Celebration of "Soul Searchin"

[Freypower]

Well, this is one time where I don't really have that much to add to what Soda and Dreamer said. However, unlike GA I'm afraid I don't think many of these songs carry much emotional weight (this is my least favourite of Glenn's solo albums). I will try and make a few comments but as I say I don't think they will add much.

Livin' Right - the best part of this is watching him sing it without a guitar. I should not say that but such an occurrence is so rare you have to love it. I am very fond of this because I KNOW how personal it is, something I can't say about many of the other songs.

Some Kind Of Blue - this is pleasant but it tends to drift along a bit too much. In my opinion too much of the album is like this.

True Love - Perfect. I don't know what else to say. He 'stole' it from Al Green but it is one of his most passionate performances.

Can't Put Out This Fire - I love the percussion in this song, the vaguely 'Caribbean' feel it has. Because it's so enjoyable musically I tend to forgive the lyrics.

I Did It For Your Love - Well, Soda, the 'Byronic hero' idea never occurred to me! I see your point. Perhaps I could add my own favourite situation halfway through War & Peace where Pierre realises he loves Natasha but thinks his love will never be returned (ahem - I felt I had to match Soda there in some way). It grows on me more and more, I must say.

Let's Pretend We're Still In Love - very catchy, a nice singalong track, but at the end of the day it is hardly a 'great song'. I do like it, though.

Working Man - tries too hard to emulate Springsteen and its sentiments jar with the majority of the love songs on the album. I am with Soda in preferring the 'slow' version.

Soul Searchin' - his love of R&B and gospel music comes to the fore again. I love this track. It's beautifully sung.

Two Hearts - I have to agree with Soda here (BTW the songwriter is one of the backing musicians - Hawk Wolinski). This is one of my three least favourite Glenn songs and it does precisely nothing for me at all.

It's Your Life - again, it's pleasant but it is somewhat cliched, and I can't say that I am overwhelmed by it. I do like the way the music climaxes with that bit of sax at the end. Vocally it is very sincere but he had and would do better.

[Koala]

I like to read your commentary to every song from the album!

[sodascouts]

Thanks Koala! I wish I had time to do it for all the albums! In fact, due to the fact that the birthday of No Fun Aloud came around the end of the semester and I was hustling to get everything done, I didn't get a chance to do it for that album even though I love it. I will have to go back and do it sometime!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY SOUL SEARCHIN'!!!

On this day in 1988, Glenn released his third solo album.

I have not done a complete review of this album before, so I'll take a crack at it now. Here is my take on the Soul Searchin’ album. Although I don't consider this to be Glenn's best solo work, I find the songs to be pleasant and enjoyable. There are a few very good songs, but for me the real standouts on the album are the title track, True Love, and I Did It For Your Love. To me this album is a bit uneven, and there are some songs that I like but don't love. I think this pretty much sums up the whole album for me – better than average, but not exceptional. So here is my song-by-song rating in the order that I love/like them.


I Love It (5)

Soul Searchin’ (5) – This is a wonderful song mostly because of the vocals and the arrangement. I know some fans disagree, but I don’t find it too repetitive at all. The melody, music, and use of the gospel choir are all terrific. I just plain love the bridge, and I just plain love this song and it’s inspirational message!

True Love (5) – I love this song, too. Even though the lyrics are predictable, the delivery and vocals in this song are really exceptional. Al Green should be very appreciative of Glenn’s soulful tribute – he does justice to the Memphis blues style of music. The sax is just awesome as is all of the music in the song. The melody is also terrific, and I love the full stop and restart at the end.

I Did It For Your Love (5) – This is my favorite ballad on the album. Although I always liked this song, I never really loved it. I thought it was pleasant, but a tad bit bland. Then all of a sudden one day, for some unexplained reason, it touched something in me out of nowhere. The song just blew me away, and now I absolutely love it. It is very poignant and simply beautiful and I love the lines “I waited by the shore; just for one glimpse of you, nothing more.” I always thought the line “Somehow I knew you would understand” was meant as a wishful thinking thing since, obviously, she didn’t. The only problem with this song is that I want to know what he did! Since this song was apparently written for the movie “An American Murder”, I’m thinking what he did might not have been too good. Maybe if I actually watched the movie, I might be enlightened.

Working Man (5) – I’ve said before that I thought Working Man was a standout track, but I’m on the fence about that. I do enjoy the song a lot though mostly because I love Glenn’s vocals on it. BTW, it may just be me, but I think Glenn decided to rework this song a few years later and call it ‘Common Ground’ (which I like even better). They both have a lot of the same music and same theme although Common Ground is much more of a bluesy tune than a rocker. This song rocks - although I love Glenn’s alternate slow version as well.


I Really Like It (4)

Can’t Put Out This Fire (4) – Soda earlier described this song as “singy-songy” in one of her posts – I call it catchy. I also recall the past discussions about the lyrics being sexually obsessive, but I don’t see it that way. However, I can see how someone could think that. For some unexplained reason, I love the lines “Breaking up is harder than it sounds; people leave, but love still hangs around.” Maybe just because it’s so true and basically these lines sums up this rockin’ song for me! This almost made my "love" list.

Livin’ Right (4) – I also like Glenn’s anthem for fitness. It’s fun and catchy and another one of those songs that you just can’t help singing along with – especially the chorus. I love the bridge and the sax solo that follows. I guess Glenn had no idea what a life-changing experience this song really would turn out to be since he met the future Mrs. Frey while filming the song’s video. I bet is among Cindy's favorite songs.

