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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New Wave Rock/Art Album. Bittersweet ending of era., October 14, 2000
Donna Summer is surprisingly one of the few African American women that can really carry a rock tune. On "The Wanderer" she creates an atmosphere of hard edge new wave cuts that has the kids dancing to a new beat. Her vocals are even better here than on her stellar disco performances. Once again along for the ride are super producers Giorgio and Pete. There is a unique mix of synth new wave rock and gospel tinged R&B. The big hit "The Wanderer" is a funky mix keyboards and guitars melded with a deep sexy vocal by Summer. The blue sweetness of "Breakdown" is another winner with Donna telling of "cheating and fooling around" set to amazing male background and great synthesizer program. Donna goes from dark spooky rock of "Running For Cover" and then gets needy on the upbeat "Cold Love". Even the big gospel "I Believe In Jesus" is uplifting. In all a worthy Summer album full of art rather than non stop hits. Not all Summer fans are going to love this one. It's almost the beginning of the end as it comes to Donna's mega success on the charts. Then again, it's her most artistic album to date and is very courageous. But the dancy upbeat Donna seems to be gone, not to mention this intro into rock also worked as an exit, being her last rock album at all, while follow-ups will focus on strict R&B and dance pop with Christian admiration. They won't work very well. I really enjoy this rebellious side of Summer and would love to set it return someday. Get "I'm A Rainbow" and "Bad Girls" for more of a rocky Donna.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What Could Have Been The Start of Her 80's Career, September 26, 2005
The Wanderer album has always been a release I admired for the direction that it pointed to. After a string of well crafted double albums, a single disk release to me seemed rushed, and it could have been since Donna had just signed as the first artist to Geffen Records, and they no doubt wanted to get product out as soon as possible, and Donna was still riding high from her blockbuster year of 1979.
Moving forward to the more rock/new wave edge of the early 80's, this release featured great dancable songs that never the less moved away from Disco. The Wanderer, Looking Up, Running For Cover, Who Do You Think Your Fooling, and Nightlife all were songs that you could move to, and Cold Love continued in the vein of Hot Stuff.
Grand Illusion was the most intriging track here, it is actually a real breakthrough, combining an almost 60's physcadellic aura with a London style new wave edge.
This album also featured Donna's first openly spritual song, the very disarming, I Belive In Jesus. For watever reason the secular music critics loved it (one called it the best song of it's type since Let It Be), and the Contemporary Christian Music critics dismissed it (and they wondered why Donna would never record a album for one of their labels).
Rolling Stone Magazine (long supporters of Donna) loved this album and gave it an almost classic rating, and Time reported that it shows she can be THE female rocker of the 80's.
Why did I give it 4 stars (as opposed to 5) ?, for me the album lacked a true Donna Summer ballad, and with this albums theme of Post Disco New Wave/Rock, and great Janis Joplin type ballad would have MADE the album.
Despite the progress that The Wanderer showed, Geffen Records would push Donna into a very different direction with her next release, and this album would be the last of her albums to be produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte for quite awhile (see my reviews of Donna Summer, and I'm A Rainbow).
..and for the record, when you read my other reviews of Donna's releases while at Geffen Records, The Wanderer was the only one not to have a non-album track as at least one B-side single.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Godmother of Techno, July 29, 2005
I was 12 years old when this album came out and i remember buying every single released from the album. Although The Wanderer was the first (and most popular) cut from the album it was Grand Illusion that i latched onto. I remember it was a b-side to either The Wanderer single or Cold Love but I listened to it over and over because i'd never heard anything so mesmerizing before. That one b-side opened me up so so many other musical possibilities and as i grew older my musical intersts moved into what was called Alternative music in the 80s/ groups like The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cure, etc. but i think it was because of listening to Donna's songs when i was a little kid that made me appreciate all those differnt sounds. These days, while others still caller her the Queen of Disco, I consider her the Godmother of Techno. With the help of producers like Giorgio Moroder she virtually invented the 12-inch dance track, was the first artist to have an all electronic top 40 hit, and paved the way for New Wave, House and Techno. I certainly hope that one day she gets the credit she deserves for being so responsible for much of the music styles we've listened to for the past 25+ years. and i applaud her for being one of the first African American artists to refuse to be pigeon-holed into an Aretha Franklin cookie-cutter charicature of what people thought an African American female should sound like.
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