The Love Songs Review

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Copyright (c) 1997, Dave Doohan
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The Love Songs

Chris de Burgh
1997
A&M Records

The Love Songs I, as it states, a collection of Chris' favourite Love Songs from his extensive catalogue. Originally requested by the Far Eastern divisions of A&M following a successful tour the idea was taken on board by other A&M areas, and a complete new album was born. There has however been a degree of criticism at the lack of new material on the album. Of 16 tracks, 8 are from the original recording, 5 are re-mixed in some way and just 3 are totally new songs.

However, the re-mixes are well done and the new songs alone are just about worth buying the album for.

The first two tracks are originals, Here Is Your Paradise and Missing You. It isn’t until track three that you get to hear a new song. So Beautiful is the first single to be released off the album in the UK and it has been a big success, achieving a top 30 placing. It's a little like Lady In Red in its story line.

"I'm Standing here tonight thinking of the times we've had" sings Chris. It becomes apparent that what we have is a man who, suddenly, has realised that although he has had people he loved before, he's never quite felt the way he does now and he finds himself looking ahead, to the future together. This person he has met has swept him to new heights and he is planning his whole life around her.

Next up is In Love Forever, re-recorded from the Beautiful Dreams album, with an added instrumental portion as an introduction, which works reasonably well. This is followed by the original versions of Borderline, The Lady In Red and Much More Than This.

The second new song is It's Me(And I'm Ready To Go) and this is somewhat of an epic. It’s over six minutes long and is vintage Chris. It's Autumn, and a man and women, probably lovers, are in a Cathedral, with a choir in the background, and the woman is looking at the register of deaths and wondering about the meaning of her relationship and life in general. She gets to thinking out loud, asking who will show her the wonders of life, and stay with her forever (it seems she's having doubts about the relationship). Gently Chris sings "It's Me, and I'm Ready To Go, ready to show, that I'll never let you down" as if to re-assure her that he is fully committed to the relationship. Later, they are in a Café, the same one where Hemmingway is reputed to have written A Farewell To Arms and once again she is questioning, but this time Chris sings with full crescendo, an octave higher than previously, "It's Me" as if trying to make her realise that he will never ever let her down. A wonderful, powerful, story song.

Separate Tables has been re-recorded to include some French Lyrics at the beginning which go "Darling, It's 11o'Clock at night - and I miss you. I think about you all the time, all the time". This is very much more upbeat than the original was. The original version of Fatal Hesitation is followed by the final new song, Forevermore. This song tells the tale of a man who wakes up from a horrible dream, a nightmare, where he believes he has lost his loved one to some kind of tragedy. This makes him realise how much he has been taking her for granted, and it brings him to pour out his emotions, "You Are My Lover, You Are My Friend, you are my life, to the very end". A good song in the traditional Chris Love Song mould.

Of the remaining songs, worth noting are Lonely Sky, because some of the harmonies are from Chris' original recording, so effectively Chris is singing with his twenty two years younger self, the missing bridge from If You Really Love Her which has softened the song to enable it to fit more cleanly on this softer album, and In A Country Churchyard which now gets Full Orchestra, Choir and Children's Choir.

Overall, the album, despite having few new songs still represents good value because the re-mixes breath new life into old songs, and the new songs are truly excellent.