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Photograph

 
Album Review: Photograph

  • Artist: Melanie
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1976
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Quietly and with little fanfare, in 1976 Melanie made her strongest record in years. Photograph was written over a number of years; Melanie had been shoring up her strongest compositions and withholding them from her previous Neighborhood collections. Her new home at Atlantic brought in fresh players (many of the session musicians soon to be Toto), and the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who had made "Candles in the Rain" such a treat, were back on hand. But Photograph was very much Melanie's own victory -- her material was a revelation, and more sophisticated than anything she'd ever accomplished before. "Save Me" remains one of her finest pieces -- a fiery, feverish song with a mesmeric David Campbell string arrangement. It puts her on a par with more respected peers like Laura Nyro. "Cyclone" was another of her strongest musical ideas for a while, and a highly commercial one, too; in fact, there's barely a wasted moment on Photograph, and it had more than enough potential to reassert Melanie as an artistic force with which to be reckoned. But despite the endorsement of The New York Times, which placed it highly in a year's end best-album list, Photograph faded before anyone caught a glimpse of it. ~ Charles Donovan, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Cyclone Melanie Melanie
If I Needed You Melanie Melanie
Letter Melanie
Groundhog Day Melanie
Nickel Song Melanie, Melanie Safka Melanie
Photograph Melanie
I'm So Blue Melanie
Secret of the Darkness (I Believe) Melanie
Save Me Melanie Melanie
Rain Dance Melanie
Friends & Co. Melanie

Credits

Art Pepper (Saxophone), Dennis Bell (Vocals), Sal DeTroia (Guitar), Jeff Porcaro (Drums), David Paich (Keyboards), Melanie (Guitar), Victor Feldman (Percussion), Richard Greene (Violin), Jay Wolfe (Vocals), Milt Holland (Percussion), Melanie (Vocals), Angelo Mauceri (Vocals), James Drennen (Keyboards), Louie Shelton (Guitar), Jay Wolfe (Bass), Jim Gordon (Drums), David Jackson (Bass), John Guerin (Drums), Carol Carmichael Parks (Vocals), Dean Parks (Guitar), Dave Doran (Guitar), David Campbell (Viola), Dave Doran (Vocals), Angelo Mauceri (Percussion), Jerry Scheff (Bass)
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Wikipedia: Photograph (album)
Top
Photograph
Studio album by Melanie
Released 1976
Genre Pop
Label Atlantic Records
Producer Peter Schekeryk
Professional reviews
Melanie chronology
Sunset and Other Beginnings
(1975)
Photograph
(1976)
Phonogenic – Not Just Another Pretty Face
(1978)

Photograph is an album released by Melanie in 1976; her only release on Atlantic Records. The album contains the single 'Cyclone'.

Ahmet Ertegün, who had personally signed Melanie to his label, was credited with Creative Direction on the album and was very involved with the making; present at all vocal sessions and mixes.

The album was heralded by the New York Times as one of the best albums of 1976; although the album went largely unnoticed by the public. The album was only released in the U.S, Australia and New Zealand.

Largely considered by fans to be her best work; the album was re-issed by Rhino Records in 2005 as an individually numbered limited edition of 3,500 copies. The album contained the remastered album, plus a second disc of tracks recorded during the same sessions.

Track listing

  1. Cyclone
  2. If I Needed You
  3. The Letter (Wayne Carson Thompson)
  4. Groundhog Day
  5. Nickel Song / Music! Music! Music! (Stephan Weiss, Bernie Baum)
  6. Photograph
  7. I'm So Blue
  8. Secret Of The Darkness (I Believe)
  9. Save Me
  10. Raindance
  11. Friends And Company

Re-Issue

The 2005 re-issue Photograph (Double Exposure) contained a bonus disc of material recorded during the Atlantic sessions:

  1. Groundhog Day (Alternate Version)
  2. Cyclone (Alternate Version)
  3. Secret of the Darkness (I Believe), Pt. 1
  4. Secret of the Darkness (I Believe), Pt. 2
  5. Unfinished Business (Selma Version)
  6. Whamp Bhomp Song
  7. Ruby Tuesday (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
  8. Love to Live Again
  9. Here We Go Again
  10. Jukebox Magazine
  11. Miranda (Phil Ochs)
  12. Unfinished Business (West Version)
  13. Remember Me Good
  14. Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg)
  • All songs written by Melanie Safka except where noted

Charts

Album Charts Peak
position
Australian Charts 84

External Links:

  • Original Atlantic Press Release[1]

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Photograph (album)" Read more