Air Supply - Now & Forever (1982) and The One That You Love (1981)
double album package one one disc
Why this CD:
Because I love Air Supply. Love them. I have all their albums, I think, including Australian ones never released in the U.S. I don't have all the compilations because that would be ridiculous. I have, however, gotten CD versions of every album even though I still have the vinyl copies. I've seen them in concert 6 times. So, pipe down and leave me alone.
When I was younger I only had so much money to spend on music. I made sure I knew an album had at least a couple of songs I really liked before I bought it. When "All Out of Love" came out in 1980, I fell in love with it. I didn't connect it with any boys but it still tore my heart out. I bought the single but didn't buy the album Lost in Love until after "Every Woman in the World" was released. I'd liked the song "Lost in Love" well enough, but still waited for that 3rd single. I did love the album. Since those were pre-internet days and I didn't subscribe to any music magazines, I didn't know Air Supply had a new album coming out in 1981 and was thrilled to hear "The One That You Love" on the radio. I bought that album quickly afterward. The following year I was even more surprised to see Now and Forever at Roses department store, so I bought it without even hearing a song first. I bought every album after that whether I'd heard a song or not. Over the years I've gotten more objective and certainly don't think every song is a gem, but I'm a sucker for harmonies and pretty melodies, so I'm not getting rid of one of my CDs or LPs.
CD Thoughts:
This hasn't really aged all that well. I kind of wish I'd picked something else to play. I did skip over a lot of these songs. Despite the strings and heavy orchestration, a lot of it feels thin; I suppose it could be the mastering. Some of the problems may have stemmed from a "strike while the iron's hot" push from Arista. After having three Top 5 hits from the 1980 album, they released albums each of the next two years. Of course the 1981 album did have three more Top 5 hits and the 1982 had another before the next two singles each peaked at #38. It's kind of a diminishing results thing, though. The only song I turned up the volume for was "Sweet Dreams." I sang some of the singles ("Here I Am", "Even the Nights Are Better") from these albums in variety and talent shows in the 80s so I definitely sing along with them. Some of the album cuts, especially on Now and Forever, are nicer than the singles. "She Never Heard Me Call" is a sad, pretty song with a lot of flute, and singing from both Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock. But listening to both these albums in a row, in their entirey, would require perseverance I don't have right now. I know these songs and have listened to them enough that I didn't feel obligated to listen to every second of the mushy stuff. Thank you skip button.
Takeaway:
Most of their music sounds better in concert, with a lot of the strings and stuffing peeled away. I still love Air Supply, but I'd be better off putting the songs I like best on a thumbdrive or my phone.
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