Bonnie Tyler Album: “Faster Than the Speed of Night”

I don't usually listen to or buy commercial pop, but I like Bonnie Tyler's delivery of Total Eclipse of the Heart so much that I bought this to see what else she could do.

Well, you know, though there is nothing deep here, she's not bad. She's got a great husky, powerful voice and given the right material and promotion, she could have gone very far. And the right material is what she lacks.

There are a couple of decent songs here beside the aforementioned monster hit. Tyler does a good job covering CCR's Have You Ever Seen Rain and the title cut. But I am in the amen corner of many of the other reviewers who deplore the inclusion of the disco meat-market songs Getting So Excited and Its a Jungle Out There, the lyrics of which are cringingly jejune. In addition, the kid's chorus in Goin' Through The Motions nearly had me retching.

Despite those, I give the CD four stars because Tyler somehow manages to overcome most of the lame material she was given and presents the listener with an enjoyable overall musical experience.

Bonnie Tyler's passionate vocals are the main reason to buy this album but certainly not the only reason. Just about everyone knows the epic, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," but there's so much more. Beginning with the shimmering, symphonic, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," the album takes off running. "Faster than the Speed of Night" will take your breath away and you'll have the feeling that if you don't keep up you'll be left behind. Pure madness!! In addition, Tyler's renditions of "Take Me Back" and "Straight from the Heart" are heart breaking. In fact, the reason I bought this album was because I heard "Take Me Back" coming from a food vendor's radio in Oslo, Norway. I went and bought the album immediately without even hearing "Total Eclipse." Upon first listen, songs like "Getting So Excited" and "Going Through the Motions" might sound like filler but upon repeated listens, the layers of the arrangements reveal themselves totally absorbing the listener into the songs. Guess you can't tell I like this album.

Definately, one of the best albums of the 80s. Featuring the #1 single "Total Eclipse of The Heart". Also contains 8 other equally good tracks. Meatloaf coloaborator Jim Steinman produced the album and wrote two songs for it including "Eclipse". Bonnie Tyler's rough voice (often compared to Tina Turner, Kim Carnes, and Stevie Nicks) is beautifully showcased in the 9 tracks on this album. Look for the title track as being a catchy song with a great hook for a course, also a highlight of the albun is Tyler's rendition of the Bryan Adams hit "Straight From The Heart", She brings it out with perfection. I suggest this album for any fan of 80s music. Or any fan of a good love song, this album is for you. Definately worth the listen.

I basically bought this album for one song, Total Eclipse of the Heart. It is one of the greatest and most memorable songs of the early 1980s, and it has that certain something about it that makes it as moving now as it was way back in 1983. The lyrics about reassessing your life as you age are now, sadly, much more meaningful to me, and only make the song even more amazing. The rest of the songs on this album are somewhat hit and miss. Bonnie Tyler's unique voice is best suited to plaintive ballads of emotional pain and heartache, and for this reason the tracks Tears and Take Me Back are really quite good. The uptempo tracks which seem to have no meaning whatsoever come off pretty badly, though, in my opinion. Let's face it; Bonnie Tyler does not have a melodious voice; she sounds like she has a perpetual frog in her throat, and this unique sound really is not suited for frivolous pop songs. Getting So Excited is anything but exciting and serves in my mind as a musical purgatory one most endure before reaching the higher plane of Total Eclipse of the Heart. Goin' Through the Motions is not only the name of a lackluster song, it is an apt description of Tyler's performance on tracks such as Faster Than the Speed of Night and It's a Jungle Out There. Her cover versions of Have You Ever Seen the Rain? And Straight From the Heart are not bad, but they don't really hold a candle to the original songs. Thus, I would name only three of these nine songs as quality tracks that really have something to give to today's listeners. For most people, I think the decision to buy will come down to a question as to how much you want to own a copy of the incredible song Total Eclipse of the Heart.

The title track is cool, despite the fact that is is an overwrought, melodramtic epic in the Jim Steinman vein. You should get this only because it has the full length version of Total Eclipse of the Heart, one of the best pop singles ever.What remains is a bland, slightly dated but not unenjoyable mix of pop/rock drama whose one and only saving grace is the incredible voice of Bonnie Tyler.