Thunder in My Heart＜Color Vinyl＞

"Thunder in My Heart" and "Easy to Love" barely nicked the Top 40, and of his eight chart hits from 1975 to 1981, these two were the weakest, but this disco album by the quirky singer, once again produced by Richard Perry, is listenable and has more than its share of good players. Olivia Newton-John songwriter Tom Snow co-wrote the title track with Sayer, while Albert Hammond helped out on the second song and follow-up hit. Half of the ten songs are Snow co-writes, with Hammond, Michael Omartian, Bruce Roberts, and others all contributing. The second Hammond/Sayer title, "I Want You Back," is a pleasant album track, but with Omartian on piano, Jeff Porcaro on drums, and Larry Carlton on guitar, Perry could just put the session on automatic pilot. The album needs a jolt somewhere and it doesn't kick in; Sayer tries finding some middle ground while trying to make the transition to Engelbert Humperdinck, but actually comes off like a low-key guy version of Donna Summer. (That might sound more abysmal on paper than the album is.) It is quite polite, perhaps just a little too trendy to have the staying power necessary for this British TV host to make a real musical impact with it. Bowie he's not, nor is he as sincere here as the aforementioned Hammond. Ray Parker adds guitar to "It's Over" and James Newton Howard puts the synthesizers where they belong. The music on side two, from "Fool for Your Love" to "We Can Start It All Over Again," is more of the same highly listenable but disposable pop music. Thunder in My Heart is an album you want to like more than it lets you. ~ Joe Viglione