Stay

Simply Red | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Simplyred.Com
• ASIN: B000N3ST2U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,666 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #94 in Music > R&B > Soul > Blue-Eyed Soul

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With young, British, soul stars like Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini, and Joss Stone crashing the American charts, what better time to celebrate the return of one of the original great blue-eyed soul singers, Simply Red's curly-mopped Mick Hucknall? Despite being dropped by its label in 2002, his band has flourished on its own, both artistically and commercially. Stay, Simply Red's third independent release, loses none of the crisp soul-jazz beauty that marked the group's late '80s heyday. It has a younger, fresher feel than 2003's elegant Home, but that does lead to more of a mixed bag. A pair of bite-the-hand-that-feeds protest tunes, "Money TV" and "The Death of the Cool," fall wide of the mark, but Hucknall makes up for it when he lets his shimmering voice rise above the electronic fanfare, delivering the classic love song "So Not Over You." Meanwhile, "They Don't Know" and the lively "Oh! What A Girl" prove that he can still give the new generation of soul singers a run for their money. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

2007 album produced and co-mixed by Andy Wright (Annie Lenow, Natalie Imbruglia).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the truly greatest blue-eyed Soul/Jazz singers., June 16, 2007

By 

justmoi (New York,N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stay (Audio CD)

This is a smooth, passionate collection of soulful tunes and vibrant lyrics, all driven with Mick Hucknall's inimitable vocals.

Written and produced by Mick Hucknall, with contributions from Andy Wright - whose previous credits include Natalie Imbruglia and Annie Lennox - the album was recorded between London's 'Home' and 'Metropolis' studios late last year.
Hucknall's vocals are as distinctive as ever, while much of "Stay" is firmly rooted in soulful territory.
But while the album boasts its fair share of good songs, there are also moments that let it down badly and contribute to a disappointing overall experience.
The opener "The World And You Tonight" is a strong start, kicking off with a melodic central guitar riff and some typically smooth vocals from the lead singer, as well as some fine backing vocals.
But it's followed by the somewhat generic lead single, "So Not Over You", a cumbersome ballad that plods its way through wine bar territory.
There's a snappy poppiness about title track "Stay" which harks back to the band's earlier, more chart-friendly work that helps get things back on track, but attempts to extract a funky, even Motown style out of the brassy "They Don't Know" hit another duff note.
The mix of blues guitars and funk also feels uneven on "Oh! What A Girl", while the moody "Good Times Have Done Me Wrong" aims for the grittiness of a latter day Eric Clapton, complete with guitar solos, but pale by comparison to what "Slow Hand" might have done. It's a song in search of an artist more suited to its style, much like "Money TV".

"Debris", Hucknall's take on the Ronnie Lane classic, fares a little better and is suitably moody, as is "The Death of The Cool", a passionately delivered mid-tempo offering that brings out the best in Hucknall's smooth style.

And album closer "Little Englander" is a nicely composed final bow that's built around some lush orchestration, the odd enchanting whistle, some hard-hitting lyrics ("let me smash the plastic face of my country") and even the gimmicky introduction of a children's choir. It shouldn't work but it does and actually leaves you pining for a little more ambition throughout the remainder of the album.

All in all "Stay" is a very radio-friendly and certain to appeal to the diehard Simply Red fan brigade. It should please and convert the growning number of Contemporary Jazz/Soul aficionados
My favourite tracks : "The World And You Tonight", "Stay", "The Death Of The Cool" and "Little Englander"
Enjoy !

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Simply...AWFUL, May 25, 2007

By 

LeviDevi "Bubman" (Frankfort, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stay (Audio CD)

I can truthfully say that I am not a died-in-the-wool fan of Simply Red; however, they have released several songs which I thought were quite palatable. After reading all the other reviews, I thought...well...we'll give this one a try. Big mistake.

I don't really know how to describe this music: folksey? middle-of-the-road? pop? easy listening? bluesy? I think they were going for just about all the above but they should instead think about the "blues" part.

Sorry folks but I just couldn't get into this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars His music hits the spot and touches the heart !, December 28, 2008

By 

Jimmy.M (New York City,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stay (Audio CD)

Being dropped by a major label in 2002, Mick Hucknall promptly formed his own net-based company.
Simply Red's hopelessly misguided decision to go their own way as a cottage industry without record company backing may have killed their career at one suicidal stroke, but luckily Mick watched his next two records hit the bestsellers' chart.
Most likely this third self-release will undoubtedly repeat the feat.
Reduced budgets and concomitant cheap packaging notwithstanding, it finds Mick Hucknall at his most vocally seductive in years, although at one English-mangling point, he manages to rhyme "tirade" with "laugh".
His music hits the spot and touches the heart and this album has many charms.
Not that there is a dull track on Hucknall's self-financed latest tour de force, but as ever it is the token cover version that ticks every box.
The likes of "So Not Over You" and "Stay (Just The Way You Are") articulate, simply and succinctly, complex adult emotions in one shot.
However, rather than raiding yet another slice of Philadelphia, Red tackles Ronnie Lane's "Debris" to devastating effect, and audiences are further stretched on the Santana-style "Money TV" and on the folksy "Little Englander", complete with a school choir stolen from Pink Floyd's "The Wall".
He's even upped his songwriting game, with the impossibly romantic "The World and You Tonight" and the title track.
Meanwhile "The Death of the Cool" and "Little Englander" suggest a sense of humour and a still smouldering fire respectively.
For all the gorgeous renditions of heartbreaking ballads, tender love songs and uplifting anthems, he retains a lyrical spikiness unusual in the genre. His music may have drifted inexorably towards the middle of the road, yet his outspoken politicism lingers. It is hard to imagine any of his American contemporaries delivering the kind of state-of-the-nation addresses that appear on his new album - out and out polemics such as "Money TV" or "The Death of the Cool".
He ends his new album with a delightfully scabrous waltz, "Little Englander", deriding the nation's over-inflated sense of itself. "Judge me, go on - it amuses me," he announces, before concluding, surprisingly sweetly, "Let me smash the plastic face of my lovely country".
Very interesting, isn't it?