Izabela Trojanowska - Iza - 1980

 

my rating: 4/5

"Iza" is a debut album of polish singer Izabela Trojanowska. The album, released in 1980 is probably the best new wave album ever released here in this period. Trojanowska had her unique style and look. The first release of "Iza" was limited to 50000 copies only - Poland was behind the Iron Curtain back then, and there was not enough materials to produce any more units of the album. Also - music from the western Europe and USA was not promoted here. 

To understand the unique quality of this album you have to understand the political situation of Poland back in the early 1980's. In 1981, the tanks and other military machines fullfiled the polish streets. And again, anything from more civilizated countries like UK, France or USA was treated like a "devil-work" and the goverment tried to ban it.

The song which is opening the album - "Tyle samo prawd ile klamstw" is one of her biggest hits. The song is about Izabela's way to find an universal formula for the life, she sings that the same amount of truth and lies rules her life. The song has an extremely good production (as for Poland back then!), and the musical background is just a magic for me.  The song overally is very catchy. and it's funny how you can easily relate to it even 30 years later. Next song, a little bit more raw, titled "Nic za Nic", speaks about the power of money. Isn't it truth that you can't get almost anything in this world for free? The song has a very simple and catchy (again!) beat, and it's easily one my favourite songs on the album. I also love her mega-hit "Wszystko czego dziś chcę" (All that I want today). It's just a classic here in Poland. But to be honest, the most interesting song out there, is the final one on the album, "Jestem Twoim grzechem". Wow, the musical arrangement is just fascinating. It reminds me some Nina Hagen's slow-cosmic-songs, but in a different, polish way.

The album is really good, but I think that you have to be a polish speaking person to like it. Our language is quite hard, and it seems a little bit strange for the english speaking people. But you can always try it, didn't you?

 

Diana Ross - Workin' Overtime - 1989

my rating: 2.5/5

Workin' Overtime is probably the biggest flop in entire Ross' career. The album was an attempt to introduce Diana to the youth audience. The singer paired again with Nile Rogers, a producer who introduced Ross to a disco music 9 years earlier, producing her best-selling album to date -  "Diana". This time, the formula seemed to be the same - Ross wanted to record a contemporary modern album again  But unfortunately, "Workin' Overtime" is much weaker than "Diana". The album charted veeeery low, becoming her lowest-charting release in entire solo career. The album have some stronger points, but generally - new jack swing is not fitting the Supreme-Girl voice at all. Even Donna Summer's album "Mistaken Identity" (also a new jack swing project) released in 1991 was much better than Ross' one (the fact is that Summer release was a flop too).

The first release from the album was the single "Workin' Overtime". The song became a Top 5 R'n'B hit, but it didn't helped the album to chart higher. The rest of the singles - "Bottom Line", "This House" and "Paradise", are (as for me) the best songs on the album, although they didn't raised the albums popularity. Only "Goin' Through The Motions" is probably a wasted-minor-hit. The fact is that the songs are produced very well, but most of them aren't catchy at all. After my first listening-session with this album, only the previously metioned singles caught my attention.

I think that Miss Ross made a huge mistake with releasing this album. It seems to be a desperate move to regain her the fame from the late 70's / early 80's, and a legendary singer like her shouldn't try that hard. Ross have a huge fan-audience and she should stay stuck to it. If you haven't heard any Diana Ross' solo work (where have you been?), you shouldn't start with this one. It's easily my least-favourite Diana's album.