Gino Vannelli Storm At Sunup CD

Though Gino Vannelli's third record didn't contain a big hit single like its predecessor, STORM AT SUNUP was a significant step forward artistically. Combining the Stevie Wonder-esque synth textures of POWERFUL PEOPLE with a complex jazz-rock fusion sound and vocal gymnastics occasionally reminiscent of Tim Buckley, the album finds Vannelli at his most musically ambitious. "Mama Coco" sounds like Weather Report jamming with Jamiroquai singer Jason Kay, while "Love is a Night" makes ELP-style keyboard rock sound like pure love-makin' music.
By this point, Vannelli has pared away the often-bizarre edges of his sound and became more mainstream. That's not a bad thing. This album's predecessor, A Pauper in Paradise, seemed to blow up his pretensions to skyscraper size with only the melodic and gorgeous "The Surest Things Can Change" coming out unscathed. The good news is that Brother to Brother seems to pick up from that point. The big hit here, the sexy and confident "I Just Want to Stop," gets a great vocal from Vannelli and the backing vocalists. Throughout, this one gets the sense that Vannelli finally got what made him special vocally and lyrically. "Love and Emotion" and "Feel Like Flying" have a maturity that he couldn't have pulled off two albums before. That is also true of the pensive "Wheels of Life," a song that's so melodically rich and thought-provoking, it's surprising that Peabo Bryson didn't cover it on one of his albums. Gino Vannelli's often more personal than more artists, and the final track proves it. The sleek and well-arranged "People I Belong To" has Vannelli examining the lives of his parents and brothers in a way that can't help but be affecting. After a few years of successful albums for A&M, Brother to Brother coalesced the sound and is recommended to fans of pop and R&B. ~ Jason Elias
In the mid-'70s, Vannelli automatically got to the forefront of R&B due to his soulful vocals and the melodic musical arrangements. The only problem with work of Vannelli is that it often veered from the ridiculous to the sublime with absolutely no middle ground. On the bright side, whenever his lyrics hit the right note they were matched by his near-operatic vocals. 1975's Storm at Sunup, his third A&M effort, offers a lot of instances on the yin and yang. The atmospheric "Love Me Now" perfectly captures Vannelli as one of the more wishy-washy and self-absorbed singers as he croons "take me as I am/the storm in your life." The album's best song, "Keep on Walking" beautifully captures a sense of bleak romanticism as Vannelli turns in a mesmerizing vocal. The ARP heavy sound that typified his early work shows up on "Love Is a Night," and it has some tricky chord changes as he recounts his conquests. The clumsy lyrics of "Mama Coco" and "Gettin' High" are so bad they are nearly embarrassments. While those songs are odd, the best of Storm at Sunup certainly captures Vannelli's classic mid-'70s sound. ~ Jason Elias
Romantic progressive pop with layered piano and synthesizer atop outrageously pretentious lyrics about love and war. Those who can get past lines like "A post-war eunuch/A lover that is lame," there are some relaxed, smoky melodies here, especially the closer, "Summers of My Life." "Fly Into This Night" was a minor FM hit that lands a hefty keyboard punch courtesy of his brother, Joe Vanelli. Instrumentally, this is perhaps Vanelli's best effort. The lyrics are actually pretty funny, though that might not have been his intention. ~ Peter Kurtz
Includes a Symphony with accompaniement by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Vanelli's combo. ~ Bil Carpenter