Customer Reviews

The Secret Value of Daydreaming

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

 

 

Considering he only had 2 months to write and record this album after a long, tiring tour for Valotte, I'd say he did an excellent job with this. Some of the songs, you can tell, have the potential to being great songs. It's a shame he didn't have more time to polish them. And even as they are, they are good songs to listen to. :)

My favorites songs on this album are Stick Around (Michael J. Fox appeared in the video...COOL!), You Get What You Want (performed with Billy Joel), Coward Till The End, and This is My Day.

If you love Julian Lennon's music, this is a definite must have.

Julian Lennon had the hardest act to follow of any musician-being the spitting image (even musically) of a musical legend.His debut 'Valotte' only validated this and so after his world tour Julian put this album together with Phil Ramone.Compared to the rich variety of pop found on 'Valotte','The Secret Value Of Daydreaming' (from 1986) found Lennon distancing himself from the melodic style of his father and towards a more contemporary sound.Ramone produced these songs with a lot of sonic attributes for a pretty decent mid 80's pop/rock sound,with some very interesting nods to classic rock and jazz fusion along the way.The songs are slick and often end up as more strong grooves then anything else and on "Stick Around","You Got What You Want","I've Seen Your Face" and "Coward To The End" that is exactly what happens.The next five cuts are far more crafted-'Everyday' is the only tune here that really shows John's influence and it is one of the best songs here.On "This Is My Day",'Let Me Tell You",which actually had a very McCartney-like reggae break in the bridge and "You Don't Have To Tell Me" Julian actually offers up three excellent uptempo pop/rock and all have great hooks worthy of his debut.The album ends with the beautiful ballad "Want Your Body",a passionate exploration of longing squarely in the family tradition.True Julian is the first Beatle baby and therefore had some very big shoes to fill but rather then try to be imitative Julian went on being his own individual self."Always Think Twice" is the one song that borrows most from fusion and it points out why this album may be less popular with fans then some of his others-all the songs here tend to be very dark hued and meloncaughly-the lyrics are very cryptic on some of the songs and few of the melodies leap out at you but most land on their feet.Julian proved with this album that his fans were not yet willing to accept him producing denser songs with more jazz and reggae influences that took to develope but rather more concise pop on the line of his debut.To my ears I appreciate 'The Secret Value Of Daydreaming'-it's definately something of a slap in the face to commercialism and (actually) I think John Lennon would be proud to see his son trying something different musically.And it's more then worth hearing too.

Julian was rushed back in the studio after his 1985 tour, and he never felt he had the time to do this album the way he wanted. It was produced by Billy Joel's producer, but the whole album just is missing something. Only Stick Around and Want My Body sound like music. The rest is hard to listen to.

Very nice effort. Too bad he couldn't be as prolific a writer as his Father. The sound is very reminiscent though.

Originally released Spring 1986 on Atlantic in the U.S. and Canada (now out of print), and Charisma/Virgin for the rest of the free world. I have the U.S. CD made in Japan.
After finishing the tour for "Valotte", Julian was brought right back in the studio for a follow-up. This didn't do as well, and the honeymoon was over!

1. 4:05 Stick Around
2. 4:05 You Get What You Want
3. 4:17 Let Me Tell You
4. 3:28 I've Seen Your Face
5. 6:13 Coward Till The End?
6. 3:55 This Is My Day
7. 4:57 You Don't Have To Tell Me
8. 3:52 Every Day
9. 3:59 Always Think Twice
10. 3:26 Want Your Body