BELINDA CARLISLE Vinilo y CD

Review: Belinda Carlisle undertook a huge world tour back in 2022 and 2023 and in the wake of that she has now dropped the second volume in a series of media book sets of her recordings. This instalment of Decades takes in all of the tracks off her four albums Real from 1993, A Woman And A Man from 1996, Voila from 2007 and Wilder Shores from 2017. As such there are plenty of her well known hits here from 'Big Scary Animal' to 'Lay Down Your Arms' to 'Always Breaking My Heart' as well as some covers of some well and lesser known French songs.

Review: From The Go-Gos through to her blockbuster solo career, Belinda Carlisle had a busy time of it in the 1980s. In the wake of her huge success with 1987's Heaven On Earth she returned two years later with Runaway Horses, and continued to charm the world with her stadium-sized brand of uplifting drive time pop. The biggest hit from the record is surely 'We Dream The Same Dream', but the likes of 'Leave A Light On' and 'La Luna' are also classics in the Carlisle canon. Now the album has been half-speed remastered, and comes in a tidy reissue format with a booklet and an obi-strip - a collector's edition if ever we saw one.

Review: Released in October 1987, Belinda's second solo album after leaving The Go-Gos proved to be her breakthrough internationally, with the single 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth' reaching number 1 all around the world. It was followed by 'Circle In The Sand', 'I Get Weak' and 'World Without You', all UK Top 40 hits, the last two being written by Diane Warren, writer of Belinda's 2023 'Kismet' EP. This new edition has been expertly mastered by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering from the original stereo tapes using precision half-speed mastering. It's now presented in its original sleeve, pressed on 180 gram heavyweight black vinyl, and features an obi strip and housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve, with all the lyrics and credits on the four page insert.

Review: Produced by Mati Gavriel, Kismet is the first new English language recording from the legendary Belinda Carlisle since 1997. It is a great reunion with songwriter Diane Warren that draws on all her 35 years of experience as a recording artist. The pair first worked together back in 1987 on Belinda's second LP 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', the title track from which of course shot to the top of the charts all over the world and established Belinda Carlisle as the global star she is. The five tracks here are all perfect pop tunes with Carlisle's singular voice defining each one.