Review: “Barry” by Barry Manilow (Vinyl, 1980)

Today’s Pop Rescue from a fate uncertain is 1980’s album Barry – the seventh album by American singer, songwriter and musician, Barry Manilow. Will this album be like an exotic trip to Bermuda, or like a wet weekend on Barry Island? Read on…

Barry Manilow - Barry (1980) album — Barry Manilow – Barry (1980) album.

This 10 track LP opens with the gentle intro of the lead single Lonely Together. This track plays to soft vocals and dreamy harmonies, which Barry excels in. It’s a fairly paint-by-numbers American lovestruck ballad, complete with key change. It’s a plodding but warm start to the album. The track reached #21 when released as a single in the UK.

Next it’s Bermuda Triangle, and here the tempo certainly lifts, with percussion (including steel drum), and exciting flurries of strings. The track carries an almost as exotic and playful sound as Copacabana, but manages to stand fairly well on its own two feet, and not too Muppet Show. The song was released as the third UK single, and gave him a #15 hit.

That’s followed by I Made It Through The Rain, which returns us to the emphatic slower sound. Here, Barry’s piano leads us gently along towards a really nice melody in the chorus. Gentle strings and backing vocalists allow his vocals to shine here with ease, and these build well, and are joined by a horn section later on. The track reached #37 when it was released as the album’s second single.

Twenty Four Hours A Day is next, and this gives us a nice up-beat little pop song. Once again, Barry is flanked by some great backing vocals, that allow him to elevate his own. The song just gently wafts along with a simple beat and catchy chorus. It’s a really nice track.

Side One closes with Dance Away, which brings a really nice bass into play alongside a harder beat. Barry’s vocals are all heartbroken and echoey here, as if a ghost giving a message to a former lover. The track is a little simple within the verses, and might have benefited from another instrument here. The chorus makes up for it with the vocal harmonies and bass though, so all is forgiven.

Piano opens Side Two, leading us into Life Will Go On, which as the title might suggest, is a sadder slow song. Barry’s vocals alongside his piano playing works well here, and we’re treated to a verse of this before the strings join in too. The track takes a big dramatic orchestral key change towards the end which Barry takes in his stride perfectly.

That’s followed by Only In Chicago, which has a fantastic piano introduction before the beat kicks in. Here, we have a wonderfully playful and bouncy song that reminds me a little of the 1980’s Inspector Gadget theme… but in a good way. Barry’s vocals bounce along with the track in what seems like great ease. It’s a catchy track, and the brass adds to the fun towards the end.

Barry is joined by American actress Lily Tomlin on next track, aptly titled The Last Duet. The track begins like a very stylised stage-show, perhaps evening cringeworthy hammy track… but all of a sudden it rips into a big disco stomper. Lily’s vocals sit in a sharper contrast to Barry’s voice, even though his vocals are stylised here too as a couple sharing their dislike for each other in almost a way heard in the later track The Ballad of Tom Jones by Space and Cerys Mathews. It started off bad, but disco saved it 100%.

London follows this, and it’s an ode to… yes, that’s right, London, from a New Yorker’s point of view. It’s a mid-tempo track, loaded with piano and a gentle beat. London is sung many many times here with an almost bossanova feel, there’s even a mention of Big Ben and a pseudo-clock chiming sequence played. It’s a nice little foot tapper.

The album closes with We Still Have Time which was the theme to the 1980 Jack Lemmon film Tribute. It’s a big plodding ballad, in which Barry gets to show off his vocal range and power, and he does this with seeming great ease! This makes for a naturally grand closing track to this album.

Barry Manilow’ -‘s lead single Lonely Together (1980).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a mixture of textbook ballad and exciting plunges into upbeat genres.

Slightly apprehensive about listening to a full Barry Manilow album, I was actually somewhat surprised by what I heard. The highest point here was The Last Duet, which started off sounding pretty terrible, but the sudden switch to disco and the vocal contrast, super-charged it and made it the stand-out track. That’s closely followed by I Made It Through The Rain.

Whilst there are no stinkers here, there are a few meh tracks, which include opening track and lead single Lonely Together, but it’s likely just symptomatic of a slower ballad not being ‘my thing’, and that actually Barry delivers them perfectly.

Whilst the ballads do sound fairly predictable, the production and performance of each song is great, and you’re left with a strong early ’80s album that you should check out.