Never Look Back - Motivational Inspirational Wall Art for Home & Office Decor - Perfect for Living Room, Bedroom, or Workspace

After the release of his first solo album If Thats What It Takes it would have seemed that Michael McDonald was looking to follow the same basic musical pattern he'd developed with the Doobie Brothers in his solo career,especially considering how many people consider the late 70's Doobie Brothers albums little more than Michael McDonald solo projects with the Doobie's as backup. In this case of this album there is no question whatever that McDonald is firmly in command here and has found a sound that's fully his. The big change here is the musical direction. His trademark use of the fender rhodes and clavinets have been replaced by a more puncuated emphasizing digital synthesizers and less reliance on rhythm and more on stilted beats. Also this functions as more of an AOR project as there are no obvious stand out singles on this album-they all flow more as one long statement with variations. There is one song that does stick out some at least to me anyway. That would be "Bad Times". It's best described as a bluesy jazz-fusion styled tune with very concious lyrics. The majority of this album however presents a lot of songs such as the title song,"(I'll Be Your) Angel","Lost In The Parade","By Heart","(I Hang) On Your Every Word" and "Don't Let Me Down" and they all have a sound that's uniquely both appropriate and counter to the music of the mid 80's:the music is very slick and electronic but also not too flashy and crowded with all kinds of effects. His soundtrack hit of the same era Sweet freedom] isn't present on this album and that's a pretty good yardstick because this albums breezy rock/soul has as much to do with that song as a human being would be to a field of white mice. This is a different kind of album from a different Michael McDonald who,with the Doobie Brothers put temporarily on pause was now taking the opportunity to excersise a new direction in his music.