release date: May 1997
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Greg Penny, Paul Young
label: East West Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Ball and Chain" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "I Wish You Love" - 4. "Vanish"
7th studio album by Paul Young shows a rather different side to his musical interest. This is a quiet and overall more acoustic-sounding album. It's held in a pop / rock territory of folk rather than his usual pop soul. There's hardly any horns but mostly strings and acoustic guitars, and some slide guitars almost making it country folk at times. I think, the album was generally met by positive reviews without putting Young anywhere near the top of popular music like his earliest albums. There's no hit singles nor strong soulful ballads, and it's mostly melancholic mature songs about lost love. It's nice and fine and perhaps an album that will grow in strength over time. The album topped at position #39 on the UK albums chart list.
On the release list, it seems like Paul Young retired from the spotlight after this, but he continued to play live music, either with the band, Los Pacaminos, or just touring and giving concerts from his back catalogue. His following solo album, Rock Swings – On the Wild Side of Swing [a covers album] was not to be released until 2006 after which he didn't release any new studio albums for another ten years.
