Customer Reviews

Strong As Steel

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

 

 

Originally released in Australia in 1990, Tina Arena's debut album "Strong As Steel" still sounds good 17 years on! Such timelessness is testimony to the vocal talents of this exceptional singer & her ability to make even average songs sound great. Not to say that the songs on this debut CD are average for they anything but that! The collection includes some Tina Arena classics which still "stand strong" in amongst the lengthy list of songs this great Australian artist has recorded over her career. "Strong As Steel", "Woman's Work", "I Need Your Body", "The Machine's Breaking Down" and "On the Line" are all personal favourites from this album which still remain highly enjoyable many years after their original release. "Strong As Steel" was indeed the start of an outstanding recording career from one of THE best female pop singers around.

PS - IGNORE the reviewer who has posted abusive comments on 3 May 2004 and 5 May 2004 - that "reviewer", who can hardly be called that, seems to have some kind of personal disliking for Tina Arena and has posted multiple one star and one line attacks against this great artist across many of her CDs on Amazon. Why amazon publishes such ridiculous comments & allows them to contribute to a CD's rating, I do not know!

Arena's very first album, re-released for the Australian public only. This was Arena after leaving Young Talent Time and Johnny Young. This album... let me tell you at a young age... shows Arena's powerful vocals! "Strong As Steel" can pass off as another poppy love song but the voice is really a classic. That voice will never make a song sound weak and ugly even if it's cheap. "I Need Your Body" reached #3 in the ARIA's, already a smash hit single during the early 90's. The whole album shows Arena's under developed voice, still meaty and mighty but it shines through that very last track, "Be A Man" (Demo Version). At the bridge, Tina will execute that very high octave leaping vocal that she is known for and will do that big finish! "Strong As Steel" is definitely worth adding to that Arena collection. The CD beams with youthful tunes, and can't-help-but-tap-your-feet music all through out "You Make Me Feel Good", "The Machine's Breaking Down", and ofcourse that Stevie Wonder written "I Believe", is just astounding! THE WHOLE ALBUM ROCKS! A MUST BUY FOR FANS AND FOR TINA'S NEW LISTENERS! DEFINITELY 5/5!!!

It's easy to see why with this album Tina Arena earned the name "Diva of Disco." It's a great first record for a very talented singer, and she goes on to bigger and better things with "Don't Ask" and "In Deep." Anyone who's a Tina fan will appreciate her first album, even if it's not as polished as her later recordings. "Woman's Work" and "On the Line" are great tracks, but I enjoyed the whole CD, with the possible exception of the demo version of "Be A Man." It's MUCH better on the "Don't Ask" album. Get the best music you're not listening to!

I have this cd and also the original release of Strong as Steel. Unfortunately when I first bought it, I was pretty broke, and ended up selling it to get a few dollars to buy bread and milk (a long long time ago). I wish I hadn't, because I miss it dreadfully. I have the original release on a cassette and have been seeking it on CD again ever since. The original track listing is as follows:

1. Woman's Work
2. I Need Your Body
3. Close To My Heart
4. For The Sake Of Talking
5. Rumour Has It
6. Images of Love
7. I Need Your Body 12" Mix
8. Strong As Steel
9. The Machine's Breaking Down
10. I'll Be Here
11. Stagefright
12. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
13. The Machine's Breaking Down (Club Mix Hot Dr Mix)

This differs markedly from the re-released album and I have to say that it is far superior to the re-release. If you can get your hands on this rare CD it is worth it. The Demo of "Be A Man" on the re-release is a very slow version and her version that appears on the album Don't Ask is much better. I love having this re-released version in my collection, but it is a poor cousin of the original.

One of the world's truly great singers delivers a bold, energetic and unashamedly pop album. The renewed interest in 80s music should bring new attention to this fine effort, being on the cusp of the 90s. I played this album to death on its release and was quite disappointed with the mellow Adult Oriented Rock turn in subsequent releases. Sure, the power ballad allows Arena to showcase her voice (and what a voice it is!), but the songs lack the fire and energy of this first CD.

It is a matter of musical taste of course, and it's unlikely this album will appeal to the grandparents toward whom the later albums were aimed. But if you prefer explosive rock to the slow sizzle of a torch song, this is an album you can never play loud enough! Her subsequent albums are fine, but not as much to my taste as Strong As Steel. I wish she's made a few more like this one.

Tina Arena's debut shows very little of the woman's incredible talent. While she sings of things most likely beyond her comprehension when this album was put out, she also shows that everyone has to start somewhere.

"Strong As Steel" is an album that can be viewed many different ways. Tina has some things on here that ARE enjoyable, such as "Woman's Work" and "Be A Man," but for the most part, her voice is underdeveloped and her music is lacking both lyrically and melodically.

Her long-awaited sophomore CD, Don't Ask, and most recent "In Deep" show off her true skill as a songstress- and why she's Australia's #1 female singer!

....isn't really that bad. Allthough I must say that she has become better from album to album. The album contains a #2 Hit single "Strong as Steel" but she just doesn't sing the way she really could. (at least on this album.) People are used to her "new" style and so don't really appreciate this album. Actually a pitty....

It's hard to take childhood stars so seriously. They have been known to consume alcohol and drugs in their post-fame days to cope with the frustrations of being a child star. So what to do with Tina Arena is a good question. Apparently, she chose to keep a low profile and finish her high school education, and not be consumed in the post-fame lifestyle. And after several unsuccessful singles from the early 80's, she stomps on us "I need your body, I've got to have your body, close to me." We all know what she is thinking. "Strong As Steel" is a carnival of faceless dance numbers and several pop ditties. "I Need Your Body," the first single from this album, builds up on high energy octane drums and throbbing bass. The words are shallow and pretentous as hell, but who cares, it's a good dance track to get your thang on with. "Woman's Work" and "You Make Me Feel Good," are dedications to those working women that are needing and wanting to get laid. Tacked on this re-release is a demo version, "Be a Man." We know now what Arena was after all this time. And she isn't shy about it.

Tina Arena SUCKS! Overrated singer with a very plain voice. Responsible for very bad reviews on Notre Dame de Paris. No good as a singer, worse as an actress.

This album features one of the worst performers around. Weak voice singing poorly writen songs. Get another album. ANY other album.