Customer Reviews

Skin Dive

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

your heart will begin to admire the sensitivity of this breathy singer. you may laugh at the almost cool, half wet, mussed hair, in michael's attempt at fitting in with the hot 80's crowd, displayed through upbeat inclusions of 'let me count the ways', 'don't be shy', and 'queen of the underground'. 'when i give my love to you' is a male/female duet that will make you 'surrender to the fantasy', a pretty, flowing, touching dedication. my favorite is 'now i know why', that sounds like it belongs in a romantic 80's movie, with the line, 'why is your heart resurrected, just when you least expect it', and a tick - tock rhythm like a heartbeat. 'when she is mine' ends the cd with slow, classic romantic jazz: bass, sax, piano, and drum brushes (charming). overall i was impressed with the poetic verbalizations, selection diversity, and sensitive personality of this cd.

Recorded after a two year break, Michael went head first into electric music. This album is wholly electronic, "Passionfruit." the album before this one, experimented with synths and the like lightly. Michael also experiments with multi-track vocal overdubbing and vocal doubling effects. "Now I Know Why They Call It Falling" is a prime example of Michael's vocal arrangement in the overdubbing vein. Moving away from electric, "When She Is Mine" is a moving jazz ballad surrounding Michael in a full horn section. "You Secret's Safe With Me" was a radio hit, this is the song that helped me discover Michael. Remember the video? It was in heavy rotation on the infant channel VH1. Michael was walking down a rainy street wearing a black trench coat. Not really creative, but it was his first attempt. I'm a huge Brenda Russell fan as well as Michael's, the duet "When I Give My Love To You" is sweet, I've often wondered whose idea it was for Brenda to do all the background vocals. I feel the song would be a bit warmer if Michael had a helping hand harmonizing with her backgrounds, it worked for the Carpenters. "Queen Of The Underground" displays Michael's interesting word choice for lyric, his vocal is run through a vocoder for added effect; the track is almost danceable. The opening track "Read My Lips" is an upbeat tale about secret love..."Don't be Shy" is a song actually built around a synth drum riff. This album overall is more upbeat than anything Michael had recorded to this point. It may mark time as eighties music but it's still thoroughly enjoyable.

I was blown away by Passionfruit (Rob Mounsey produced all 3: Passionfruit, Skin Dive & The Camera Never Lies) there was no way he could possibly top that one and I was wrong. Skin Dive (1985) was amazingly different but as perfect as Passionfruit. I waited for this one to come out and bought it and taped it and went to Europe for six weeks. I was just getting acclimated to the songs when I took my walks in Berlin and Paris. What an excellent summer and Franks was there with me. What can I say, I fell in love with Skin Dive. I listened to it over and over for years and now have it on CD. Franks has always been there during the great moments in my life with outstanding new music. Thank you Michael Franks, thanks again for being there!

I'm a big fan of Michael Franks but don't enjoy this album to the same degree as I do his earlier work, due to the presence of drum machines, sound effects, etc that give it a distinctly 80s sound. I lean towards his more jazz-oriented albums like "Art of Tea" and "Sleeping Gypsy". But at the same time, most of the "Skin Dive" tracks are great tunes, highly listenable and danceable. "When She Is Mine" is a beautiful song, arranged in a classic jazz vein, that is easily among Franks' greatest compositions. You also might consider buying "Passionfruit" which is a somewhat similar album with great songwriting and still more on the jazz/pop side of things. But if you are a big Michael Franks fan, "Skin Dive" is worth buying.

This is the first Michael Franks album I ever purchased, and remains one of my favorites. Mr. Franks' music is soothing and melodic - the perfect thing to listen to on a lazy Sunday morning while nibbling on ripe mangoes and enjoying a good book.

No Michael Franks collection is complete without this album! Skip his "Best of" collection and buy this one instead.

This album serves as a welcome and wonderful change of pace for Franks' fans. Almost every song on the CD is enjoyable to listen to. I recommend "Read My Lips", "Let Me Count The Ways", "Queen of the Underground", "Now I Know Why They Call It Falling", and my personal favorite, "Your Secret's Safe With Me". I loved the sound of the synthesizers and the percussion. This is arguably the turning point album in Michael's career.

I've owned this album for years and didn't purchase it from Amazon so never considered writing a review, but it deserves what I have to say about it. More than loving this album, I crave it. I don't analyze every drop of what's happening in the music, I just sink myself into the music and let it do it's magic for me. I don't care if it's electronic, organic, manual labor or other. I just love it, love it and want more of it. There's no explaining personal tastes, in my opinion Michael Franks is a genius and I want him to continue to flourish, to be well,to prosper and use his musical talents for the purpose they were created for. Keep it flowing Michael ~

I've had this CD for years, but didn't play it all the way through until today (Thursday, 05/24/07) at my desk. Ladies and Gentlemen, "Skin Dive" is really that good!

What are my Favorites?

1. "Your Secret's Safe With Me (the reason why I bought the CD in the first place!)
2. "Read My Lips."

But honestly, with "Queen of the Underground" notwitstanding (the song is not bad, I just feel that it's out-of-place on this CD, as I prefer his slower tunes!), this is one of those "set it, forget it" CD's! My rating for Mr. Franks and "Skin Dive" is five stars!!

Read my lips has real ZIP! This album show the versatile 'Franks style. My favorite cut is probably his alltime best song;"your secret's safe with me" You've gotta have this CD!

With tracks like "Your Secret's Safe With Me" and When I Give My Love To You" (Both big radio hits), how can you go wrong? Michael Franks incorporates his great vocals with the best musicians around. One of my favorites.