Style: dance pop
Label: Arista
Year: 1992
Home: n/a
Members: Taylor Dayne ~ lead vocals
Additional: Keith Washington ~ lead vocals
Shep Pettibone, Tony Shimkin ~ keyboards/programming
David Cole, Rich Tancredi, Tommy Faragher ~ keyboards
Peter Schwartz, Louis "Kingpin" Biancainello ~ keyboards/programming
James Alfano, Ricky Crespo, Richie Jones ~ programming
T.M. Stevens, Neil Stubenhaus ~ bass
Al Pitrelli, Bob Cadway, Chuck Loeb, Michael Landau ~ guitars
David Foster ~ acoustic piano
Mark Russo, Richie Cannata, Charlie DeChant ~ saxophone
Joe Franco ~ drums
Bashiri Johnson, Babe Pace ~ percussion
Narada Michael Walden, Robert Clivilles ~ drums/percussion
Joe Lynn Turner, Tony Harnell, Warren Wiebe, Audrey Wheeler, Cindy Mizelle, Paulette McWilliams, Joe Turano, Karen Anderson, Monique Sorel, Eddie Stockley, Kenny Bobien, Lotti Golden, Jeanie Tracy, Kitty Beethoven, Nikita Germaine, Skyler Jett, Tony Lindsay, Claytoven Richardson ~ b. vocals
When Shep Pettibone is one of the producers on an album you know a couple things: it's gonna be radio friendly with a bunch of slick arrangements, dancefloor friendly & it's gonna be lots of synth instruments ... but, it's also going to be good! TD's third album saw her coming down from a big chart-topping high, something she'd not be able to rekindle, but that doesn't mean this album should be ignored or lost. It's lack of chart success compared to what came before might dink its reputation more than it should. With a mix of Pettibone electronic synth backgrounds & a few other producers such as Rik Wake and Civiles & Cole, aka C+C Music Factory, bringing in real instruments ... including drummer Joe Franco of Twisted Sister, T.M. Stevens, Joe Lynn Turner of Rainbow, Tony Harnell of TNT & Al Pitrelli of Alice Cooper, all in session mode for two tracks ... TD has crafted a pop album but not a plastic album. Though, its musically interesting. It doesn't have the extreme fast beats & pop keyboards that lace through her debut "Tell It To My Heart" but also doesn't have the rock edge that was tucked into her second album. It sounds more mature, still dance floor oriented but more a slow dancing than a crazy twist out. In some ways it feels like she's trying to rediscover herself for the easy listening charts in the 1992 world of grunge, or maybe trying to come more into herself as a singer, finding her own voice away from the flash. Removing some of the pop in your face feeling the ballads here might show her at a high that compares to anything before & definitely after. She's able to emotionally express herself with great skill & listenability against soft arrangements that don't overpower the ears or the feet (ie. "I'll Wait", "Send Me A Lover", "Dance With A Stranger", "Memories"). The music is a bit more generic than not, but the key is all in her distinctive voice. TD was certainly a smoky bar jazz singer in another life with a voice that always sounded older ... though here her age has caught up with her. She also uses the nuances of her voice here without becoming a Aquilera or Carey technique whore (for example, "I'll Wait"). She was one of the 80's pop dance girls with Tiffany & Debbie Gibson, much never sounded young or naïve like them & would soon find herself in the better class of Lisa Stansfield who also included R&B elements in her music. TD should really have an easy listening audience, not the teenybopper audience she had, but for some reason that was just out of grasp. She's got the voice to do so much more than what her albums offer in the end. TD would release another album in 1998 only to fade out of music & into other things including acting. A comeback album would appear in 2008 aptly titled Satisfied & one will be satisfied checking it out ... or, for that matter, any of her albums.
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