Getaway

Chris De Burgh has undoubtedly been the victim of some unnecessarily bad press since 1986, when "The Lady In Red" destroyed his credibility. What's often ignored, however, is that some of his early records are actually very good.

There's a whole host of great songs on this album - "The Getaway", "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", "Borderline" - laid back ballads that could be mistaken for De Burgh's namesake and one-time chart rival Chris Rea during his own early career if De Burgh's vocals were not totally different to Rea's, all talking about experiences with those close to you, but with none of the slush and pomp that made all his records between 1986 and 1991 unlistenable.

Even if you don't like rock balladry, at least check this album out for "Don't Pay The Ferryman" - a soaring rock ballad, with sniping vocals, rip-roaring guitar riffs, and washes of keyboard all in one - a pure joy to listen to indeed!

Who likes Chris De Burgh, ask the critics? I'll tell you who likes Chris De Burgh - the thousands of people who check out his back catalogue every year, after realising that there's more to this man's music than just THAT song.

Serendipity had brought this beautiful, romantic, provocative album into my tape collection. I really enjoy the fact that these songs, for the most part, very well hold their own listened to individually, while at the same time fit together as a whole album very nicely. The songs are very well written, especially the romantic ones, which I suppose is a specialty of Chris DeBurgh (i.e., "Lady In Red"). In that vein, "All The Love I Have Inside" and "I'm Counting On You" are really pretty songs. The song "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" and the mini-song suite consisting of "Revolution", "Light A Fire" and "Liberty" beautifully evoke the poignancy of peaceful people being forced through oppression to military solution for freedom's sake. These songs are the heart of the album and part of what makes it so good...Oh, and there's the hit "Don't Pay The Ferryman" which is probably all most people remember from this album...It is a very good song, but not, by far, the best on the album. "Ship To Shore" is a really good song too.

I suppose the one drawback for this album is the fact that a couple of songs just do not do it for me personally - they are just rather ordinary...not necessarily bad songs, just unexciting...These are "Living On The Island" and "Crying and Laughing".

But otherwise, this is a really good album, one which at the same time takes you places and provokes thought. Almost every song is beautifully written and sung...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

DeBurgh tells stories with his music, and being an avid reader, it was easy to find an appreciation for his music. A romantic sap, it was also easy to relate to his ballads, which he writes with authority.

I'll go back to this CD from time to time, and I find the songs that I still listen to the most are: Ship to Shore and All the Love I Have Inside -- passing strange that the song that served as the hook (Don't Pay the Ferryman) doesn't elicit the same feelings now that it did then. Not that I don't still enjoy the song -- far from it! -- but those other two have passed the test of time.