Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby

Better than I thought it would be. Dude has a great voice, lyrics were pretty repetitive and boring. Very late 80's feel to it.

Pretty dated sounding R&B, inspired by Michael Jackson. Its generally fine, just not really my thing.

Boring 80's pop. Imagine Prince without the funk and sex, or Michael Jackson without the Quincy Jones.

What’s special about this?

My mate bought this when it came out. I was more into thrash metal at the time, but it was still a pretty good album. Listening to it now, it's still a pretty good album

Dude's vocals are pretty good Fave track: As Yet Untitled

I liked it. A lot of dated songs but overall not a bad album. Reminds me a lot of a younger Michael Jackson.

Love this album. Part of my soundtrack of '87, along with Bigger and Deffer by LL Cool J. Took me back. Heard it before? ✅ Listen again? ✅ Rating out of ten? 9️⃣ Dance Little Sister is a banger and there's some great tracks on here. If You Let Me Stay, Sign Your Name, Wishing Well, I'll Never Turn My Back On You all great songs. Love it.

Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby by the artist formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby. That’s a story for another review that I’ll probably never write because, honestly, I don’t care about his name change. Sorry. I got sidetracked because Apple Music decided to introduce me to this album as Sananda Maitreya. I digress. This album swings hard, relying heavily on nostalgia as its secret weapon. I wasn’t particularly thrilled when it showed up in my feed, but it landed a few solid punches right in the gut because I’m a sucker for anything that reminds me of the decade I grew up in. Other reviews might beat this album up for its very obvious 1980s aesthetic, but I don’t care. Is it the best thing I’ve ever heard? Absolutely not. Does it deserve quite as much hate as it gets? Probably not. Terence Trent D’Arby clearly had some serious talent, and it shows in both his vocals and his musicality. I’m less convinced about his abilities as a lyricist after being subjected to “Rain,” but that’s a discussion for another time. I enjoyed this. Will I ever listen to the entire album again? Probably not. What I will do is appreciate the singles that came out of it and the fact that, for a little while, this album managed to drag me back into the 1980s and make me feel something. I’m not sure how to end this review, so I’m just going to stop writing.

I had no issues with this one. Better than expected.

I liked this. I hadn’t heard of the artist or the album before, and I didn’t know what to expect, but this was a nice surprise

Great album with a ton of variance in songwriting. D'arby is an interesting singer in that he has a bit of fragility and strain in his natural voice. It makes the emotive passages more engaging and keeps you guessing how he will style his vocal runs. It's a little mawkish at times, but that's the style.

They'll really just throw any old thing in here, huh?

Not terrible, but really not my thing either. I still remember ''Wishing Well'' and "Sign Your Name" from when they came out. I used to hate this kind of music - tacky stuff full of drum machines and synthetic sounds, songs that were so constantly playing on the radio that they became annoying out of sheer repetition... Now I can better appreciate the soul-funk vibes, the discrete blues-rock influences and Terence's sexy voice. But overall, it still sounds far too 80s (and too sirupy) for my taste. I have no interest in revisiting that particular moment in music history. I can tolerate it for the sake of this list, but that's about it. 4/10

My sister was a huge fan, so I was subjected to a lot of TTA during my teenage years. I really like his voice, but I honestly struggle to get into the rest. I recently listened to Vibrator, which is a much better album… but apparently less important. According to this list, anyway.

Приятная музыка. Да, продакшн несколько устарел, но не могу сказать, что он здесь слишком явный и раздражающий, он ровно такой, какой приятно слушать даже через 40 лет. Самое главное, что с точки зрения сонграйтинга песни сделаны профессионально. Для меня такая музыка звучит несколько однообразно, и атмосфера не совсем моя, поэтому только 3 балла, но всё же это сделано неплохо, особенно акапельная песня "As Yet Untitled". Лучшая песня: As Yet Untitled

Nogle sange var velkendte, men det er lidt for meget 80'er-fløde til mig.

Fun! D'Arby/Maitreya was someone on my list of people I wanted to listen to and I enjoyed it. Wishing Well is a banger and I remember hearing it a lot as a kid. As Yet Untitled was really lovely. I also really liked his cover of Who's Loving You.

Love it.

The album cover is of someone who takes themselves very seriously. The music sadly is from someone who does not. The 80s gravitational pull on this is phenomenal. It can’t escape it.

