Chris de Burgh - Into the Light

Into the Light by Chris de Burgh

The music is excellent and I love the artist. I wore out my tape of this
album so I decided to replace it with a CD.
June 12, 2007

Dare I say de Burgh's best?

OK, I won't go that far, but I do think this album has been given short shrift by some fans who think de Burgh "sold out" or "lost his way" and have nothing but bad things to say about "Lady in Red." Give the man credit! He finally became the pop star he was looking to be, working his way here from his two previous albums, Man on the Line and The Getaway. And if Chris had any regrets about writing "Lady in Red" and being overplayed on radio and generally associated with sappiness, he must have gotten over it enough to bring out a Love Songs album and including the oh so offensive "Lady in Red" on it.
I admit it, I was also a sap for the song and I still think it's a good love ballad, but Into the Light is a strong album because of a bunch of other songs. Other singles from this album were "Say Goodbye to it All," "The Spirit of Man" and "Fire on the Water." They are all well written pop songs. By this stage in his career, Chris was equally comfortable writing faster, rockier songs and slower romantic songs. "Say Goodbye" is an interesting sequel to the song "Borderline" from the Getaway album. Chris actually sampled the closing lines of "Borderline" before heading into the faster and rockier "Say Goodbye." "Spirit of Man" has one of the catchiest hooks and riffs on any pop song anywhere, and it's more upbeat after the solemn theme of the previous song. "Fire on the Water" is a mid-tempo ballad, one of several that celebrate romance and family on this album. I also like "For Rosanna," written for his daughter, and "Fatal Hesitation."
The closing trilogy of songs, "The Leader/The Vision/What About Me?" recalls the closing epic on Crusader. This album by Chris is really worth owning. January 28, 2006

Great classic love songs

Chris DeBurgh hit real popularity in the US with his Into the Light album, and the Lady in Red love song. That visual image is so strong, of the woman in a red dress, and the adoring guy who realizes just how special she is. It's no wonder that many studies show that the ladies in red dresses are the ones that get the most attention in a crowd.

But this CD really has much more to offer than that one (admittedly quite wonderful) song! The other songs are equally engrossing in their own way. You've got a tender ode from a father to his daughter in "For Rosanna". You've got stories being told across multiple songs.

Some of the songs are a bit more poppy if you want to dance around a bit, but really for me the quality shines best in the romantic songs. He really gets to the heart of that emotion, and brings it out in the listener. Perfect for curling up with your loved one, and gazing into each others eyes. October 10, 2005

Love it!

This is the best 80's cd yet. Chris De Burgh is a musical genius. February 18, 2005

Into the.....U.S. market

I'll start this review by saying "Perfect Day" is a 5 star recording, and is easily my favorite by him.

Back to Into the Light. This was DeBurgh's big breakthrough into the American music scene. ... I believe that after the success of Don't Pay the Ferryman, DeBurgh and his record company believed that high energy songs were where Chris would make his bread and butter, at least here in the U.S.

As a result, the first single that was released was the energetic The Spirit of Man, which sounded influenced by St. Elmo's Fire theme, Man in Motion. If memory serves correctly -- and this is 14 years ago, so forgive me if I don't get it exactly -- The Spirit of Man was in its infancy in terms of release when The Lady in Red was released in England to stunning success. I doubt anyone thought it would do as well as it did, moving from 40 - 10 - 2 - 1, knocking off Madonna's Papa Don't Preach (that is correct, by the way). Given this remarkable success, The Lady in Red was released here, but did not enjoy the same success it did across the ocean. I believe it was around one year later that some adult contemporary stations began playing the song again, and it was then re-released in the U.S., where it peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at #3. I was, by this time, a rabid fan of DeBurgh's music, and was sad that it didn't reach #1. Regardless, it was DeBurgh's biggest hit here and a classic that still gets airplay.

There is another one of DeBurgh's "stories" on the album (The Leader, The Vision, What About Me), which attempts to be reminiscent of Crusader, but falls far short. One Word (Straight to the Heart) is one of my least favorite DeBurgh songs ever (as the lyrics contain "straight to the heart -- like a cannonball..." eck).

And then there is "For Rosanna", the song DeBurgh wrote his daughter. I've mentioned before that DeBurgh is strong when he writes of love, and this song is evidence that it's not only romantic love he is in touch with, for even though I wasn't a father then, and am not now, when I listen to that song I *feel* like a father. I see what he sees when he looks into her eyes, I feel everything he writes about. It's DeBurgh's strength as an artist that he can do this so effectively. February 11, 2001

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