Customer Reviews

Visions

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been looking for this album on CD for years now! I am not really a Gladys Knight and the Pips fan per se, but this album is truly a masterpeice! Every single track is beyond excellent! This is definitely the kind of cd that you put in and press play/repeat. Good R&B/Soul music for your heart, mind and ears!
It is almost haunting that an album can be this good.The album art cover is obscure and like that of the album title it seems to have nothing to do with the songs on it. In all tracks except one, they sing about being in love with someone. I cannot understand why this album was out of print for so long although it actually went gold! Whomever had a hand in bringing this album back into print, may the good Lord bless you! This album could be released today and would sound just as fresh and timeley as it did when released in 1983. Get this one for your collection, because if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are stranded on a desert island, this will be the one cd you will want to have with you.

I'll tell you something right now about Gladys Knight & The Pips-this 1983 recording certainly put the almost stagnant group back into the spotlight.And most of the reasons for this lay in the tastefully modern production of Leon Sylvers and Knight's exuberant,sensually soulful voice.Featuring brilliant songwriting "When Your Far Away","Ain't No Greater Love",
"Seconds","Just Be My Lover" and of course the brilliantly pulsating "Save The Overtime For Me" are wonderful,funky uptempo
R&B boogie tunes with plenty of animated,soulful delivery!That plus one fabulous funk splatter "Oh La De Da" will give one the sense that 'Visions' is dominated by uptempo tunes,and it is.But of course some credit should go to the ballads-"Heaven Sent" is a classic for Knight in her familiar style but "Hero" (yes it's a renamed cover of "Wind Beneath My Wings") gets Knight's dramatic,churchy delivery that (sorry) would drown Bette Midler if she's heard it-she utterly trancends any sentimentality the song possessed in classic soul style and turned it into more of a gospel then a love song.All of these songs come in to make 'Visions',as highly underrated as it is one of the groups best full lengh albums of all time!

VISIONS is a great lesson on how to make a veteran act current without losing its identity. On the group's third Columbia album, Gladys and the Pips work with Silverspoon Productions, the production company owned by then in-demand r&b producer Leon Sylvers (The Whispers, Shalamar). All of Sylver's trademarks are here from the snappy basslines to the guitar-bass breakdown and synth washes. Yet Sylvers' sound fit the group like a glove because he makes the technology sound warm and inviting, while the Empress of Soul works her magic on such excellent tunes as the #1 R&B hit "Save The Overtime For Me," "When You're Far Away" (an early Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis composition), and the clever ballad "You're #1 In My Book". Gladys, her brother Merald and r&b songwriting legend Sam Dees ("One In A Million You") produced the more subdued moments on VISIONS including one of the first recordings of "Wind Beneath My Wings," "Seconds," and "Don't Make Me Run Away".

This well-deserved gold album is one of the group's best along with IMAGINATION.

how i remember this album was my father had a tape deck in his car, and the tape was stuck, so this played over and over and it had auto reverse so it would flip on the other side and play that side also..lol... so i grew to love this cd especailly save the overtime for me , which i loved anyway. but hteir rendention of hero, ooooo boy you in for a treat! take a listen to the samples... when youre far away is a good one too. if you like gladys knight and the pips, this is a sure thing to get. trust me i know.

This album presented in 1983 with a first single that was infectious and representative of relationships then, that it was impossible to resist. It's also no wonder that this song, "Save the Overtime (For Me,") would eventually top the R&B chart followed by "You're Number One (In My Book") and "Hero," (a gospel-ish remake of "The Wind Beneath My Wings.") Three #1 singles and if I'm not mistaken, a #1 R&B album as well!

What is so amazing about Gladys Knight and the Pips is that their music has and always WILL be so extrememly tender and the delivery geared completely toward love, which sadly, is lacking in today's music. That's what has always made them such an endearing entity in the world of R&B. "Visions" would eventually end up going Gold on the strength of the aforementioned hits. Now if we could only have "Life" on CD!

If you know anything about fish frys and spaghetti at your favorite aunt's house on Fridays or all night bid wis/spade card games,or the early days of the Quiet Storm, then this GK&the PIPs ensemble is a treasure. Not a commercial success, it did give those true fans out there another moment to yell.."SING GLADYS" Strong orchestra backgrounds and eighties electric brings GK into the 80s with the soul stirring love of pure R&B she represented and noutured for others to sample nowadays. My favorites include "Number One and Just be my Lover" Oh how that GK can sing. BUY this treasure and let it play while your dusting the house or playing cards with your old school friends that appreciate what MS GK and the Pips are laying down. Someone is bound to say... is that new?

Loved this album when it was an Lp, from one of the great voices and groups out there, and this new remaster from England is terrific. It sounds fresh and clear, so much better than the original U.S. CD.
As much as I love Bette's "Wind Beneath my Wings", a mark of a truly great singer is when they make it their own and you almost forget the original....and Gladys does this in top form!

This is an excellent album by Gladys Knight and the Pips which clearly shows why Berry Gordy thought they were worthy of joining the Motown family. This album is perfect for setting a romanctic mood or nice soothing background music.

Excellent choice for people who are music conniseurs.