Published on Sep 23, 2001
I know I’m helping to perpetuate a myth here, but let’s get one
thing absolutely clear at the start:
Visions Of Love is not – repeat,
not – a true album from Jim Brickman. Yes, his hand guides
all the music behind this disc, but as a performer, he’s present on
a whopping two tracks. So, if you’re picking this disc up because
you want to hear Brickman’s work, you’re going to be
disappointed.
All of this said,
Visions Of Love is a hauntingly beautiful collection of love
songs from a collective of artists, with very few mis-steps along
the way. If you’re an emotional person, you will find this disc
difficult to listen to at times, because the romantic power of the
disc is that incredibly strong.
Possibly the two best-known tracks on the disc, “The Gift”
(featuring Brickman on piano, and Collin Raye and Susan Ashton on
vocals) and Anne Cochran’s “After All These Years,” are still
astounding, even if you’ve heard them so many times on the
adult-contemporary stations. But, what may surprise people is that
these are not the best songs on the disc – though “After All These
Years” certainly ranks up there with them.
The song that captured my heart, believe it or not, was a
break-up song – namely, Janis Ian’s “Getting Over You”. The emotion
all of us have faced at some point in our lives when we’ve lost
love is captured in a powerful four-minute slab of music that is
sure to have tears running down your face. Why this song didn’t
return Ian to the collective attention of the music industry and
the music-buying public, I honestly don’t know. (A close second for
“best song” is a tie between Cochran’s number and “Still In Love”
from Larry Stewart.)
Brickman’s only other performing appearance on
Visions Of Love comes in the form of the only instrumental
on the disc, “Partners In Crime,” performed with Dave Koz. This
track marks the first time that Brickman’s music sounds like it
could have been classified under the “smooth jazz” category – and
I’m not so certain I like that concept.
There is only one track on
Visions Of Love which does not particularly work for me –
namely, Amanda Upchurch’s cover of James Taylor’s “Shower The
People”. It’s a nice try, but it doesn’t capture the true essence
of the song. It’s almost as if Upchurch tried to put a modern spin
on the track, when all it’s needed all along is the folk touch that
Taylor provided. Still, not a bad average.
There are numerous other artists on
Visions Of Love I’ve not mentioned, and I don’t mean to
slight them, but this really is the kind of disc that the listener
needs to pick up and hear for themselves. Certain tracks will stand
out for each person, and that list will differ among us all. But
the general feel is that this disc, as a whole, is a wonderful
collection of love songs, many of which will probably make it onto
the playlists of wedding parties. Don’t think of
Visions Of Love as the latest Jim Brickman disc; think of it
as a journey into adult-contemporary music.