Customer Reviews

Something About You

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is another great re-issue by Arista. There are a few photos included of live concert shots at the time that were not included on the original release. There are also 4 bonus tracks which is a bonus! David Nathan wrote about about this CD and Angela. most of it was informative, but a little inacurate. The bonus track Never Wanna Live Without Your Love a duet with Narada Michael Walden was originally released on his Atlantic LP and Japan CD Import Looking At You, Looking At Me. This CD version is a more watered down version but very similar to that of it's original release. This CD was also released in Japan without the bonus tracks. The follow up to this CD was not Teaser, it was Too Tough which brought Angie to higher popularity. The title song was big in the clubs at the time, 1983. That CD is also available in Japan, but hopefully Arista will release it next with bonus tracks. She did some vocals on Dave Valentine's LP's and it would be nice to hear some of those again!

There are great songs on here including the hits Someething About You, Break It To Me Gently and Holdin Out For Love (also in Spanish as a bonus track). There are also popular radio and concert favoritess like Tropical Love, You Should Know By Now and Time To Say Goodbye. Other highlights include a remake of Stop Look Listen (To Your Heart), Only Love and a Michael Jackson-ish I Do Love You.

I had heard some Angela Bofill numbers before hearing this CD, but was not that familiar with her. Thanks, in part, to the reviews I read here, I was intrigued about this CD. Also, I noticed that it had a song called "Love Light" on it. After hearing a snippet of the song I realized it was a song I have been looking for for over 20 years. I remember hearing the song "Love Light" in the original version by Yutaka Yokokura & Patti Austin on a Quiet Storm radio program. I remember loving the song & wishing I could find a copy. I have found some of Yutaka's CD's but "Love Light" is very hard to find. Anwyay, though this isn't the original version, I do now have this song in my collection & it is definitely performed well by Angela Bofill.

The rest of the CD is just as good. I agree that some of the disco-ish numbers sound a little out of date, but the production & her voice make up for it.

For fans of Pauline Wilson & Seawind (a fusion group from the late 70's who I really liked & whose albums are hard to find), I find that Bofill's voice reminds me a little of Pauline Wilson's though it is no imitation. Some of the songs have a Seawind feel to them, so it is almost like I have re-discovered Seawind as well.

Anyway, thank you reviewers for helping me discover this wonderful CD. I sure wish there was more music like this out there today. Really, the music on this CD, though it is from 1981, sounds very un-dated & still fresh today.

Though the latin and jazz influences that laced "Angie" and "Angel of the Night" are pretty much gone, "Something About You" is still a throughly enjoyable album. It's mellow, supple soul with a little pop thrown in - a true testament to the budding production prowess of Narada Michael Walden. While I liked the jazzy feel of her GRP work, this album really should not have alienated jazz folks the way it did. Had they taken the time to listen, they would have found quite a bit to savor. From the chugging funk of the title track, to the floating rhythms of "Tropical Love," there are plenty of solid tracks here. She does a sparkling rendition of the Stylistics' "Stop Look Listen" that is just as good as her take on "People Make the World Go Round" from "Angel." There are four bonus tracks tacked onto the end. There is a Spanish take on "Holding Out for Love," and a charming duet with Walden called "Never Wanna Be Without Your Love" that was not included in the original album. The best part of this reissue are the two tracks dug up from the "Angel" sessions. "Love Light" is a gorgeous jazzy-soul tune, much like "Angel of the Night" or "Baby I Need Your Love." I suspect it's the same session players from most of that album. "Rhythm of Your Mind," from the same sessions, also shows off her nimble phrasing and fine songwritng. So overall, this is a good album, even though it goes beyond jazz contexts. It's good early-80s soul from a fantastic singer.

Angela Bofill is one of the hottest singers I have ever heard, all of her work is felt through your entire heart and she is just too good to compare to anyone else out there.."Tropical Love" has been a favorite tune of mine for half of my life and I hope you can feel her depth when you listen to her Angelic voice..

I can say with all honesty that this was probably the fourth album of hers I purchased, and decided it was better than, if not equal to, the the quality of Too Tough. This is so late 70s/early 80s in sound by now that it has an irresistible retro sound from my high school days. Reminiscent of a lot of the music getting airplay on the soon-doomed automat formats, and other stations that were soon to give way to funk and "junk-pop-soul" (My term for garbage like the Jets and Debarge's horrible Rhythm of the Night Album), SAY is definitely a worthy and unrated treasure of its time. I only had to play it once to recognize it as the great album it was on vinyl. Now, with the bonus tracks, it is only better, but the one bonus track I don't like doesn't deminish my 5-star rating in the least.

