Audio CD review:
Chris de Burgh - Timing Is Everything

Chris de Burgh - Timing Is Everything

Band: Chris de Burgh Title: Timing Is Everything Rating: Release Date: 2002-10-08 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Guilty Secret 2: If Beds Could Talk 3: Lebanese Night 4: Timing Is Everything 5: There's Room in This Heart Tonight 6: She Must Have Known 7: The Best That Love Can Be 8: Bal Masqué 9: Love and Time 10: Another Rainbow 11: Save Me

Five stars for "Lebanese Night" It's a beautiful duet sung with the Lebanese pop singer Elissa. The song "Lebanese Night" alone is worth the price of the CD. Non-Arabic speakers might miss the beauty of the lyrics that she sings in accompaniment. They translate to: "All of my life, all I have known, only a place where peace cannot go; All over the world, the gift from before, nothing is left for the children of war. ". A Real Mistake Well, he certainly did that. Chris Deburgh said in an interview that he wanted to really do something different for the "Timing Is Everything" album. . . he made it an uneven and low on content. At least 3 of the songs are cheap ripoffs of songs that were popular on his previous album "Private Revolution". It's like he kept the music and just changed the lyrics. It sounds like an album written, produced and recorded in an hour and a half. Chris DeBurgh is usally so good at love songs that he can take the sappiest lyrics and make them song great. . . but things are definitely different for this album. On this album, the love songs are absurd. In one song, Chris Deburgh actually seems to suggest that a woman will love a man more if the man is flat broke. . . heck why not just say that women really go for homeless men, eh Chris? Is that absurd enough? No wonder Chris DeBurgh releases more Greatest Hits albums these days than original ones. . . he is obviously out of ideas. Perhaps he should finally retire and stop embarrassing himself and his long-suffering fans. De Burgh keeps it fresh after 27 years Or, at the very least, you might think he'd simply throw together a few half-developed tracks and call it an album. You would think that after 25+ years in the music business, having amassed a personal fortune estimated at nearly $50 million, Chris de Burgh might be ready to hang it all up and head to beach pictured on the cover of "Timing is Everything". Wrong on both counts. De Burgh is still in great voice throughout the 11 songs on "Timing is Everything", and his lyrics still have the ability to paint vivid pictures of love, war and compassion. The opening and closing tracks ("Guilty Secret" and "Save Me", respectively) are the album's weakest. Not bad songs, necessarily, but they just lack the depth we have become accustomed to from De Burgh. The rest of the album is absolutely excellent. De Burgh espouses a Lebanese flavor The melody is instantly pleasing while the lyrics are extremely poignant. This album is worth it if only for the incredible duet "Lebanese Night" (with Lebanese singer Elissa). It's wonderful to note that Chris De Burgh, not unlike such artists as Sting ("Desert Rose"), is finally experimenting with Arabic music in a way that creates a truly global sound. Elissa's vocals on the track only add to its haunting quality. Paradise Lost It is to an extent. Looking at the cover of "Timing Is Everything" you'd think the music would be as refreshing. De Burgh attempts to make an upbeat and exciting recording but it falls rather flat. De Burgh has created a cd with a slick production and nothing really memorable. This isn't "Spanish Train & Other Stories", "The Getaway" or "Man On The Line". There are no interesting stories here, just bland songs about infidelity and romance--a territory well worn on previous outings like "Into The Light", "Flying Colours", "Power Of Ten" and "Quiet Revolution". At times, I even felt that Chris sounded downright silly. The best that can be said about this cd is that it's mercifully short and upbeat. You can see a complete list of all Chris de Burgh discography, or go back to the Chris de Burgh tabs