Search - Anne Murray :: Something to Talk About / Harmony

Anne with synthesizers

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anne achieved considerable success at home and internationally during the seventies and early eighties with her blending of pop and country music, sometimes with other influences too, especially on her early albums where folk music was a major influence. For the two albums here, Anne has opted for a more obvious pop sound with plenty of synthesizers. If she hoped that this would expand her fan base, she was disappointed. Anne didn't impress long-standing fans with the synthesizers while fans of electronic music had other heroes and heroines. All that said, the overall sound isn't dramatically different from Anne's earlier music though it's noticeable. I don't mind the synthesizers but I don't think they improved the music.



As far as the songs are concerned, the standout here is Now and forever you and me, which became a number one country hit. My favorites among the others include Anyone can do the heartbreak (co-written by Amanda McBroom, most famous for writing The rose), On and on, Are you still in love with me and The great divide.



Anne performs the songs as brilliantly as ever, but there are fewer utterly great songs here than on most Anne Murray collections. It still rates five stars - it's an Anne Murray collection after all. Committed fans who must have everything will buy this anyway - and they will probably enjoy it - but if you only intend to buy some of Anne's music, there are plenty of better albums to buy (and I've reviewed most of them)."