Ecclecticism is not indecision, as a lot of critics and narrow-minded people seem to love claiming, especially if you have a wide variety of musical interests. Angle is very well covered here without overstepping boundaries similar to other artists (Check out Gino Vanelli gone from jazz fusion pop to new wave and Debarge going from a fine debut like all this love to...well, you know.). There is a good pop-soul-dance tune in the title track. "My conscience whispers dirty words, says you've been hungry too long." Quite a projection on your partner! As far as I'm concerned, the only onther song on here that sounds way too dated is "Holdin' Out for Love," which sounds a lot like the crap that was prevalent on the radio at that time about singles bars and one-night stands. I hate that whistle synth break in the middle, always have, but much prefer the spanish bonus version "Esperando al Amor." Go figure.

Great soul ballads abound on this album like a cornucopia, such as "Break it to Me Gently," the heartbreaking "On and On," and beautiful, gentle "You Should Know by Now," which I'm sure has become a fave of Angle fans far and wide. Beautiful lyrics! By far, her best ballad on here is the cover of Bell and Creed's "Stop, Look, Listen," with a gorgeous, nearly Spector approach in arrangement and one of her strongest vocal performances on the disc.

Someone claimed that the jazz is long gone here, but then how to explain sexy--if not a bit silly lyrically--"Tropical Love," sensational "Only Love," complete with Angela's usual optimism and Larry Schneider's sweet flute. True, "I Do Love You" sounds like something off of Michael Jackson's Off The Wall, but it is easily funky smooth jazz at best. "Time to Say Goodbye" is more of the same thing, but it is "Never Wanna Be Without Your Love" that really missed airplay on several SJ stations, especially since it is akin to the theme from Family Ties. Love Light" is more remeniscent of something off Angie, and should make her earliest fans happy to hear.

In fact, the only track I mentioned not liking is the El Camino is-it-jazz-or-funk-because-it's-not-comfy-so-much-as-stupid "Rhythm of Your Mind." Other than that, this is a really fantastic album by Angie, and one that's worth having in your collection. Always a class act, with a voice that's in a class all by itself, SAY is beyond an A+.

Angela Bofill struts her stuff on this Disc. It's remastered for an even more enjoyable listening experience...

Angela Bofill is one of those artists that most of us only find out about via word of mouth. She is another uniquely talented songstress who, throughout the 80's was given a chance to put their own imprint on the music scene. I always loved the fact that she mixed afro/cubano music into one or two tracks on her early albums. I unfortunately have yet to see this woman perform live and hope to one day.

That being said, this album ranks 2nd in my mind behind "Too Tough". Although some of the songs sound dated and can easily be picked out as music from the early 80's, Angela's voice and joyful singing on the entire disc more than makes up for that fact.

I love listening to this entire disc but the standout tracks to me are: SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, ON & ON, TROPICAL LOVE, YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW, THREE BLIND MICE & TIME TO SAY GOODBYE.

If you've had it with the music of today, this is an excellent snapshot of a past era when quality music was the standard that artists aspired to not the exception.

"Break It To Me Gently" was the song that first introduced me to Angela's music and she has been my favorite female singer since then. Her angelic and glorious voice really soars on the above-mentioned track and also on "Tropical Love", "I Do Love You", "Holdin' Out For Love" and "You Should Know By Now". Let's face it: like the late Phyllis Hyman and Jean Carne, Angela was too good a singer for the mainstream record buyers and radio to appreciate.

This was the album that introduced me to Angela's music and it was also the start of a musiocal love affair that continues to this day. With such ever-beautiful songs as "You Should Know By Now", "Only Love", "Tropical Love" and especially "Break It To Me Gently" Angela became my very favorite female singer. This reissue contains four bonus tracks (including "Love Light" and "Rhythm Of Your Mind"). Although the Japanese import reissue's sound quality IS better, you really should get this one (or both if you can afford it!).

The first song I heard off of this beautiful
album is "You Should Know By Now" around '81
in my teens. I can say without a doubt this
album is one of her strongest collections. The
only dud was "Holding Out For Love." It's a
song made for "Flashdance" not Angela. I also
loved the newly unearthed "Lovelight" which is
a holdover from the "Angel of The Night" sessions.