Search - Thomas Anders :: This Time

Not enough...

DIMITRI B BOGACHEV | Atlanta, GA | 04/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I do not own this record, and those who wrote praising reviews may say that I need to listen to it in its entirety before offering an opinion, but I sampled every song from amazon.de and have a few things to say.
Thomas Anders is no stranger to the pop scene, rather a veteran, known as the voice of Modern Talking. He moved to L.A. in late 80s after MT split the first time and started producing solo records (none of which I own, as most were quickly out of print). He made a choice to explore his own musical taste and dove into the pool of mellow ballads and romantic dance pop and was never really pursued by mass record-buying audience, even at the time each record was released. He released a few, this new album is marked as 19th, which must be counting Modern Talking records. I am not criticizing his choice of musical style, and a wealthy star of most successful German pop project could probably afford to give up potential commercial gain in exchange of doing what he wanted to do musically.
However, This Time is evidently a commercial record aiming to score on the wings of Modern Talking's second-round success and media attention to their final (let's hope) split-up. After listening to song samples, I do not believe it will succeed the way it could, and think that Thomas could stage his solo comeback much better by offering more quality music.
Independent Girl, the only song here with decent melodic hooks (still quickly forgettable) is not enough to hold the whole record. The first single, King of Love, is arranged in the same 70s-disco style as Modern Talking's Juliet, their most ridiculous, to my opinion, choice of a single. The rest is just as generic as adult contemporary pop can be; the sound is not too dated but not contemporary enough to win an audience broader than his existing loyal fan base in select countries and regions like Germany, former Soviet Union, South East Asia, and Chile. The record also lacks crisp production that Dieter Bohlen's studio usually offered.
If Thomas considers present time as a start of his new solo career, there's still a chance for him to make it bigger than this. He needs to split from this undecided early-90s sound and reinvent himself in accordance with current trends in pop and dance music. Good examples of longevity and ongoing musical releveance among other veterans - Madonna, Kylie, Pet Shop Boys. It takes two bad records to put a cross on a musician's career, and I want to hear more good music from a singer I still admire, and I want to hear more of it on the radio and at clubs and feel good and proud for him. Nothing personal, this is coming from a long-time fan."

Disappointing!

DIMITRI B BOGACHEV | 04/21/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"My expectations for the new Thomas Anders album was high since the success of Modern Talking... I guess I was wrong! The songs on this album reminds me of his old style with some songs similar to MT style, except not as good. The only good songs I can really enjoy are "This Time" and "How Deep Is Your Love". The rest are pretty plain. Only buy this album if you have a chance to listen to it first."

Over and over

DIMITRI B BOGACHEV | 04/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this the first album of TA that i can listen 24/7
big suprise
5 stars"