Review: “Wonderful Life” by Black (Vinyl, 1987)

Today’s Pop Rescue from an uncertain fate is the 1987 album Wonderful Life by British singer-songwriter – the late Colin Vearncombe, known as Black. Will this album bring you something Wonderful or should you be Afraid? Read on…

Black - Wonderful Life (1987) album — Black – Wonderful Life (1987) album.

This 10 track vinyl LP opens with the titular and hit single Wonderful Life. Those first synth notes and the gentle beats are instantly recognisable. Black’s vocals are soft and almost Bowie-esque in their perfect control. The track, which Vearncombe later explained was written during a low period of his own life, takes a melancholy evolution as the song progresses. Upon initial release in 1986 the track didn’t catch a great deal of interest with the track stalling at #42 in the UK singles chart. Thankfully, a re-release (fourth in the order of singles) almost a year later in 1987, took it to #8 instead, just two months after similarly hit single Sweetest Smile (more on that later). It is one of the 1980’s iconic tracks, and has been used extensively in advertising. A perfect start to the album.

Everything’s Coming Up Roses – the album’s second single, follows this, opening with wafting guitars that slip the leash to sound energetic and fresh like they’ve escaped from an A-ha album. Black’s voice here gets to shine again, soaring high, and with seeming ease, as backing vocalists and a piano help to back him up perfectly. It’s a pretty catchy track but the track didn’t find success – falling in the UK chart at #76.

More waves of synths, this time brooding and mysterious, sit perfectly alongside Black’s similarly stirring vocals in next song Sometimes For The Asking. This track has drama that makes it sound like it might have been used in a film. An expertly placed appearance from Mr 80’s Obligatory Saxophone fits smoothly like a familiar glove in the middle of the song. Musically it’s moody and mature, and it works wonderfully.

We’re treated to layers of synths in the intro of Finder next, and here we find Black on the mic against a simple beat and synth in the verse. By the time the chorus comes along, the vocals feel a little muted. Whilst this is at a loss of Black’s voice, it does at least let the backing vocalists to give us a nice contrast alongside him as the track builds. It’s a nice enough track.

That leads on to Paradise which opens with some delicate synth notes and pads that swell nicely. It’s almost space-like, and this works well as Black drops in a soft and longing set of drifting vocals on top. The vocals build nicely in the chorus, again effortlessly soaring as the song progresses. The track was released as the album’s sixth and final single, and became their third biggest hit when it reached #38 in the UK charts.

Up next, with a fanfare of brass is I’m Not Afraid. The tempo is up with a nice strong beat and this works well in the stripped back sound of the first verse as Black’s vocal is very snipped in delivery. This evolves though, with the chorus allowing us to hear him hitting some big and high notes whilst flanked by his backing vocalists. However, the track could easily have lost 1 minute, and it would have made it a bit better as it becomes repetitive towards the end. This was the album’s fifth single, released just two months after the titular re-release hit upon success. Sadly it failed to repeat it, and it flopped at #78.

I Just Grew Tired is next, opening with what sounds like Asian music influences, and echoes of Paul Young. To be honest, this song feels like an anthem of a generation – as whilst the song is about growing tired, it’s muted sound and gentle tempo makes it even feel tired. Black’s voice shines again in this somewhat downbeat song.

Following that is Blue, and this throws us back into an upbeat sound and the guitars bring us a sense of urgency. Black’s vocals here echo Bowie once again, and they sound wonderful against the building layers of the track. The track suddenly takes a kind of Spanish feel to it towards the end, before returning to a soaring dramatic ending that would make the 1990s band Space feel cheerful.

With a wallop of a snare, we’re straight into Just Making Memories, which races along with drums and guitars. Black sounds like he’s enjoying the tunefulness of this song, and his backing vocalists once again some really nice moments too. The track gallops along, and as a result it’s fairly catchy.

Closing the album is third single Sweetest Smile follows this, and this is a sad and slow reflective track, allowing us to hear Black’s tender vocals. He’s set against a downbeat track and it works well, but despite this mellow misery, it actually gave Black his first hit, when it reached #8 in the UK charts. It’s a great way to end an album though, so it fits well contextually.

Black’s lead single ‘Wonderful Life’ (1986), re-released in 1987.

Verdict

Over all, this album is a thick slice of 1980’s synth pop, echoing Bowie, Paul Young, A-ha throughout, and perhaps even a bit of miserable Morrissey.

From the moment that the opening titular iconic hit starts, you know that you’re going to feast on the synths here. They deliver, and there’s loads of them at play here. The delight is found in their richness often off-set by Black’s carefully crafted vocals that cut through them with ease. The highlights are of course Wonderful Life, but Everything Coming Up Roses, Sometimes For The Asking and Just Making Memories are a delight.

There’s nothing here that hasn’t stood the test of time well, with several good tracks in the middle. Finder is probably the weakest song here, but that may be down to the style, or that it feels quite empty and muted.

I’m not sure this is Wonderful, but it is definitely worth a listen if you’re an ’80’s synth-pop fan.