Manilow

I bought this album in 1985 when it first came out, and I was surprised by the change in production values that "Manilow" took. Having dumped ARISTA as his long-time label, RCA Records took Manilow on for this one-shot album, and with a new songwriter/producer partner, Howie Rice, created this record which dips its toe into 80s techno-pop. It bombed. Big time.It's pretty obvious that trying to re-shape Manilow's fading image as a romantic crooner in the cold, synthsized slam-glam of 1980s technology was doomed to failure, but that doesn't mean that this is a bad album, on the contrary, it's one of my favorites of Barry's. Despite the programmed drum tracks and synth loops, this is in every way a Barry Manilow album, with songs that are some of the catchiest and most melodic he's ever written. "It's All Behind Us Now," "Some Sweet Day," "If You Were Here With Me Tonight" and "Sweet Heaven" are all romantic swooners, with all of the sweeping melodrama of the best Manilow ballads. And "In Search of Love" "I'm Your Man" and one of my favorite tracks, "It's A Long Way Up" are driving dance numbers that Barry sings with tremendous power.Two numbers on the album I generally skip over - one is the goofy "At The Dance" which feels clumsy and out of place, and the other is the needless remake of "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" which is a bloodless duet with Muffy Hendrix (another *cough* "star" lost to the mists of time.) The latter song is smooth and professional, but give me the original Marvin Gaye/Tammy Terrell version any day.All in all, this is a strikingly original sounding Barry Manilow album, with strong singing, melodies; dated only by it's 80's production flourishes. I am amazed and SO happy that this album is available again. It received a limited release on CD, [RCA PCD1-7044], but for years was one of Barry's rarest albums. Now if ARISTA would only release 1980's "Barry" - which has NEVER been on CD.

This was hard to find. One of his best.

As a true Manilow fan, this album didn't disappoint. He's a fantastic musician! This CD contains some familiar songs and others that didn't get play back in the day. However, every song is magic...it's B❤️RRY.

Before somebody got really smart and reissued this CD in Feb. 2009 the original RCA disc was, at times, often selling for over $100 on the big auction site. This was possibly the most collectible of all Manilow albums (more so than the TV soundtrack to "Copacabana") because of the poor promotion and handling of Barry by RCA. After many years with the Arista (and previous Bell) label Barry chose to leave for RCA and this album was his first, and only, release for that label. I have owned this CD since it was originally released and have always been amazed that with the repeated reissue of much of Manilow's music this title was never included. Now, maybe because BMG owns virtually all of the major labels and their catalogs (including RCA, Sony, Columbia & Arista) this album has resurfaced. If you're a Manilow fan you absolutely can't go wrong with the CD, and the price is certainly right.

A great performer, a great singer, a great humanitarian!

Manilow is a different type of music than what Barry usually does. The first time I listened to it I wasn't sure how much I liked it, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it. If you're not a big Barry Manilow fan you might not like this cd, but if you like faster more rock type music you might like this cd. There's also Sweet Heaven I'm in Love Again from the movie Copacabana on it and it's worth getting the cd for that song along.

I love barry song and this is great

one of my favorite albums easily replaced