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From the Vault...
11/21/1999
#656 |
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info
Paul Young
"The Secret Of Association"
© Columbia Records
Rating:
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track listing
Bite The Hand That Feeds
Everytime You Go Away
I'm Gonna TearYour
Playhouse Down
Standing On The Edge
Soldier's Things
Everything Must
Change
Tomb Of Memories
One Step Forward
Hot Fun
This Means Anything
I Was In Chains
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Paul Young
"The Secret Of Association"
Ah, the Nineteen Eighties... The poppish, dance sound of the Eighties...
It's all here, with Paul Young's 1985 release, The Secret Of Association,
featuring his #1 hit, "Everytime You Go Away".
The album opens up with a Duran Duran pop sound in "Bite The Hand That
Feeds", a song that did get some considerable radio airplay. The next tune
is a song written originally by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates -- the #1
"Everytime You Go Away", which truthfully, defines true pop, the common
sound of the 1980s. And it's awfully hard to determine which version is better --
Hall & Oates (from their album Voices), or Young's. The only difference
is that Young's version reached #1, Hall & Oates' didn't.
"I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" is a funky disco-inspired
early Eighties' Michael Jackson. The ballad "Standing On The Edge" has
a Peter Gabriel ballad comparison, yet it is more pop than Gabriel.
"Soldier's Things" is another ballad, much slower and moody. It's
almost like a moody, yet soulful ballad by the likes of George Michael.
Having a common pop sound for most Eighties ballads, "Everything Must
Change" has a Mike + The Mechanics' "The Living Years" comparision
(which by the way, Mike + The Mechanics did have a vocalist by the name of
Paul Young, but not the one reviewed here). It also has the soul of Seal's
"Kiss From A Rose". "Tomb Of Memories" is another common Eighties
pop song, with a pop/country guitar solo licks here and there. All in all, it
is pop, Eighties Pop. Probably one band to compare for this song, is the group
Squeeze.
"One Step Forward" is a medium-paced ballad, with some impressive
orchestral instrumentation. With a title like "Hot Fun", it should be
an upbeat pop dancable tune, and yes, it is. As heard in earlier pop numbers,
"This Means Everything" is another pop, as it was the flip side to his
#1 hit. These two songs made a good combination for that single. In the same
style, the album's closing song, "I Was In Chains" is another medium-paced
ballad, as in "Standing On The Edge".
Paul Young's music on The Secret Of Association is definitely pop,
with a touch of soul. The sound of the early Eighties -- pop rock -- is easy
to pick out as one of the common and popular sounds from the early-1980s.
Paul Young may not be a household name, but his version of Daryl Hall's
"Everytime You Go Away" is a great song, and it truthfully deserved to
reach the number one position, like it did. The rest of the album may not be
as powerful as his #1 hit, but it does pass, and it does define a common sound
of the 1980s decade of music.
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