Leo Sayer Albums (14)
'Don't Wait Until Tomorrow'
Release Date 6/17/2008
Tracks 12
Label Universal Int'l
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Voices in My Head/Live in Melbourne'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 27
Label Silverbird
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Voice in My Head'
Release Date 1/1/2005
Tracks 15
Label Edel Records
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Leo Sayer Live'
Release Date 9/26/2000
Tracks 10
Label BMG Special Products
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Have You Ever Been in Love'
Release Date 1/1/1984
Tracks 14
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Living in a Fantasy'
Release Date 1/1/1980
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Living in a Fantasy is the last album to yield hits for Leo Sayer in America, closing out the terrific '70s run as the '80s began. A-ha/Bow Wow Wow/Squeeze producer Alan Tarney chooses to keep the production slick and sparse, the large mix of musicians who helped craft albums like Thunder In My Heart, Endless Flight, Here, World Radio, and others vanishes as the singer goes back to the pared-down format of his Just a Boy period. The big difference is that Sayer had gone beyond the singer/songwriter personality of those early recordings to having marquee value, as well as his own TV show. Songs here like "You Win, I Lose are bouncy pop, this one like five others composed by the singer and his producer. Tarney does three other songs on his own, with the Curtis/Allison number "More Than I Can Say" the only material from another source. That song would climb to number one on the U.S. adult contemporary charts, almost doing the same on the Top 40, stopping one shy of becoming his third number one record. The production of the hit is elegant and polished, sounding a bit like "Raining in My Heart" from the Leo Sayer disc, which should have been as big as this. The Hipgnosis sleeve design and multiple collages are all very hip, and give this techno-looking record a clarity missing from much of the previous packaging. "Millionaire" could be Gino Vanelli gone total pop, slick and stripped-down dance rock that could have hit the clubs easier than the forced feel of the Thunder in My Heart album. Tarney is careful to keep the stylish density of Richard Perry's work involved here. "Once in a While" benefits from the mixture of middle-of-the-road melody meeting trendy sounds. The title track, "Living in a Fantasy," also has those qualities and was the last hit, just breaking the Top 25 in 1981. "She's Not Coming Back," and "Only Foolin' are slick entries that work while Alan Tarney's "Let Me Know" is very strong, not only as a song but as a production and performance. Definitely a satisfying project by the character who brought some unique and clever music to radio. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Reunited with David Courtney, the producer of his first American hit "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" from 1975's Just A Boy LP, Leo Sayer's first album after three with Richard Perry yielded no significant hits in America but is a refined and entertaining chapter in the minstrel's history. There are two co-writes with Courtney, one with Ray Parker, Jr. who racked up 13 hits of his own between 1978 and 1990, a version of Al Kooper's "Lost Control" with Kooper on organ and synths, and one of the most telling tracks, a nice remake of the Chi Lites' 1972 number one hit "Oh Girl." This is notable because most of Sayer's material is usually original work written by him or his colleagues, relatively unknown titles, with the exception of the Supremes' "Reflections" on Endless Flight from 1976, and his minor hit with the 1959 composition by Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant, "Raining in My Heart," off of 1978's Leo Sayer. Sayer had gotten into a good groove as an interpreter and may have benefited by resurrecting other more popular titles. The focus seems to have been on his songwriting or picking new material, and while his collaboration on "Work" with Johnny Vastano and Tom Snow has a Rod Stewart kind of feel, especially with Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper sitting in, it is still the Chi Lites cover which emerges as the gem on this interesting departure from Richard Perry's counsel. The eerie reggae of "Ghosts" is interesting, but like "Who Will the Next Fool Be" and "The World Has Changed," these songs were not going to shake up the Top 40. "Takin' the Easy Way Out" is like a nice Elton John-style album track, and it may have influenced Elton's '80s work, that artist having made it clear he absorbs all the pop music around him before going into his creative mode. With the Phil Spector sheen that influenced Billy Joel and Eddie Money, "Takin' the Easy Way Out" is a perfect closer and might have become a Leo Sayer staple had FM radio stayed progressive. Alas, a very musical departure like this is artistically fulfilling, David Courtney letting the Just a Boy concept grow up with more polished sounds and legends like Al Kooper adding a touch of class to the proceedings, but invariably it was not the avenue for this hit artist to take at this critical juncture. Enough of a Top 40 legacy was not generated at this point in time to suggest this act moving to the album market. Here remains a quality product that has been largely forgotten over the years. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Richard Perry's 1978 production of the self-titled Leo Sayer album is one of the artist's most serious and heartfelt, though it only generated a minor hit in the cover of the Boudleau Bryant/Felice Bryant tune "Raining in My Heart." With Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham on electric guitar, Waddy Wachtel on slide guitar, and Ben Benay on acoustic, the performance and production of that particular song offers much on an album that is equally impressive. James Brown/Russell Smith's "Dancing the Night Away," with David Lindley's important and unobtrusive fiddle and steel guitar, and "Stormy Weather," the Tom Snow/Leo Sayer collaboration which opens the album, all work in unison, providing evidence that Sayer had superstardom just within his grasp. It's also interesting to note the recurring themes, from the previous album's "Thunder in My Heart" hit single to this album's "Raining in My Heart," or the aforementioned "Dancing the Night Away" as a loose sequel to his first number one hit, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing." Perry's production is perfect, and it's interesting to note that the engineer here, Bill Schnee, wasn't able to give Kiki Dee the same finesse for her Stay With Me album which he produced this same year, with some of the same musicians, like Jeff Porcaro, Steve Lukather, Tom Snow, James Newton Howard (Sayer's musical director), David Paich, Davey Johnstone...that's a lot of overlap on two distinctly different albums. Lindsey Buckingham plays acoustic guitar and provides backing vocals with Sayer on the cover of Jackson Browne's "Something Fine" and stays on board for the next number, a Tom Snow co-write with Johnny Vastano that is "Running to My Freedom." This musical composite should have been dynamite on the charts, the soulful vocals adding to the style of music the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Fleetwood Mac were all so successful with at this point in time. Perhaps the straying from the style he was so comfortable with on the previous outing hurt Sayer at radio. Ray Parker, Jr. co-writes "Frankie Lee" with Sayer, and it's some strange folk/funk combo which, like the Thunder in My Heart album, is a diversion which throws the listener. Two Tom Snow/Leo Sayer compositions end this unique snapshot, the harder-rocking "Don't Look Away" and the closing ballad "No Looking Back." The artist would look back as David Courtney came back to produce 1979's Here, and in 1980, Sayer would achieve chart success again with the Alan Tarney-produced Living in a Fantasy, but this Richard Perry/Leo Sayer combination was a very worthwhile venture, and this album is one of the artist's most respectable in a large body of good work. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
