Steve Winwood - Chronicles

Gets the job done, but leaves much to be desired

Steve Winwood's solo career rocketed into the stratosphere following 1986's Grammy darling, "Back in the High Life." That album came four years after "Talking Back To The Night", a collection of ingenious musical conceptions that unfortunately came up a bit short in execution, given their potential. This was preceded by "Arc of a Diver" and the self-titled "Steve Winwood", the former going to #3 on the charts, but the latter a much under-appreciated gem of a solo debut.

So we can clearly see that perhaps Steve and his record producers noticed that there were many new listeners who came in for "Back in the High Life" who were not familiar with his first three albums, and they decided to pick tracks from these, give some them a modern remix, and blend them with selections from "High Life" into a hopefully irresistible package.

Sounds like a great idea in execution, and commercially it clearly was a wise move, but 21 years later, this album leaves us wanting more.

For starters, the few remixes here, with the exception of "Valerie", are inferior to the originals. Winwood's ambitious early techno arrangements of "Talking Back to the Night" and "Help Me Angel" are substituted for generic 80s rock beats. If you don't believe me, listen to the original version of "Night" from 1982 and then the remix here and tell me which is more musicially effective. It would have been nice if they attempted to do edgier or more creative remixes of these that improved upon the original rather than an attempt at wider appeal.

The exception to the unnecessary remixes is "Valerie", with its improved reverb and delightly soaring percussion. It vastly improves upon the quaint original, a strong track on its own but having a bit too much of an "unfinished demo" feel. The new mix soared to #7 on the Top 40, and is arguably Winwood's most enduring and recognizable song from the 80s, introduced to a new generation with Eric Prydz's 2004 "Call on Me" remix.

In addition to the remix issue, there's also the problem, as other reviewers have pointed out, that this is far from a Greatest Hits album. In all fairness, this may not have been what they were going for, perhaps picking out what they felt had potential for a successful second chance. However, there are so many things left out, perhaps due to the length limitations of a CD at the time, and this leaves us listeners begging for a true greatest hits album or solo anthology, which hopefully is not too far off in the future.

"Chronicles" certainly brought in a lot of listeners to Winwood's slightly older output, and kept his solo career in the spotlight. But in retrospect, the execution comes off a bit bland and overly safe in most places, especially since we heard all this before, and it's not a complete "greatest hits" package. That, coupled with the fact the remixes were almost entirely better in their original versions, the only reason to pick up this album is the venerable "Valerie" do-over, or if you want to see where a new generation of Winwood fans fell in love with him all over again.
May 15, 2008

Disappointing

This Steve Winwood compilation is quite disappointing, to say the least. When I say a compilation is disappointing, that means it's pretty bad, because I'm quite lenient and always try to find the good in compilations, but there is very little good to say about this one. SO many key songs are missing and it just seems inexcusable. There are too many songs missing to even list. Sure, there are a few of his good songs here, but many are second-rate, filler songs. The best song on here is "Higher Love", a few others aren't bad, but not that great and then some are just not his best at all. I really wish they would come up with a MUCH better single-disc Steve Winwood compilation and show the true talent of this man. September 19, 2007

Steve Windwood always delivers, that`s for sure

Steve Windwood has his own style. There is a flair of "urbanism" on most of the tracks on this Cd. Some track`s doesn`t grip you at first, but there is something there, if you take your`e time an do some, let`s call it "active listning" where you open your`e senses and "let it go" . When you go through this CD, is like an interesting journey from the best of his solo stuff. The best track is the last one Track 10. Talking back to the night. Anyway let`s take it from the begining. Track 1 Wake me up on judgment day, is an ok opener, and sound`s like it`s from the 80 ths (and it is), with synthezeisers,guitariffs, and funky bassplayi, which creates a solid and interesting soundpicture. Track 2 While you see a chance is a nice one too, with a great syntezeisers play all trough the song. Track 3 Vacant Chair is a scene change, moody with a releaxable atmosphere all trough.. Track 4 Help me Angel, is a more up beat song with a optimistic theme, with a refrain who delivers. Windwood`s vocal have never sounded better. Track 5 My Love`s Leavin is a little letdown in a way in the beginning. The Windwood`s voice is good, but it realy doesn`t take off before the refrain. And from there it`s Windwood magic all through the song. Track 6 Valerie is a an upbeat and uptempo song with a great rythm which realy set the standards how a good popsong should deliver. Track 7 Arc of a Diver is an okei song. It has a walk along rythm all trough which makes you remember it. Track 8 Higher Love with it`s carrebiean touch, have the x-factor when it come`s to good craftmanship from Windwood`s craftmanship. Track 9 Spanish Dancer is a let down. To slow sometimes a bore listning. But then it come`s Track 10 Talking back to the Night, which realy delivers in every musical and vocal department`s. Closed your eyes when you listen to it, and you see colors, urban life, nightlife, and it will certainly bring you back to the 80 ths. Steve Windwood always delivers. That`s fore sure ! January 24, 2006

Just a tease

This release only covers Winwood's work on Island. It is missing most of the key tracks from his solo career. An all encompassing retrospective is needed. In fact, I've saved Steve the time and picked the songs

Talking Back to the Night
While You See a Chance
Don't You Know What the Night can do
Valerie
Finer Things
Freedom Overspill
Roll With it
Why Don't we Live Together
Higher Love
Back in the High Life
One and Only Man
Lord of the Streets
Holding On
Vacant Chair

You can see by the songs listed here and missing from Chronicles, that this cd is merely a sampler and not a true "Chroncile" If you are looking for a "greatest hits" you could probably buy Roll With It, Back in the Highlife, and Arc of a Diver.

This cd is ok, but nowhere near what it needs to be. June 10, 2005

A decent sampler but scratches the surface.

This is a wonderfully diverse sample of Winwoods 20 years of music making (at the time of this release) and all of the tracks are great. "Higher Love" was a well-deserved hit and "My Loves Leavin" is pure ecstacy. Yet there are far more lesser known songs on here that are also enjoyable like "Vacant Chair" and "Wake Me Up ON Judgement Day". The tracks from his 1982 "Talking Back" album are redone with a 1987 production and are great but I would've liked to hear them in their original versions. oVERALL this is a very good CD but there are a lot more great songs that are completely overlooked on this collection. It is however a great purchase to start off with or to introduce a newcomer to Steve's music! March 4, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...