Lifetime

by Real Life

Overview

In the wake of "Send Me an Angel '89"'s success, David Sterry decided to continue Real Life without co-founder Richard Zatorski -- and it took him a while to get his footing. While the late-'90s incarnation of Real Life added some goth to its mettle and made for some frightening new wave hybrid music, Lifetime seems too willing to coast on the formula Sterry had perfected. "God Tonight" is the requisite single with the requisite Real Life synth hook anchoring a perfect piece of dance-pop. But it feels less like Sterry's heart is in it and more the result of Real Life suddenly becoming a phenomenon again on the basis of the "Angel" re-release. "Kiss the Ground," "Push of Love," and "Let's Start a Fire" are all perfectly solid synth pop songs -- but, alas, the era of synth pop was over by 1990 and Sterry had yet to discover the type of music that would ultimately make Real Life great again. While it was great to have a new Real Life album (and it was still better than much of the pop music out at the time), it feels too much like a commercial product rather than a labor of passion like Heartland or Flame. "Send Me an Angel" ended up being David Sterry's albatross -- his best-known work, but one from which he could never escape. It would be nearly a decade before Sterry recovered his footing and made Real Life truly relevant -- and truly scary -- again. ~ Tomas Mureika

Product Details

Release Date:	06/12/1990
Label:	Curb
UPC:	0715187727120

Tracks

1. God Tonight
2. Kiss the Ground
3. 5-4-3-2-1
4. Rescue Me
5. Sister Sister
6. Push of Love
7. Torture to Me
8. Let's Start a Fire
9. Do It Again
10. Lifetime

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Real Life   Primary Artist
Tracie Ackerman   Vocals (Background)
Allan Johnson   Bass
Danny Simcic   Drums
Suzie Ahearn   Vocals (Background)
David Sterry   Guitar,Vocals
Steve Williams   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Steve Hillage   Producer
Allan Johnson   Composer
Robin Sellars   Engineer
Real Life   Producer
Dennis Lambert   Composer
Nigel Wright   Producer
Danny Simcic   Composer
Paul Kosky   Engineer
Bruce Johnson   Engineer
Doug Brady   Engineer
Steve Williams   Composer
Melita Jagic   Engineer
David Sterry   Composer
James Widdowson   Photography
Tom Baker   Mastering