Melissa Manchester - When I Look Down That Road

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:30
Size: 114,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:35)  1. I'll Know You By Your Heart
(5:07)  2. Angels Dancing
(4:20)  3. Bend
(5:24) 4. When Paris Was A Woman (according To Alice - 1928)
(3:51)  5. After All This Time
(3:39)  6. Lucky Break
(3:09)  7. When I Look Down That Road
(4:01)  8. Where The Truth Lies
(3:47)  9. Tyfyfim (thank You For Your Faith In Me)
(3:38) 10. Still Myself
(4:02) 11. Crazy Loving You
(3:51) 12. A Mother's Prayer

In the opening line of her album When I Look Down That Road, Melissa Manchester basically sums up the latter half of her career: "I've been walking through the smoke of a thousand burned-out dreams, so hard to shake the ashes of the past from my feet." As she knows all too well, there are sad circumstances in which the business of music envelops an artist so tightly that the creativity and passion are sealed away. In the '70s, Manchester blossomed as an important singer/songwriter responsible for such classics as "Midnight Blue," "Whenever I Call You Friend," and "Don't Cry Out Loud." But as her album sales began to decline, the corporate machinery began to take hold of her career and her original songs were left along the wayside to make way for glossy pop songs and sappy ballads written by "hitmakers." As a songwriter, she had all but disappeared. Leaving the recording studio after 1995's over-produced If My Heart Had Wings, Manchester spent almost a decade regrouping and getting in touch with the artist who had been lost for so many years. Reaching back to a time when the songwriting was just as important as the singer, Manchester reconnected with herself and recorded When I Look Down That Road, her first album of original material since 1978's Don't Cry Out Loud. In a welcome return to form, she has stripped away the many layers of bloated production and overwrought balladry that has dogged her work since the '80s to reveal a set of songs that quietly shine and stand brilliantly alongside her early work. 

In the album's opener, "I'll Know You By Your Heart," Manchester sounds revitalized and passionate against the song's sparse bluesy samba beat. The difference between this one song and her post-'70s output is immediate. Gone, thankfully, are the sweeping synthesizers, belted choruses, and saccharine sentiments, replaced with basic instruments, breezy melodies, and thoughtful lyrics. A mystical character named Pearl is brought to life in the Bonnie Raitt-styled "Angels Dancing," while Gertrude Stein is visited in the Latin-tinged "When Paris Was a Woman." Two beautiful ballads, "Bend" and "When I Look Down That Road," delicately play on the emotions without resorting to plastic sentiment. It has been a long time since she has sounded this vibrant and honest. When I Look Down That Road is a true comeback in every sense of the word and ranks among her best albums. Dormant for too long, Melissa Manchester's singer/songwriter soul has finally returned. ~ Aaron Latham https://www.allmusic.com/album/when-i-look-down-that-road-mw0000326940

When I Look Down That Road

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Melissa Manchester - Playlist: The Very Best Of Melissa Manchester

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:49
Size: 114.0 MB
Styles: Soft rock, Adult Contemporary
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:55] 1. Midnight Blue
[3:38] 2. Just Too Many People
[4:14] 3. You Should Hear How She Talks About You
[3:58] 4. Lovers After All
[2:55] 5. Rainbird
[4:23] 6. Talkin' To Myself
[3:51] 7. Walk On By
[3:47] 8. I Can't Get Started
[4:10] 9. Through The Eyes Of Love (Theme From The Motion Picture Ice Castles )
[4:16] 10. Come In From The Rain
[3:48] 11. Don't Cry Out Loud
[3:13] 12. Shine Like You Should
[3:35] 13. A Mother And Father's Prayer

MOR singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester, whose father was a bassoonist for the New York Metropolitan Opera, began singing commercial jingles at age 15 and went on to become a staff writer for Chappell Music while attending the High School of Performing Arts. After taking a songwriting class at New York University taught by Paul Simon, Manchester took her talents to the Manhattan club scene, where she was discovered by Bette Midler and Barry Manilow; the two hired her as a backup singer in 1971. She recorded her debut album, Home to Myself, in 1973, co-writing many of the songs with Carole Bayer Sager. Released in 1975, Melissa produced her first Top Ten hit, "Midnight Blue," and set the tone for most of her career with its direct, slickly produced MOR pop sound. She and Kenny Loggins co-wrote the latter's 1978 duet hit with Stevie Nicks, "Whenever I Call You Friend," and the following year, Manchester returned to the Top Ten with "Don't Cry Out Loud." In 1980, Manchester became the first singer to have two movie themes nominated for Academy Awards (Ice Castles and The Promise); two years later she achieved her highest Billboard singles chart placement with the number five hit "You Should Hear How She Talks About You," which won a Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance. Through the '80s and '90s, Manchester alternated occasional recording with scriptwriting and acting, appearing with Bette Midler in For the Boys and on the television series Blossom as the title character's birth mother. In spring 2004, Manchester returned with her first album in ten years. When I Look Down That Road, which included collaborations with Beth Nielsen Chapman and Keb' Mo' and marked her first proper release with Koch. ~bio by Steve Huey

Playlist: The Very Best Of Melissa Manchester

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