Really enjoyed it, so much passion

Fun and catchy. 3.5

me incomodou um pouco ter tanta coisa parecida com qualquer álbum da década de 80 ainda assim, o synth com vibe de joguinho da nintendo em wishing well é de uma nostalgia tremenda enfim, tb esperava mais desse

bem oitentista. mas eh bacaninha, hein soulzinho com bastante alma (RÁ), bem produzido e dançante demais. eh bem de boa esse!

He's channeling Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. An entertaining listen but not a standout.

This is the epitome of ’80s music, whether you love it or hate it. I personally feel like he had more potential than what was shown on this album. In fact, “As Yet Untitled” is the best track in my opinion, as it really showcases his raw talent. Aside from that, I knew “Wishing Well” and “Sign Your Name” from the extensive radio play they received, but they were never my cup of tea, even back then. Those songs, along with the R&B, touches of funk, and upbeat gospel vibes throughout the album, just weren’t really my thing. I would have preferred more of a funk influence, like what he brought to “Dance Little Sister.”

Just kinda awful.

Why?

Idk

When I was in 6th form in 1988 our common room had a CD player. We only had 2 compact discs, this album and INXS Kick. Suffice to say I grew sick of those 2 albums but now nearly 40 years later I am able to listen to it again and my my it’s great!

I enjoyed the funky uptempo songs but there was a lot of was a lot of easy listening throughout they turned me off.

The comparisons to Prince are wild. Enjoyed one song - the Smokey Robinson cover. The rest was a slog to get through.

I thought this was a Prince knockoff at first, but then I realized this guy is alright…for a Prince knockoff.

My first thought was glad I did not buy this album back in the day. Outside of the songs played constantly on the radio, the remainder of album was not great. Would not choose to listen to this again.

It was alright

Familiar w couple tracks, but not rest. His vocals are stronger when he sticks to lower range but most of album he is all over the place. Pretty 80’s-over produced

Great songs, horrible production.

this had the potential to be incredible but every song slightly overstayed its welcome. artists really need to learn how to fine-tune.

Good album 4/5

OMW I PROMISEE -Okayyyy?? The VOCALS? 1st song: saurrrr good 2nd song: If u let me sTAAAAAAAY mkayyy I listened to more than half the album and I'd say is a solid 3

Bruno sounds like him a lot. The two hits are definitely good. The rest was wallpaper. 3/5

There's a few decent tracks on here - Let's Go Forward was one of my favourites - but I'm not sure it's strong enough as a complete package. A bit torn on the vocals, sometimes I thought he sounded great, at others I really didn't vibe with it. Not sure this is one I'll revisit.

Pleasant, though dated. Maybe my patience for a very 80s sound is wearing thin at 1070-some albums. He’s a great singer, and very talented, but the 80s cheesiness is hard to overcome. Favorite: As Yet Untitled

Incredible. Such a beautifully 80s sound. Almost Prince-esque at moments.

This is the first album I've received thus far that I haven't actually heard. I'm not huge on his voice, I'm not big on the gravel that comes with his high sustains, but I can't deny the technicality. I enjoy the dated 'plinkyness' to the sounds generally, the 808s and fun synths have a pleasant vibe to them. But once that wears off, I just can't help but feel there's a lot more interesting R&B and Soul from this era that adventures more.

The intro sounded like a mix between funk-rock and folk's political lyrics. I think it tries too hard to do a lot at once with genres, particularly with that 80s sound. That definitely makes the album an obstacle to get through despite being shorter than the previous one I had. The only song that caught my attention was the last one, which was a simple cover of "Who's Loving You" (2.5).

Sounds like a Prince copy but not as well done. The singles are not as good as I remember. The last song which is more in the style of early R&B is the best on the album.

Artiste inconnu. Quelques bon grooves, plutôt une belle voix, mais aucun morceau ne m’a vraiment marqué. Je n’y reviendrais pas. =>2/5

This one confused me. One the one hand, you can see the talent and sincerity in the songwriting. And I learned a bit more about the guy and his story, which is compelling. But the production of the era feels artificial to me, so it never really made a personal connection in the end.

