★★★★★
Is the man whose most profound couplet (I'm not being sarcastic) goes "And now whether our hair's short or long/The issue is not really whether it's right or wrong but as long as it's clean" fit to deploy a 128-track console and the combined musico-philosophical wisdom of Neil Diamond, the Moody Blues, the Vanilla Fudge, Barry White, and Barry Sadler on something called "War Suite"? I give you one guess.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
In the mid-'70s, Vannelli automatically got to the forefront of R&B; due to his soulful vocals and the melodic musical arrangements. The only problem with work of Vannelli is that it often veered from the ridiculous to the sublime with absolutely no middle ground. On the bright side, whenever his lyrics hit the right note they were matched by his near-operatic vocals. 1975's Storm at Sunup, his third A&M; effort, offers a lot of instances on the yin and yang...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Between 1981 and 1985, the music industry was rocked by the emergence of MTV, which rewrote the rules of success while bringing the new wave crashing into the American mainstream. All veterans had to find a way to come to terms with the new music and the new presentation, whether it was embracing it or scorning it. Gino Vannelli embraced it, accepting it as the way things were now done...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Includes a Symphony with accompaniement by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vanelli's combo.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Gino Vannelli is one of the few artists to effortlessly navigate between pop and R&B.; With the songs "Walking," "The Surest Things Can Change," and his 1978 classic "I Just Wanna Stop," Vannelli's work is always filled with both skill and passion. After six successful years at A&M; he signed with Arista in 1981. Nightwalker is his label debut. During the three years between albums, not only did pop music come into vogue again, but he grew as a writer and singer. This album reflects the change...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Romantic progressive pop with layered piano and synthesizer atop outrageously pretentious lyrics about love and war. Those who can get past lines like "A post-war eunuch/A lover that is lame," there are some relaxed, smoky melodies here, especially the closer, "Summers of My Life." "Fly Into This Night" was a minor FM hit that lands a hefty keyboard punch courtesy of his brother, Joe Vanelli. Instrumentally, this is perhaps Vanelli's best effort...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
On Slow Love, his second album for Verve/Forecast, Gino Vannelli retains some of the jazz influences that marked Yonder Tree, his debut for the label. Nevertheless, the entire record is geared toward the adult contemporary audience -- the one that carried him through the '70s and '80s. With that in mind, it's hard to believe that the album was released on Verve, since not only does it not sound like jazz, it barely fits into the fusion category...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
By this point, Vannelli has pared away the often-bizarre edges of his sound and became more mainstream. That's not a bad thing. This album's predecessor, A Pauper in Paradise, seemed to blow up his pretensions to skyscraper size with only the melodic and gorgeous "The Surest Things Can Change" coming out unscathed. The good news is that Brother to Brother seems to pick up from that point...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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