Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood tabs Steve Winwood discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Steve Winwood guitar tabs

CD reviews

Back in the High Life

Steve Winwood - Back in the High Life Audio CD

A fair review of the Steve Winwood "Back in the High Life" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Steve Winwood reviews here, or go back to the Steve Winwood tabs.

Band: Steve Winwood
Title: Back in the High Life
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Higher Love 2: Take It as It Comes 3: Freedom Overspill 4: Back in the High Life Again 5: Finer Things 6: Wake Me up on Judgement Day 7: Split Decision 8: My Love's Leavin'

Back in the GREAT Life!
I looked him up, realized I had heard "Higher Love," and that was that. I didn't realize I knew who Steve Winwood was until I saw him in concert opening for Tom Petty last year.

That is, until the concert. I can honestly say that Winwood was the best opening act I've ever seen, and one of the best acts I've seen in concert period. This isn't a review of that concert, but it was amazing.

After the concert, I was at a bookstore that sold records, and picked this up. Good stuff. The weakest cut is probably "The Finer Things," while "Take it as it Comes" is my personal favorite.

Good stuff here - horns, some upbeat rock stuff, and Winwood's voice, which to me sound relaxed, like he's thoroughly enjoying every moment. A solid rock album. I highly recommend it.

One Of Those Cases Where Everyone Got It Right
Having it now on CD and only remembering the hits from my youth. All of the hit songs from this album were the backround songs of my first days of school lol but they soon came into sharper focus as my dad baught the cassette into the house and it began to be played over and over again from back to back. . . . . well in one way or another Steve Winwood seemed musically everywhere in 1986-87. He was earning awards,critical acclaim and getting huge amounts of airplay. That combination seldom happens and when it does,you usually know something extrodinary has happened. All of the songs on this album have this huge spark of life to them,one of the most tasteful uses of mid 80's pop/R&B productions around. From it's caribbean melody and percussion to the sassy backup vocals of Chaka Khan herself "Higher Love" couldn't be a better start well. . . to any album. All of these songs have thoughtful,intelligent lyrics about optimism and the idea of something creepy lurking around underneath. "Take It As It Comes","Freedom Overspill",a hit I didn't hear much of if at all at the time and the exciting "Wake Me Up On Judgement Day" all blare with the kind of funky soul style,organ and vocals alike that Winwood have made his stock and trade. These are the more bluesier,horn packed tunes here and probably earned the album most of it's critical attention. The title song has both;it was a huge pop hit AND was artsy. James Taylor's always tasteful backup singing as well as the light marching beat of the drum give it that "they lived happily ever after" kind of feeling. "The Finer Things" has a sudtle keyboard sound that goes back to the Arc of a Diver era but again the island rhythms and peppiness of the tune is right there in the moment and looking to a happy future all at once. The last two songs I guess could be seen as the darker side of the occasion. "Split Decision" is the hardest rocking tune here courtesy of Joe Walch and delivers on someones thoughts of both uncertainty and joy. Viv Stanshell (yes of Bonzo Dog Band fame) makes a rare appearance on "My Love's Leavin",something of an epic lament and a good way to close thing out. One odd thing about this album is all eight songs on it are within the 5 minute range and all roughly 10-20 seconds seperate in lengh. Not that it matters much but somehow musically it gives the whole album a very very even and consistant feel. This sure deserved every bit of attention it got and still gets and I always wonder what the liner notes for a. . . say 25'th anniversary double CD version of this would look like soon enough. For Winwood anyway the finer things really were shinning through!.

Another good album From Steve Winwood
With known hits as in Higher love,Back in the high life and The finer things you can't go wrong with this. Here is yet another Album from Steve Winwood that has much to enjoy. All the other tracks on this also carry that 80's feel. This one will get just as much play is the album Roll with It. Upon reading the liner notes you will see some other names like Joe Walsh with his guitar in Freedom overspill. James Taylor lending his voice as harmony on back in the high life.

Excellent, if not a little dated
My favourites are "Freedom Overspill" and "Finer things". The album tracks are equally as good as the radio overplayed singles. The release of this album in 1986 cemented what a great year for albums that year was. Not only did we get "Graceland (Paul Simon)" but this album which put Winwood right at the top of the charts. Listening to it again the other day, makes me very happy but I do think it is a little dated in sound. Has 80s written all over it, ie. the saxophones. Steve also had a love of synthesizers which unfortunately have not dated so well. The success of this album saw the record company quickly release a compilation of sorts called "Chronicles" but it was not quite a greatest hits. It was aimed to present a snapshot of his earlier stuff and remixes of "Valerie" and "Talking back to the Night".

"Back in the High Life" is worthy of your collection - it does need a digital remastering though. OVERDUE!.

One of the cornerstones of catchy, radio-friendly pop
Bouncy upbeat pop perfect for work, the car, or even just cleaning the house, this album made huge hits out of "Higher Love", "The Finer Things" and the title track, and all three of these (particularly Higher Love), still get played almost daily on adult contemporary radio stations. From listening to this album, it's hard to believe that Steve Winwood used to be the lead singer for the great 60s rock groups Traffic and The Spencer Davis Group, and while some purists may call him a sellout, there's no denying that whatever kind of music Steve Winwood makes, he can do it good. The slower paced "My Love's Leavin'" is also first-rate.

You can see a complete list of all Steve Winwood discography, or go back to the Steve Winwood tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.