This is nice. Clearly a talented vocalist. There are a couple of REALLY fantastic songs mixed into the so so remainder of the album. Dont get me wrong, I love a couple of these songs and I am sure I still have this cassette somewhere. That tells the whole story here. I bought this on a now dead format and never felt the need to buy this again. I couple of these songs popping up on a streaming platform is enough. No one needs to hear this before they die. Still nice though. 3 stars.

Best Track - "If You Let Me Stay"

Aside from Wishing Well (which still fucks, let's be clear), there was nothing must-hear on this one.

Thought it was going to be a bit tedious but was good fun. Like a shit MJ.

The singles are ridiculously great. If you let me stay, wishing well, sign your name etc. Wishing well itself is quite the stand out. cant imagine ill ever just bang on terence like. Or whatever he wants to be known as these days.

I mean he's got a decent voice. And 'Sign Your Name' is an undoubted classic. But he feels like pure marketing. In-authentic & a clear attwmpt to be Britain's Michael Jackson Gwnerous 2.5 caus of Sign Your Name

Meh

The man who now goes by Sananda Maitreya put together a pretty impressive debut album here. Pop, rock, R&B, soul, new wave, funk, it's all mixed together and it works really well. A song sounded like Lionel Richie, a song sounded like it could have been on Bad, there are a lot of recognizable musical touchpoints on this album. The secret ingredient that keeps everything from being generic is Maitreya's powerful, expressive vocals. You can fuckin' FEEL what he's saying and know he means it. Really, a truly delightful album.

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

This was all over the place. Some of the songs worked better than others, but they all suffered from the 80s production. Still, I liked this more than I thought I would.

Sooo good. Great soul record from the late 80’s.

Ugh. I didn’t like this when it came out, and it sounds far worse now. Don’t understand how this is on the list, as it actually makes me *want* to die.

Way better than I was expecting. It loses a lot of energy towards the end but still

Four bangers but otherwise incredibly weak Prince parody

Maybe not having lived through the eighties I was more open to this album than a lot of commenters. Overhated

Его имя и название альбома звучит лучше. чем его музыка

This wasn't half as terrible as I expected it to be. But even at half-terrible, it was still pretty fucking bad.

His voice is nice. I guess the production isn't as terrible as this era was capable of. And yet, I still hated this.

This was okay. Mostly in a style I don't really dig. The soulful last song was pretty good. I should probably listen to the album more than once, but didn't; thus Terence may have suffered because I'm behind in my listening and trying to catch up.

2/5 - This guy's videos always got in the way of the videos I actually wanted to watch on MTV in 87/88. I would have given him a 1 then just because he seems like a pompous ass whistling about a wishing well, but he does have a good voice, so I'll give him that.

Legalzinho

Vocally and instrumentally this was a lot of fun. A few high points early. I would certainly purchase. I thought the second to last track was a more appropriate ending point.

Pretty good album. I hear Wishing Well a little too often at work, but I still like it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It is my sincere wish that I never have to hear this album again.

I can understand some of the impulse of the Prince comparisons (multitalented black singer-songwriter-producers, some of the songs do sound in Prince’s wheelhouse) but it does feel designed to do TTD a slight, both because it’s hard to compare to Prince at the best of times and also I don’t think it’s what the music is trying to do. It feels much more built in the contemporary and from the history of soul, from TTD having pushed his voice into a Sam Cooke-esque tone to all the blue eyed soul energy across some of the songs, while adding additional flair and flavour (and still a bit of showing off because I don’t think you could do As Yet Untitled without some showing off). And all of that works pretty well for me, it has something specific and if was kinda clicking with me, I quite like it all. Shame on me for buying into the comparison machine and putting TTD down I guess.

Bien.

Standouts Seven Days

Not to Rain on your parade, but Let’s Go Forward and listen to this album.

Didn't know what to expect going into this but this was a super fun and energetic album. Neat blend of 70s funk and 90s RnB.

Michael Jackson clone

Love his voice and some of the songs are rich and full. The rest of the album is bordering on dreadful. He may have been a little too big for his britches.