It’s Your Life (4) – IMO, the ballads on the album are not Glenn’s strongest with the exception of the aforementioned I Did It For Your Love. However, this tune is just very pretty. The music is superb and the delivery of those heartfelt lyrics make this song slightly better than average to me.


I Like It (3)

Some Kind of Blue (3) – As is many times the case, I find that a song that may be most people’s favorite is among my least favorites. I just don’t see anything exceptional about this song, although I keep thinking I must be missing something because I know a lot of people love it. I just find the song somewhat bland and mundane even though the delivery is beautiful and Tim’s background harmonies are impressive.

Let’s Pretend We’re Still In Love (3) – It’s pleasant so I don’t skip it, but I think this one is just an ordinary, average song. I’m not crazy about the somewhat monotomous melody in the verses, although I do like the bridge.

Two Hearts (3) – I agree it’s not his best work although I don’t find it quite as annoying as some of you. I don’t skip it, but I’m glad to know that Glenn did not write this. I’d love to know why he chose to record it (not one of his best, but not as bad as Soda thinks it is). However, with its uninspiring repetitious melody, it does rank up there as one of my least favorites of Glenn’s solo songs.




key:

5 - I love it
4 - I really like it
3 - I like it
2 - meh
1 – yikes

[EaglesFanatic]

Happy Birthday "Soul Searchin"! I haven't listened to the whole album yet, but from what I heard, Soul Searchin and Living Right are my favorites. Here's to celebrate the occasion:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1z...ng-right_music

[sodascouts]

Happy birthday to Soul Searchin'!

Great review, Dreamer! I completely agree about the moving "I Did It for Your Love." It's also one of the three standout tracks on the album for me, although the two other songs in my top three aren't the same as yours. I just ignore the fact that the song was written for An American Murder (Season of Fear is its title outside of the U.S.) I imagine his misdeed is less horrible than being a psycho killer. The lyrics imply that what he did was love her too desperately, but it was still "worthwhile" even though she rejected him.

However, here's what Glenn says about it in the liner notes:

"A straight ahead love song for a murder mystery seemed pretty twisted to me. After all, what is murder but love gone wrong."

Mmmkay.

Now that I think about it, I guess the lyrics could be perceived as kind of stalker-ish... no, no, I'm not gonna go there - I want to keep liking the song! lol

Moving on... I too am relieved that Glenn didn't write the sucky "Two Hearts"! As for why he recorded it, again, here's what Glenn has to say about it:

"A cool little tune written by my friend, Hawk Wolinski. It features great synthesizer work by Robbie Buchanan and a rare (as opposed to well done) guitar solo by yours truly."

Even Glenn's guitar work can't save the song, I'm afraid, although it's not because the guitarwork wasn't well done... it's the song itself that blows. Gotta love his modesty though - in truth, Glenn can rock the kasbah on the guitar if he chooses, as he has demonstrated live.

As for Hawk Wolinkski, Glenn had had a long musical relationship with him. Wolinksi co-produced and helped arrange songs on Soul Searchin', had played on Glenn's records, and was in his backing band for tours. Wolinkski had also previously co-written three earlier songs: "Living in Darkness", "Somebody Else," and "Flip City." Glenn even thanks Wolkinski for his "time and music" in The Allnighter's liner notes and calls him a "keyboard wizard" in The Solo Collection's liner notes. (If you guys are wondering how I know all this, I typed up the liner notes for GFO). He would later co-write "Long Hot Summer" on Strange Weather. Interestingly, he also wrote music for An American Murder, although not "I Did It for Your Love." Wonder if he got Glenn involved or vice-versa? Obviously, Glenn respected him a great deal.

About the "Livin' Right" video - I don't really like Glenn's "jock" look but the video itself is hilarious. My favorite part is when the old lady runs past him during the "before" part of the video. It also makes me chuckle that the song starts with the strains of "You Belong to the City" - it's like the Allnighter period partied him out!

[Freypower]

Well, there you are. I have tried and tried to warm to the Livin' Right video and I can't. The True Love video, on the other hand....

This is still my least favourite album, even though its release came right after the 1988 Australian visit. Re-reading what I wrote before I smiled when I saw my comments about I Did It For Your Love.

I'm not sure about Working Man and Common Ground having the same theme, though, Dreamer. Working Man tells a fairly specific story while Common Ground is far more universal in its content.

[chaim]

I find this album interesting, because it has some songs I find totally forgettable and some songs that are probably among my all-time favourite songs.
The ones I absolutely adore:
I DID IT FOR YOUR LOVE: (Beautiful. The most spine tingling moment: "But you won't be around". In the "The leaves will soon be turning" bit Glenn uses the same trick he used in the "wo--o-o-o-oo, another love has come and gone" bit in "Wasted time"; a sudden A-flat major chord in a song that is in C major. Nothing unusual in this "bVI chord", but it appears in a rather similar manner in both songs; to bring a sudden change.)
IT'S YOUR LIFE: I love what it says. There are not that many songs in any genre (not in pop or nor classical) that come to mind in which the narrator thinks of the other person's needs as well. One other song that comes to mind is "Never been in love before" by Robert Lamm on Chicago's 8th album.
SOUL SEARCHING: Gorgeus musically.
TWO HEARTS: Great musically.

[Freypower]

Chaim, what a fascinating comparison between I Did It For Your Love and Wasted Time. I absolutely love sudden chord changes. I don't know if it qualifies but there is a similar moment in A Walk In The Dark when he sings 'this is the way I want to dance with you'. He seems to be very good at this.

[sodascouts]

Yes, very interesting comparison, chaim! That change does seem quite effective.