Customer Reviews

Undertow / Clouds Across the Sun

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

 

 

Been looking all over for it. Arrived in no time at all. The sounds of Larry Burnett's guitar on "Business is Business" and "Old Wing Mouth" bring back the memories. Rick Roberts stirs things up with "Undertow", Staying with It", "Some Things Never Change", and "Love That Got Away". Jock Bartley's guitar and vocals on "Be in Love Tonight" and "Quite Like You" started a new style for Firefall's music. Good stuff and worth a listen if you haven't heard it before.

If you can still find Rhino's separate reissue of Undertow, pick that up as well - it has 3 bonus tracks not found here.

But since this twofer is the only place you can find 'Clouds Across The Sun,' it's still not a bad bet.

Apparently the music that's popular when you were in high school and college becomes the music of your life. Commercial radio is built on this principle, that when you're 14 to 21 years old you're open to new music. That interest gradually wanes until, like Homer Simpson says, you decide that music achieved perfection in 1974. For me, it was 1977. (And yes, that includes some disco-era music.)

If, like me, you're a fan of Firefall's first three albums: Firefall, Luna Sea, and Elan (which squeaks by even though it came out in 1978), you may be disappointed by their next two releases. This double album CD comprises Undertow and Clouds across the Sun, both of which curiously came out in 1980. Nevertheless, they sound like they came from two different bands. There's enough of the original Firefall sound in the Undertow cuts (including the best modern use of the flute this side of Jethro Tull) that you may find something to like. Nothing to compare with "Strange Way", "You Are the Woman", "Mexico" or "Cinderella", but still that familiar haunting, country-rock ballad sound.

Clouds across the Sun, on the other hand, could have come from any of a dozen 80's bands that succumbed to the lure of electronics: synthesizers and drum machines and so forth that made everything sound, well, "80-ish". There's very little to recommend about the tracks from Clouds, unless you're a few years younger than me and music achieved perfection in 1980.

The soft-rocking group FIREFALL had some great hits during their heydey in the late 70's/early 80's---You Are the Woman. Just Remember I Love You. Strange Way, Cinderella, So Long, to mention a few.
This hard to find double CD contains two of their best later offerings. Vocalists Rick Roberts, Jock Bartley and Larry Burnett pave the way with great harmonies too. UNDERTOW has some fine tracks: LOVE THAT GOT AWAY, HEADED FOR A FALL, STARDUST, IF YOU ONLY KNEW, and SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE.
CLOUDS ACROSS THE SUN is just as good. Notably the haunting, driving title track; Jimmy Webb's plaintive OLD WING MOUTH; I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT; DREAMERS; LOVE AIN'T WHAT IT SEEMS; and the angry DON'T IT FEEL EMPTY. The musicians are superb with great guitar, sax and flute solos and strong string arrangements. Add this to their self-titled debut, ELAN and LUNA SEA, you've got the best of a great easy rockers collection.

I ORDERED THE PRODUCT WHICH BY THE WAY WAS VERY EASY TO FIND THANKS TO YOUR SEARCH TOOL. PAID FOR THE PRODUCT AND GOT IT ABOUT 2 DAYS EARLIER THEN I THOUGHT I WOULD...

THANK YOU

TAMIE