JUDITH HILL - BACK IN TIME

Some of you may know who Judith Hill is and others won't.  I don't know a lot about her other than she was working with Michael Jackson when he died.  She's the latest aspiring addition to Prince's NPG label and for the record, you can hear Prince all over this disc.  He produces, arranges, plays instruments, provides vocals and does just about everything you'd expect Prince to do except...  write???  

That's right, folks, you heard it here first!  Prince doesn't contribute a single track to this record.  Not a one.  But it does have a strong vibe to it.

So...  That being the case, how does Judith Hill come off as a songwriter and vocalist?

As many of you know, Prince recruits and works with two types of people...  Those he finds interesting for whatever reason.  These are the people he usually writes everything for and uses their albums as a vehicle for his own material.  It's a way to get his fams more jams.  These are the singers and musicians who don't go on to have careers outside of his influence.  They never break out on their own and their one Prince infused output tends to be their only output.  

Then there are the talented people who could easily have it all without him.  Real musicians and singers with oodles of ability.  And Judith Hill falls into this category.  She's a voice, a brilliant songwriter and I'm hoping to see her live eventually.

The first time I heard this disc was when Prince posted it for free online.  I downloaded it like everyone else and listened to it.  At that point, the songwriting credits hadn't been released so no one really knew who had contributed what exactly.  I remember thinking that if Prince had written any of these songs they were collaborations with Hill because they are all a genuine departure from his usual fare.

Hill writes a Jazzy blues type of song full of soul and spark.  You can hear the Prince embellishments, but even without his unique ear for sound, the music would hold up on its own.  Partly because of Hill's strong vocal delivery.  I have a few favorite tracks on the album.  I usually put it in and let it play but when I'm driving, my favorite song to jam is 'Love Trip'.

My other favorite tracks include 'Angel In The Dark', 'Beautiful Life', 'My People' and 'Back In Time'.  This really is a great album and you won't go wrong adding it to your collection.  You just won't.  My final words:  JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER DRIVING!

JUDITH HILL - BACK IN TIME
01. As Trains Go By
02. Turn Up
03. Angel In The Dark
04. Beautiful Life
05. Cure
06. Love Trip
07. My People
08. Wild Tonight
09. Cry, Cry, Cry
10. Jammin In The Basement
11. Back In Time

ERASURE - COWBOY

I'm gonna try something different this time...  I've made a habit of trying to break the albums down into individual songs, but I think that gets tiring after awhile.  There are so many mediocre songs I have to try to find ways to describe.  So from now on I'm going to limit my comments to things that stand out and attract my attention.

This is the perfect album to start with.  "Cowboy" was released in 1997 on Madonna's Maverick label.  I'm not sure if this was Erasure's first release on that label, but I think it was the only one.  I might be wrong.

On the heels of the self-titled "Erasure" album, "Cowboy" saw Vince Clarke and Andy Bell returning to their traditional pop roots with catchy 3 to 4 minute songs instead of the experimental soundscapes they'd produced on "Erasure".  The more radio friendly atmosphere of "Cowboy" allowed the band some chart success in the UK and Europe.  Some of the band's singles were having impact in the US as well.

I first heard about this record not by following the charts or seeing it in the record store...  I heard the single, 'In My Arms' during the ad loop playing in a movie theater.  In the US, prior to the trailers, some theaters back in the 90's started experimenting with a looped audio track playing ads, trivia and short entertainment pieces in order to keep movie-goers from growing impatient as they waited for the film to start.  One of these clips was 'In My Arms' from Erasure.  The first time I heard it, I loved it and immediately went out and bought the album.

My impression was relief they'd moved away from the long songs of the previous album.  Now years later this disc has become what I consider the standard for Erasure releases.  I quite like Vince Clarke.  I think as a musician, he's amazingly talented and vastly unappreciated.  Because his focus is on electronic music and he works heavily with electronic instruments, he's written off by most folks.  He's not considered a genuine musician.  In reality, he's not only gifted, but able to write dramatically different and unique music pieces. 

Where Vince truly shines is sound engineering.  He creates so many different sounds unique to Erasure songs.  It's impossible for other groups to copy them.

On "Cowboy" Vince is in full form.  He generates catchy simple pop melodies, one after the other.  As usual, Andy Bell contributes the lyrics and vocals.  Their partnership seems to work well and their enjoyment in each other is forever present in their music.

Now back to what I consider a standard Erasure release...  "Cowboy" fits that description.  I can honestly say I like the entire album.  There's not a single song on here I think is horrible, but I'm not in love with it.  There are certain songs that stand out for me and if I'm creating a playlist there are tunes I'll take from this album.

'Worlds On Fire' is one of these, however my absolute favorite song on the disc is easily 'In My Arms'.  Perfect choice for a single and in my opinion, the perfect song on the album.  I love the sentiment.  I find it romantic and sweet.  'Treasure' is another song I quite enjoy.  I find it a bit of a musical mishmash, and the lyrics are a jumbled mess.  But all of that seems to come together during the chorus when Andy get down and really belts it out.

As a prelude of sorts to the cover album they did later on, the US version of "Cowboy" contains two covers.  One is 'Rapture' by Blondie, but my copy doesn't have this track.  I do have the second cover, 'Magic Moments' by Burt Bacharach and David Hall.  I've heard both and I love them both.  It's a shame my copy only has the one.  I wonder why.  Might have to upgrade it.

I'm an Erasure fan, but I'm not die hard.  I don't buy everything they put out.  Sometimes I mean to.  I think about it and I'll pick up a strange or rare bit here and there, but I've never committed to collecting them.  Maybe one day I will.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy individual discs as they come.  My final words: A RETURN TO FORM AND A SATISFYING ADDITION TO ERASURE'S GROWING CATALOG.  WORTH OWNING!

ERASURE - COWBOY

01. Rain

02. Worlds On Fire

03. Reach Out

04. In My Arms

05. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me

06. Precious

07. Treasure

08. Boy

09. How Can I Say

10. Save Me Darling

11. Love Affair

12. Magic Moments