Leo Sayer's debut album introduced a
singer/songwriter (actually he wrote just the lyrics;
David Courtney did the music) of some talent, though not remarkable talent. The production screams 1973, with its mainstream
pop and
hard rock beds and some overlays of symphonic strings, and
Sayer sometimes strongly echoes
Elton John's early-'70s work, with some hints of
David Bowie as well. He didn't have the monster hooks of
Elton John and certainly not the quirky originality and edgy
experimentalism of
Bowie, but actually this is a better album than many would remember. For one thing,
Sayer was a good, versatile singer with an impressive range and an ability to summon the lung power and also go wispy and tender (as he does at various points within a single track, as on
"Goodnight Old Friend"). Certainly the album is most remembered for
"The Show Must Go On," which gave
Sayer his first British hit, though
Three Dog Night had the smash with it when they covered it for the American market;
Sayer's version is less ham-handed and more idiosyncratic, particularly in the extended instrumental circus intro. He usually played the part of the sympathetic, slightly confessional
singer/songwriter, with a more straightforward keyboard-dominated
rock base than many soft
rock confessional
singer/songwriters had, sometimes tilting toward one side more than the other.
"The Dancer," for instance, is a wistful piano
ballad with impressive near-soprano singing, while the far less impressive
"Oh Wot a Life" is an awkward attempt at throat-stretching party
rock. [The 2002 CD reissue on
Cherry Red adds
"Living in America," the A-side of the sole single by his pre-solo career group,
Patches, and
"Quicksand," an early solo
Sayer non-LP B-side; both of these are harder-charging mainstream
rock than his usual stuff. There's also a 17-minute
spoken word cut in which
Sayer and co-writer
Courtney talk about
Sayer's early recordings, playing some excerpts from early solo piano demos.] ~ Richie Unterberger
