Talking Back To The Night
	Produced by Steve Winwood
	Released on August 1982
	UK CHART POSITION #6 . . . US CHART POSITION #28
	Find it at GEMM
ILPS 9777 cover [high resolution scan]

W inwood writes soulful, romantic synthesizer pop. I write progressive rock reviews. Not exactly a match made in heaven, so when I tell you that this is a second Arc, bear in mind that I wasn’t exactly on board with the first one. Talking Back To The Night does contain the perennial hit “Valerie” and a couple of near-misses (“Talking Back To The Night,” “Help Me Angel”), but writing a few good songs every couple of years just isn’t going to cut it with me. This is, after all, Steve Winwood we’re talking about. The man is a rock legend, and rock legends don’t get to write songs like “Still In The Game” or “While There’s A Candle Burning” without somebody like me carping. Talking Back To The Night is too little, too light and too much like his last album. As Winwood was retreating into the old world of putting pop melodies to other people’s lyrics, artists like Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads were exploring new worlds. Talking Back To The Night may have been a commercial success, but ignoring the changes that had entered the musical world since 1980 was artistic suicide. That and hiring a total wuss to write your lyrics. She was like jazz on a summer’s day? For future reference, if your lyrics would actually work well in the context of a commercial for a feminine hygiene product, they probably don’t rock. Talking Back To The Night certainly does not rock. It’s synthetic product: high fructose corn syrup and maltodextrin and yellow number 5. Tasty some of the time, sure, but empty calories.

ILPS 9777 back cover	ILPS 9777 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. VALERIE    4:05
2. BIG GIRLS WALK AWAY    3:51
3. AND I GO    4:12
4. WHILE THERE'S A CANDLE BURNING    3:11
5. STILL IN THE GAME    4:51
6. IT WAS HAPPINESS    4:58
7. HELP ME ANGEL    5:06
8. TALKING BACK TO THE NIGHT    5:44
9. THERE'S A RIVER    4:40
   
   All songs written by Steve Winwood & Will Jennings

CREDITS

STEVE WINWOOD -- vocals, instruments
Nicole Winwood -- backing vocal (2,5)
Tony Wright -- cover
Lynn Goldsmith -- photography

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