Miami Vice II
	Executive producer: Michael Mann
	Released on 1986
	US CHART POSITION #82
	Find it at GEMM
MCA-6192 cover [high resolution photo]

T alk about taking one for the team. I saw Miami Vice once, thought it was ridiculous, and filed it alongside the cotton sportsjacket as an emblem of the Me Generation’s poor I for fashion. (Mind you, I like Michael Mann as a director, but not everything he does is a Keeper.) In the end, however, the promise of an unknown “Lover” proved too great to resist. That track appeared originally as the nonalbum B side to the single “Over You” in 1980, which seemed like an effort to acquire. And here it was, languishing on an album of incidental music from the ‘80s television series Miami Vice! So I jumped in, bolstered by the presence of Phil Collins and The Damned, and ended up getting my little dollop of Heaven for a dollar. “Lover” is a lovely track, languid like latter-day Roxy is prone to be but likewise haunting. I’m tempted to end the review there, but you’re probably curious about the rest of the soundtrack. There’s “Take Me Home” by Phil, which I’m sure you’ve heard before, and a nice political tune from Jackson Browne, “Lives In The Balance,” that reminds me of Bruce Cockburn. The Damned’s “In Dulce Decorum” is nothing fancy, and tracks from Steve Jones and Andy Taylor are toothless. Then there’s the really wretched stuff (from a progger’s point of view anyway): “Send It To Me” by Gladys Knight and The Pips, “The Last Unbroken Heart” by Patti LaBelle and Bill Champlin. Listen to that last track, and you’ll know what I mean about taking one for the team. There are also three instrumental tracks here from Jan Hammer, if you’re so inclined.

MCA-6192 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. MERCY    (Steve Jones)    4:27
2. SEND IT TO ME    (A. Willis/L. Wood)    4:12
3. TAKE ME HOME    (Phil Collins)    5:51
4. THE LAST UNBROKEN HEART    (P. Gordon/J. Williams/J. Gruska)    3:53
5. CROCKETT'S THEME    (Jan Hammer)    3:25
6. WHEN THE RAIN COMES DOWN    (Andy Taylor/Steve Jones)    3:52
7. LOVER    (Bryan Ferry/Phil Manzanera)    3:52
8. LIVES IN THE BALANCE    (Jackson Browne)    4:13
9. IN DULCE DECORUM    (Te Damned)    4:34
10. MIAMI VICE: NEW YORK THEME    (Jan Hammer)    3:53
11. THE ORIGINAL MIAMI VICE THEME    (Jan Hammer)0:59

CREDITS

Jackson Browne -- performer (8)
Bill Champlin -- performer (4)
Phil Collins -- performer (3)
The Danmed -- performer (9)
Jan Hammer -- performer, mixing, producer (5,10,11)
Steve Jones -- performer (1)
Gladys Knight and The Pips -- performer (2)
Patti LaBelle -- performer (4)
Roxy Music -- performer (7)
Andy Taylor -- performer (6)
J A -- art direction
Georgopoulos/Imada Design Inc. -- design
Alejo Menedez -- photography
Kathy Coleman, Randee Lynne Jensen, Don Kurt -- music coordination

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