Steve Winwood - Refugees of the Heart

Winwood's Masterpiece

1990's "Refugees Of The Heart" was the album that made me a Steve Winwood fan. I'd heard some of Steve's hit songs from "Arc Of A Diver," "Back In The High Life" & "Roll With It," and I liked them, but "Refugees Of The Heart" completely blew me away. That this wonderful album was NOT a hit and is now out-of-print is a very sad thing, for this is Steve's best solo album by far. I enjoy all of Steve's albums, of course, but "Refugees" has a very special maturity & musical richness to it, and Steve generously adds a taste of good ol' progressive rock to some of the album's pop proceedings, which, for any fan who knows the man's work with Traffic, is greatly appreciated. Most of the songs are at least five minutes in length, allowing Winwood to really stretch out. Not a bad song among the bunch, with highlights such as the spiritual "You'll Keep On Searching," the rockin' "One And Only Man," the lovely "I Will Be Here," the bluesy "Another Deal Goes Down," the fun of "Come Out And Dance," and, what is quite possibly Steve's greatest solo composition EVER, the hypnotic 9 1/2 minute "In The Light Of Day," a dreamy, breathtaking masterwork. Steve's soulful voice, songwriting & playing are magnificent, and the album *sounds* terrific, being digitally recorded, mixed & and mastered.It's so very disappointing that the music-buying public missed the boat on "Refugees Of The Heart." As another reviewer pointed out, perhaps they had gotten a bit tired of Winwood by this time, after he had back-to-back hit albums and was such a big presence on the radio in the late 80's. But make no mistake, "Refugees Of The Heart" is undoubtedly Steve Winwood's greatest solo album to date. It is an astonishing disc from beginning to end, and should not be ignored. Pick it up! June 24, 2003

Winwood at his best

Steve Winwood had a period of 3 years from 1986 to 1988 where he was on top of the world. He had three very commercially successful albums in "Back in the High Life", "Chronicles", and "Roll With It". As with most artists who cross-over into pop, its often very difficult to have 3 to 4 successful albums commercially. Thus when Refugees of the Heart (ROTH) came out, it hit the wall in terms of commercial sales.

When you listen to this album, there are three noticable differences with this album:

1. This is not the up-tempo Stevie Winwood we heard during the three year period I mentioned. It's a more mellow collection of songs. If you've heard "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" from "Roll With It" (and the beer commercials), that's the trend of the sound this album takes.
2. [...] there is an infusion of progressive rock and jazz on this album. Almost more of "Back to the Future" Traffic days.
3. Steve Winwood shows us a lot of his spirtual side. While I don't think this is a "Christian Rock" album, Winwood emphasises a lot of spirtuality that he had previously not seen. I'm surprised that more was not made to this. When Creed put out their albums, they made a big deal about it.

The result is a masterpiece. When ROTH came out, I thought for sure it was a Sure Winner for the Grammy. I was shocked to see it didn't even garner any attention. The disappointing commercial sales didn't surprise me. This was not a POP album and I didn't not expect it to be on the Top 40 stations all that much.

As for the Songs - I feel they are all incredible. A quick synopsis:
1.You'll Keep on Searching: Immediately on this opening track, I heard the differences above. The music reminds you of "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" even though this is not a sequel.
2.Every Day (Oh Lord): This is the second song on the album and the first where we hear Winwood express references to his faith in the song. It is one of the faster tempo songs on the album and is very catchy.
3.One and Only Man: This was the only song from ROTH to make the Top 40. In this song, Steve explores a relationship - a lot of trademark Winwood vocals in here.
4.I Will Be Here: A very powerful ballad. This song grips at you emotionally as you play the track.
5.Another Deal Goes Down: This song is loaded with symbolism. Listen to it and check out the words. Spirtuality is a big theme in this song as he discusses the temptation of the Devil.
6.Running On: This song is another classic. More of a higher tempo than most ROTH songs. He makes the reference to Memphis, which is his new home.
7.Come Out and Dance: This might not be the most catchy song on the album, but there are some great lyrics to the song. I particularly like the lines "Now baby, don't read the papers, 'cause they always make you sad And honey, don't watch the TV 'cause the news is always bad" and "If we got everyone dancing, wouldn't be no time for war". Clearly Winwood tells us his feelings on this topic.
8.In the Light of Day: This is the signature song of the album. Nearly 9 minutes of great lyrics and great instrumentation. It is the deepest song of the album. Winwood has the strongest references to his spirtuality on the album. The song builds to a crescendo both lyrically and musically. It is my favorite Winwood song of all time.

This is an album I highly recommend if you are a Winwood fan looking to hear a new direction - or someone who hasn't heard Steve Winwood and is looking for something different. February 11, 2003

An Underappreciated Gem

On "Roll With It," Steve Winwood added touches of his '60s R&B influences to the catchy '80s pop-rock of "Back in the High Life." With "Refugees of the Heart," he added one more ingredient: the progressive-rock and jazz experimentation of his days with Traffic. "You'll Keep on Searching" suggests latter-day Pink Floyd, then builds to a soulful climax (which is reprised on the beautiful "I Will Be Here"). "One and Only Man" proves again that Winwood has the most hard-edged keyboard technique in rock. He could be mistaken for Stevie Ray on the searing slide-guitar blues "Another Deal Goes Down." And he makes his recording debut on vibes (!) for the lyrically and musically transcendent closer, "In the Light of Day." Top 40 radio (and its listeners) had probably grown bored with Winwood after two recent multi-platinum smashes, but "Refugees of the Heart" deserves just as broad of an audience as its classic predecessors. What a shame that it's collecting dust in bargain bins! July 22, 2002

Excellent first half, but runs out of steam

Following on the heels of the very successful 'Back in the high life' and 'Roll with it' albums, 'Refugees of the heart' did not prove to be a major hit album and marked something of a commercial downturn for Steve Winwood. This is unfortunate as the record contains some excellent material, particularly in its first half, but the preponderance of slow songs, and the relatively uniform arrangements, inevitably reduced its 'pop' appeal in comparison with Steve's two previous albums. Though one of his more overlooked records, this is nevertheless quality rock music, thoughtful and reflecting Winwood's maturity, and well worth hearing.

On 'Refugees' the production sound developed by Steve in association with expert mixer Tom Lord-Alge has reached maturity, with all instruments sounding beautifully clear and used to maximum effect. The sound is dominated by the powerful drums and Winwood's silky smooth Hammond organ and soulful vocals, whilst sax and moog contribute effective solos on the first two tracks. It seems that on this recording Steve aimed at creating sound textures and moods, rather than purely commercial songs, and consequently the album requires more careful listening than its two predecessors before its qualities are fully appreciated.

The album gets off to an excellent start with the powerful 'You'll keep on searching', followed by 'Every day' and the urgent, driving 'One and only man' but then, despite the quality of the production, the record seems to falter a little and by the sixth track ('Running on') it has ironically rather run out of steam. The situation is not helped by the seemingly interminable, primarily instrumental, closing track 'In the light of day'. Although this harks back to the lengthy jazz-rock pieces of Steve's Traffic days, it does not have enough melodic development within its 10 minutes to really hold the listener's attention, and after it one is rather relieved to have reached the end of the album. Still, 5 out of 8 isn't bad, and the first 5 songs on this album are certainly worth the price of the CD. November 14, 2001

Refugees of the Heart

In the Light of Day is Winwood at his best. It is solid rock-jazz infusion. Unfortunately seldom heard on air due to its running length. September 20, 2001

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