I've had so many false starts with this one. I listened to the first half of the first song 4 or 5 times and turned it off. It was in this place where it wasn't bad enough to have the morbid curiosity to continue, but not to my taste enough to want to hear it at all. Today was finally the did. I listened to all 47 minutes and 8 seconds of this album. It was ok at best, but there are some really rough songs. I would truly never listen to almost all of these songs again. Wishing Well was ok. 2 but heavily leaning 1

i've never liked this extremely "easy listening hits of the 80's and 90's" production style, but there's enough genuine talent and heart here that it manages to still be pretty listenable. respectable 3.5

This came with a lot of familiar tunes that I remember from when it was first released. Overall pretty decent as the fella can really sing. I've no idea what happened to him though, a one hit wonder? I hope not he deserves more.

Basically this album had a big hit single. The rest of the album has some good songs but none that stand out like Wishing Well

Very much a snapshot in time. Probably very posh for when it came out but hard to listen to 30 years later without thinking it sounds like a deeply discounted version of Michael Jackson

In a world without MJ, we might have had Trent. Certainly not as good, but still a great voice. his compositions aren't as powerful though. Goes to show how many great singers are out there and dont make it huge

A couple of absolute bangers along with some decent if slightly generic 1980s pop soul.

415/1089 okayyyy some 80s contemporary r&b, loving this vibe and his voice in the first song ahh so after the moody, interesting first song it takes a turn to 80s dated bop territory Wishing Well was annoyingly repetitive and dated sounding. Seven More Days was solid Rain is ridiculous like huh???? okay so Who’s Loving You, Sign Your Name, Seven More Days and If You All Get To Heaven were hits but the rest were massive duds unfortunately 47/100

I've seen this LP in the charity shops hundreds of times and never taken the plunge. It was perfectly fine but...I will still probably leave it behind next time it appears in Oxfam

A solid 2 / 2.5 for me. Pleasant listen and a couple of great tracks

Nice enough album and a pleasant background listen but the comparison to Prince in the blurb is a bit generous. Nothing really stood out.

Whoops, you’ve thrown in a really bad one here RGP, the LP was new to me but I had teenage recollections of how excruciatingly bland and uninteresting the singles were and the album tracks somehow manage to out perform them on both metrics. A barely merited one star. Tom.

Average 80s album that did not sound as dated as other 80s albums.

Very very 80s coded beats all the way through this album. The singer has a great voice and they use that as the main point with most of the songs with him really flexing those high notes. I had a good, fun time listening through the songs but its not music I listen to often day to day and this album didn't change that.

This may be the biggest surprise of the project so far. Going in, I knew Terence Trent D'Arby mostly from “Wishing Well” and “Sign Your Name.” I always liked “Wishing Well” more, but in 1987 I was much more interested in Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Whitesnake. I never gave the rest of this album a chance. I had no idea what I was missing. From the opening track, “If You All Get to Heaven,” I was hooked. Sananda Maitreya's voice sounds almost effortless, and the album moves through soul, R&B, funk, pop, and rock without ever feeling all over the place. “Dance Little Sister” is incredibly funky, “Let's Go Forward” is beautiful, and the rhythms on “Rain” reminded me of Paul Simon's Graceland. Then came “As Yet Untitled,” an a cappella track that is absolutely haunting. By that point, I realized I couldn't even pick a favorite discovery. There were basically two categories: the two songs I already knew and everything else. Most importantly, there isn't a weak or skippable track here. Every song brings something different, yet his voice ties the whole album together. The album never lost momentum because I genuinely wanted to hear what he was going to do next. This project is at its best when it introduces me to something completely unexpected. In this case, it reintroduced me to an artist I thought I knew and made me realize I barely knew him at all. Now I'm looking forward to exploring Sananda Maitreya's extensive catalog and hearing where his music went from here. An easy five stars and an easy buy. This one is going into the collection.

We need more artists doing a cappella songs. It's really rare that they're not the best songs on the albums they show up on. The only examples I can think of are all from that Björk album that's entirely made up of human voices. Then again I think the best song on that album is the one where her and someone else grunt at each other for three minutes, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but at least look up Inuit vocal games before you do that. Much needed context. That being said, the rest of the album reminds me a hell of a lot of Michael Jackson. It definitely gets better as it goes but the whole album is great. The singer is clearly super passionate about everything in this album and that passion radiates out to the listener, at least it did for me. I love albums where it's easy to feel the music in the way the singer is. There's also saxophones, because saxophone bonus points were necessary.

overly 80s omg. pre good tho

Quite nice

80s sanitized Morris Day, Prince, and MJ rolled into one with none of the authenticity or captivation.

Could've died without listening to this one too