice without turning her into another Meat Loaf. Besides, she doesn't weigh that much anyway. Seriously, Bonnie really rules on this album!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's 'Secret' cause no one knows it's out there!, June 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Secret Dreams & Forbidden Fire (Audio CD)

This is the little-known second cousin spawned by Jim Steinman's second project, the woman named Bonnie Tyler (His first being the thing named Meat Loaf). For those who remember 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', yes, that's her, and yes, that's Him writing the music and lyrics. Faster Than the Speed of Night contained two absolutley stellar Steinman tunes among a bunch of average to good tunes. Secret Dreams is a much more focused, solid effort. Steinman contributes four tracks this time, all are good, two are great (Rebel Without a Clue and Loving You's a Dirty Job). One of his songs, Holding out for a Hero, became a hockey-rink staple across the nation. But unlike the non-Steinman material on Faster the remainder of Secret Dreams is very good, catchy material as well. It's obviously not as good as Steinman's songs (and what is?) but 'If You were a Woman' was a huge UK hit and songs like 'Before this night is Through', 'Band of Gold' (a rocking cover of one-hit wonder Freida Payne's version) and the tear-jerker 'Lovers Again' round this effort out to an album that should have been far more successful than it's predeccessor.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bonnie Tyler and Jim Steinman's best album, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Secret Dreams & Forbidden Fire (Audio CD)

This album was the follow-up to "Faster than the Speed of Night," the album that featured 'Total Eclipse of the Heart.' It contains no hits except for 'Holding out for a Hero' which is also available on the "Footloose" soundtrack, and it peaked at 106 on Billboard's Top 200, but it contains Jim Steinman's best writing and Bonnie Tyler's best recordings. Absolutely anyone who enjoyed "Bat Out of Hell" or "Bat Out of Hell II" should purchase this album. 'Ravishing' has all the great kick-off, epic rock power of the title track to "Bat Out of Hell." "Loving You's A Dirty Job, But Somebody's Gotta Do It" with Todd Rundgren is the earlier, female dominated version of "I'd Do Anything For Love, But I Won't Do That." "Holding Out For a Hero" is of course the song about pining away for the knight on a white charger, but "Rebel Without a Clue" is positively the best song here. Clocking in at 8:35, it is the titanic power-ballad about a prostitute turned vampire and her eternal lover. The two Desmond Child tracks are also fantastically perfomed and produced. "No Way to Treat a Lady," written by Bryan Adams, is a rather up beat point amid all this gloom and despair while "Band of Gold" remains sad but actually rocks. "Before This Night is Through" does not appear to be on this disc anymore. Columbia Records had put this album out of print for a few years, and now this track seems to have been deleted. A pity, but luckily the Steinman is still here. For four years, I've owned this album, and it is still my favorite. For every lover of epic rock or the power ballad, it is a must own.