Donny Osmond Albums (11)
'What I Meant to Say'
Release Date 12/28/2004
Tracks 12
Label Universal International
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What The Critics Say
After a couple of records and a popular talk show met its end, Donny Osmond was definitely on the comeback trail. Or as much of a comeback trail as '70s teen idols can travel. 2001's This Is the Moment was a collection of show tunes which won over fans and critics alike. It was followed shortly thereafter by 2002's Somewhere in Time; a collection of contemporary soft rock standards. Fast-forward two years to find Osmond still in fine form on What I Meant to Say; his first full-length album with original new material in over a decade. Granted there are still cover tunes here (Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" and the Burt Bacharach standard "This Guy's in Love with You" get the Osmond work over), but what is truly surprising is the quality of original compositions penned and produced by Osmond and friends. What I Meant to Say takes Osmond down roads filled with soft rock ballads and slow jams obviously inspired by quiet storm, R&B, and smooth jazz, and more often than not the results complement Osmond's voice quite well. The mere exception to the rule would be the Backstreet Boys' clone "Shoulda' Known Better," which unfortunately finds Osmond desperately attempting to write a pop tune four years past its "sell by" date; it's insulting to the smooth delivery and mature presentation of the rest of the album. Fans of Donny, of course, will purchase this and revel in its glory and rightfully so. It's another victory in a career filled with them. And with that timeless boyish charm and star-charting smile, it proves once again that you can knock an Osmond down, but never, ever count them out. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Now in the third phase of his recording career, following an early-'70s stint as a teen idol and a late-'80s period as a dance-pop star, Donny Osmond returned to recording in 2001 with This Is the Moment, on which he performed contemporary show tunes in contemporary pop arrangements. It was the kind of album concept a pre-rock pop singer might have undertaken (and which many did in the '50s and '60s), and the follow-up is another one of those concepts: an album of covers of pop songs done in contemporary arrangements and in Osmond's familiar vocal style. The difference, of course, is that while Frank Sinatra, say, in the '50s might do an album of old Tin Pan Alley standards from the '30s, they were songs not so closely associated with a particular singer or a particular recording, and thus were easier to claim for his own. Osmond, on the other hand, must contend with the original hit recordings of 10cc's "I'm Not in Love," Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over," and the Turtles' "Happy Together," to name only three. And when it comes to "Without You" and "Puppy Love," there are two hit recordings to consider (in the latter case, of course, one of them his own). He doesn't really improve on any of the originals, but he does do a respectable job, and in so doing he does these songs a favor by demonstrating that they can have legitimate lives as songs beyond the familiar recordings of them; they really are standards. He has chosen material that works well with his elastic tenor, and he has thought about the lyrics, lending greater coherency to them than they had originally. [The album closes with an up-tempo hidden track, "Crazy Horses," that harks back to Osmond's dance-pop days.] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Donny Osmond has a tendency to take decades off from his recording career. He let most of the 1980s go by, presumably to clear the air after his teen idol days of the 1970s, before re-launching himself as a dance-pop singer with his self-titled Capitol album in 1989, then took off most of the '90s after the relative disappointment of its follow-up, Eyes Don't Lie. In the meantime, he gained a measure of legitimacy as a musical theater performer with a long-running portrayal of the title character in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. By the end of the decade, with the cancellation of the syndicated talk show he shared with his sister Marie, Osmond was again available to take another chance in the record stores. And so, here is This Is the Moment, the concept of which is to take show tunes of various vintages and given them contemporary pop arrangements. Of course, that's what pop artists used to do all the time with show music, until it fell out of favor at the end of the 1960s. Osmond and veteran producer Phil Ramone may not be trying to resurrect that tradition so much as they are trying to craft a new, more respectable image for Osmond as an adult contemporary performer. Hence, in one of the more radical restatements of a song, arranger/conductor Rob Mounsey provides a setting for the 50-year-old "Luck Be a Lady" from Guys & Dolls that sounds like nothing so much as a track from a 1970s Steely Dan album, complete with funky rhythms and a punchy horn chart. That sort of thing can backfire, of course (it makes you think about what Osmond was singing when "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" was a hit), but for the most part, Osmond and Ramone select show songs from recent years that already have a pop element to them, such as "Seasons of Love" from Rent and "This Is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde, so they are halfway to their goal already. Osmond clearly has learned a lot about singing from his stage work, but he still employs a pop singer's sense of feel over a stage singer's desire to convey meaning. Oddly, the staginess of his approach derives more from his pop background than his theater work; he never for a second sounds like he's really feeling anything. This artificiality is accentuated by the timbre of his light, flexible tenor. Decca Broadway seems to have chosen "Seasons of Love" as the album's emphasis track and is probably holding the duet with Vanessa Williams on Sweeney Todd's "Not While I'm Around" in reserve, but those aren't really the likeliest candidates to break this album. Osmond just doesn't nail the former, and the latter was a bad casting idea -- Osmond and Williams' voices are too similar. Rather, the real chances for hits are Whistle Down the Wind's "No Matter What" (which scored for Boyzone in the U.K., though they flopped with it in the U.S.) and Saturday Night Fever's "Immortality." These are highly melodic, lightly rhythmic ballads perfectly suited to Osmond's voice and approach. This Is the Moment is both the best Donny Osmond album ever made and conclusive evidence that the former teen idol, who was 43 when it was released, is never going to be more than a pleasant, modestly talented singer. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Donny Osmond's first new album in seven years is this seasonal effort, a format that suits the singer's sincere vocals like a glove; highlights of Christmas at Home include "Angels We Have Heard on High," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." ~ Marvin Jolly, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This 1990 Donny Osmond album Eyes Don't Lie might not be one of his best or what fans remember from his childhood career, but it is worth a listen. His voice doesn't fail. After fading away through most of the '80s, Osmond reappeared in 1989. He soon began touring and recording again. Eyes Don't Lie did land him a Top 40 hit with the song "My Love Is a Fire." It was a tiny foretelling of what was still to come for the childhood music star who had grown up. Two years later he won the starring role in the Broadway show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. A soundtrack he did for the musical went quadruple-platinum, proving that Donny Osmond hadn't been forgotten nor had he lost his talents, and that some things didn't change with the passing of time. ~ Charlotte Dillon, All Music Guide
'Donny & Marie: New Season'
Release Date 1/1/1976
Tracks 10
Label Polydor
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