Blue Pacific (album)

Blue Pacific is a smooth vocal jazz album by American singer-songwriter and musician Michael Franks, released in 1990 with Reprise.[1]

Blue Pacific
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 31, 1990 (1990-05-31)
Genre
Length52:24
LabelReprise
Producer
Michael Franks chronology
Indispensable
(1988)
Blue Pacific
(1990)
Dragonfly Summer
(1993)

Background

The album marked three notable returns for Franks. The first was a return to the Reprise label since he'd released The Art of Tea in 1976. Tommy LiPuma also returned as producer of three tracks after a ten-year absence, the last album they worked on being One Bad Habit in 1980. Three other tracks on the album were produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan and the remaining four by Jeff Lorber.

Commentators noted the stylistic return to the more laid back, Brazilian jazz inspired music of his earlier works, as opposed to the more electronic pop sound Franks had experimented with throughout the 1980s.[2][3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Writing for AllMusic, Stephen J. Matteo praised Franks' "return to form and his best album since 1979's Tiger in the Rain ", commenting that "[t]he album marked a total rebirth for Franks." He described the album as "[m]editative, lush and clearly the work of an artist intent on making personal music regardless of trends or airplay, Blue Pacific is as open and beautiful as the ocean for which it is named."[2]

Writing in the Orlando Sentinel in the year of the album's release, Susan M. Barbieri commented that "[w]hereas Franks' last effort, The Camera Never Lies, didn't quite click as an album, Blue Pacific does." She described the work as an "easy vocal [stroll] that [lulls] the listener into joining him in a state of calm" and praised the lyrics as "clever pop poetics for which this former English teacher is known."[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Franks

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Art of Love"4:10
2."Woman in the Waves"5:58
3."All I Need"4:46
4."Long Slow Distance"5:09
5."Vincent's Ear"6:21
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Speak to Me"5:01
2."On the Inside"5:12
3."Chez Nous"4:29
4."Blue Pacific"4:58
5."Crayon Sun (Safe at Home)"6:20

Personnel

References

  1. "Discography in Order of Release". MichaelFranks.com. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  2. Matteo, Stephen J.. Blue Pacific  Michael Franks at AllMusic. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  3. "Michael Franks – Orlando Sentinel". The Orlando Sentinel. September 14, 1990. Retrieved March 15, 2012.

Bibliography

  • Blue Pacific (Vinyl back cover). Michael Franks. United States: Reprise. 1990. 1-26183.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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