Belinda

Artist: Belinda Carlisle
Label: Mca
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 076732574126
EAN: 0076732574126
ASIN: B000002O2Q

Release Date: 1990-10-25

Belinda

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Mad About You
I Need a Disguise
Since You've Gone
I Feel the Magic
I Never Wanted a Rich Man
Band of Gold
Gotta Get to You
From the Heart
Shot in the Dark
Stuff and Nonsense

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Customer Reviews:

A Light Upbeat Trip Back To 1986.......2005-09-26

I love this CD. It really reminds me of that "transitional" time during 80's pop music. The British invasion (Duran Duran, Boy George, Sting) were conforming their music in many ways to a more "pop" sound verses a synthesizer driven new wave sound. Belinda also was in on the transition. Versus hard keyboard beats (think Head over Heals) and strong riffs (Turn to You), she churned out a very pop almost Olivia Newton John like album with her post-Go-Go's debut "Belinda." The first single "Mad About You," is such a classic little pop song and it features Andy Taylor from Duran Duran on guitar. Other songs on the album like, "I Never Wanted A Rich Man" seem almost like they could be country songs and "I Feel The Magic" has a very early 70's pop sound. It's clear this is the album that Belinda wanted to make at the time. It's not quite as tweaked to mainstream success as it's follow up "Heaven on Earth," but it's a great way to come out of the gate.

I will forever be mad about Belinda.......2002-07-24

From the moment I first heard Mad About You, I was a Belinda Carlisle fan for life. It is one of the quintessential songs of the 1980s, yet it still remains fresh and vibrant today. I have more memories invested in that song than any other from my teenaged years. While there is a significant amount of collaboration with Charlotte Caffey on the album as a whole, this music is distinctly superior from that of the Go-Go's. Belinda's style and sound would continue to grow and mature over time, but clearly the public connected most strongly with this and the subsequent Heaven on Earth releases. While Mad About You was a pretty big hit, the only other track to achieve any success was the catchy, feel-good song I Feel the Magic. However, there are some other real gems on this album that I think could have been big hits. Gotta Get To You is a pretty rocking song that does have an air of the Go-Go's to it, but it surpasses even the best song from the old group. I love Belinda's voice; every word she sings sounds sincere and heartfelt. Her voice also has a unique undercurrent of passion to it at times that makes her slower, sadder songs much more appealing and emotional. Without a doubt, the most powerful song on this album is Since You've Gone; mixing verses of soft regret and heartache with pumping choruses of forceful anguish, it's a song to treasure and seek comfort in. I Never Wanted a Rich Man and From the Heart are two slow, beautiful songs, but even they cannot compete with Stuff and Nonsense. Belinda had a habit of including a slow, melancholy ballad at the end of her early albums that differed significantly from the more beat-driven songs leading up to it. Stuff and Nonsense showcases the wonderful, passionate, underappreciated voice of this singer; the sound is far removed from the often meaningless lyrical stylings of the late Go-Go's period. Belinda Carlisle can sing love ballads with the very best of them.

With less than 38 minutes of music, the album may seem relatively short now, but 38 minutes was a typical running time for albums released in the mid-1980s. I cannot help picture Belinda Carlisle as she appeared in the two videos for this album whenever I listen to these tracks--blonde, beautiful, and happy. In a pretty short period of time after the breakup of the troubled Go-Go's, she had turned her life completely around, and the obvious happiness she felt comes through clearly in her singing. I think this CD captures the essence of Belinda Carlisle better than any other (although I don't consider this her best album). As one song says, "it's all from the heart," and I can say that Belinda definitely captured my own heart with this wonderful album.

Do you feel the Magic?!!.......2002-03-27

This is the awesome 1986 debut solo album by the great Belinda Carlisle. Also the last on the I.R.S. record label, the label that she had been with on the GO-GO's first three albums,(1981-84). This album is short and sweet, clocking in at just under 38 minutes. The first song is the classic smash 'Mad About You', upbeat and cheerful, a personal fav of mine. She displays her great vocal range very well on that song. 'Gotta Get To You' is catchy, with a cool saxophone solo in the bridge. 'I Need A Disguise' is a cool song, with a great beat, also Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles co-wrote and sang backup on this song. 'I Feel The Magic' is just plain fun and cheerful. 'Shot In The Dark' has a cool synthesizer rhythm, and great guitar fills. There is also a great mix of slow ballads, 'Since You've Gone', 'Stuff And Nonsense'(simply angelic vocals on that song) and 'From The Heart'. This one has it all, Great musicianship, arrangements, song writing, and Belinda Carlisle with her beautiful, fantastic vocals. Complete lyrics to all songs are included in the booklet. Also, most songs were co-written by her fellow GO-GO Charlotte Caffey. This album is also hard to come by, so don't pass up a chance to buy it. It is truly a great travesty that this album is out of print now. If you don't have it, get it, ROCK ON!!

Belinda's first album is a star!!.......2002-01-11

The songs on Belinda's first solo album was as good of a success as any of the Gogos albums. It hit #13 on the charts and spawned the number 3 hit 'mad about you' i recommend this cd to anyone who likes Belinda or the gogos, or especially 80's music.

Five stars all the way.

Been mad about Belinda from her first album onward.......2001-11-05

Out of the ashes of the Go-Go's, came Belinda Carlisle, fresh from rehab and ready to conquer the pop music world with the opening bass beats in "Mad About You". Result? An unqualified success.

When I first saw her in the "Mad About You" video, I'd never even heard of the Go-Go's. Fortunately, I was able to catch up in time. Now there was a woman I found unimaginatively beautiful! Anyway, those opening basslines. And that's Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor doing that guitar solo in the song's middle.

The bouncy "I Need A Disguise" is another singleworthy song, co-written by Susanna Hoffs that's got a tight slick beat. "Shot In The Dark" is another song that's an even better candidate for the dance floor.

Case of singles chart injustice No. 103039: "I Feel The Magic" is another one of those singles that deserved to enter the Top Ten, much less the Top Forty. As it turns out, it didn't. This despite a familiar and welcome sugary voice on background vocals: Susanna Hoffs. Sheesh!

In watching a documentary on the making of this album, bandmate Charlotte Caffey remarked on Belinda's perceptive ability to notice song similarities. According to her, "I Never Wanted A Rich Man" sounded like something Rod Stewart would do. Yes, Belinda, it sure does.

She does a tasteful cover of Freda Payne's 60's classic, "Band Of Gold" As for ballads, she does best on "Since You've Gone" and "Stuff And Nonsense".

Belinda gets a lot of help from a lot of big names. Much of it comes in songwriting credits. Her ex-bandmates, Charlotte Caffey and Paula Brown (Jane Wiedlin's Go-Go's successor), come to the rescue here, as does Susanna Hoffs. All three help out on backing vocals as does Jane Wiedlin.

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