Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby

THIS IS THE BIGGEST, MOST IMPORTANT ALBUM SINCE SGT. PEPPER! I HAVE TALENT THAT HASN'T BEEN UNEARTHED SINCE MOZART! These were among the things Terence Trent D'Arby was openly proclaiming to the press upon this album's release. Then he backed off a little saying only, "I made the most brilliant debut album from any artist this decade.” After he faced a backlash for making such bold statements, he claimed he was joking. I don't think he was joking. He may not have made Sgt. Pepper, and he may not have been Mozart, but dude was immensely talented. And he wasn't really wrong about that last statement suggesting this was the best debut album of the decade. He reminds me of someone else who released an equally brilliant debut album around the same time: Nenah Cherry. Both D'Arby and Cherry should have been colossal stars. They both should have soared to the heights that say George Michael and Whitney Houston reached. But they both sort of fizzled out after their debuts (my theory is a lot of that stems from the fact that neither of them were really all that interested after their debuts). It's too bad, but at least we have the albums, which remain timeless and belong in the upper tier of this list. Somehow, Lenny Kravitz ended up having the career and fame that should have been Terence Trent D'Arby's. I'll take "Wishing Well" over "Fly Away" anytime. In fact, I'll take anything from this album over any Kravitz record. Lenny is no Terence. Lenny doesn't have anything that compares to "Dance Little Sister" or even "Seven More Days". D'Arby was just ahead of his time. I doubt his bold proclamations would have caused such an uproar had this album come out 20 years later (see: Kanye, among others). I "only" gave Nena Cherry's entry 4.5 stars, and immediately kicked myself for not giving it the 5 it deserved. I'm not making that same mistake again. Apparently, Terrence Trent D'Arby legally changed his name to Sananda Maitreya back in 2001, claiming TTD was dead. He's wrong. Terence still rules. And Wishing Well will outlive us all.

This album is real good. I think it's "Soul music" according to wiki (but I'm not in familiar territory here). Terence's voice is incredible and always turned up to 11; he's just constantly putting in energy and effort. The songs are varied and moving but sometimes have fun melodies like in "Wishing Well" and "Dance Little Sister". My favourite one is probably "Seven More Days", coz he really pushes his voice in that one. I like every song to be honest. Sometimes the repetition is a bit frustrating (like in "Let's Go Forward") but I think that's a trait that's pulled from gospel music so I'll accept that as a stylistic choice on his part. Besides, he has a beautiful five and a half minute acapella track ("As Yet Untitled") with zero repetition so I suppose he's really covered that basis of variety. And he ends the album on a really cathartic 6/8 song that makes me wanna slow dance ("Who's Loving You"), which I really dig. There's nothing that musically interesting about it, but it's an awesome ending and Terence's voice sort of explodes into each line.

It is rare for me to hate hi-nrg pop sound, and fortunately, this is not a member of that club. What is rare is for me to enjoy 80s soul music. This guy does not rival Prince or Michael Jackson, despite what his ego claims. Yet these dance tracks are funky and employ great use of synths and instruments, creating a distinctive 80s sound all throughout while at the same time holding an identity of its own. I did think the choice of the intro song was a weak choice, but almost all the songs were solid (I'm looking at you, "As Yet Untitled"), and it ended satisfactory. I may relisten to this if I'm looking for 80s soul that is not one of the big boys.

I get the sense much of this is directly addressed to black people--"dance little sister", "get up off that rockin' chair grandma", "pray for me", "don't give up your birthright"--a feeling reinforced by the way hooks emerge from D'Arby's heartfelt well-wishing. Not as pop device but as a way of unifying people through repetition focussing mental and spiritual faculties. [Something here about the oral tradition]. Just as the drums traverse the spectrum from filler match to main event, his voice traverses the spectrum from rough to honeyed so that, in a way, it feels like he's not only speaking to his audience but for them--in *their* voices. There are a few overstretches and misfires, but his spiritual generosity is catching, so I'll go high.

I fucking hate 80’s production. The chime-y keyboards, the shit sounding drums drenched in reverb. It’s amazing how dated and of-their-time these songs sound because of awful production choices. I don’t know how artists listened to the records they were making back then and thought, “yes, this will be timeless…the coats of synthetic sheen we’re applying to our records will surely sound just as good 30 years from now as it does today.” Records like this don’t sound like they were made by humans. They sound like they were manufactured in a factory…like it’s not music, it’s a product made of plastic. I can’t divorce my feelings about 80’s production from the actual music. 2 stars, because there is probably a pretty good record buried underneath all the bullshit here.

Unremarkable, but also not my taste in music.

This was not for me..I wish it had stayed in the 80s where it came from.

I don’t like Prince’s production. I think that his production of instruments falls flat, it all sounds a bit hollow, a bit too muddy, a bit too artificial. I love everything else about Prince’s music, the instrumentation, the songwriting, the voice. Prince is one of the great artists of the late 20th century, of all time. It’s just a shame that his production sounds so relatively weak. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world. We have an R&B singer and songwriter, with a divine voice and just a classic sense of cool, regarding everything from his look to his songwriting. No, it isn’t Prince. It is Terence Trent D’Arby. This album is a masterpiece. It has everything, great music, great songwriting, great vocals. There is hardly anything on this album that could not be described as great. I came up with the Prince introduction because I thought it would be a fun way of mocking the album for it’s similarity to Prince, if it turned out to be bad. But it didn’t. Which is probably a massive dunk on me as a music critic. But I don’t see this as a negative. This is inspired by Prince, no doubt, but because of that it is still really, really good music. Possibly even better than Prince, because the production is better. It’s really a shame that the guy seems to have fallen off. Based on the music on his Debit it feels as if Trent D’Arby really should have taken off more. Bit at least we have Introducing The Hardline, which really is perfect

A little disappointed that this wasn't funkier. 7

I really enjoy The Hardline 5.0. The addition of Gen-X Davey is a huge positive and allows Bob and Corby to stay in their respective lanes. Hot dog. Best track: As Yet Untitled

I didn't really care for him when Wishing Well was all over the airwaves, and I don't care for him much now. He's got a soulful voice that got ruined by '80s production. Most of what I heard here sounds like what would later go on to be the Dave Matthews Band. Do with that what you will.

Extremely 80s and not in a good way.

Giving it a 9 for now, but I didn't really get to focus on it properly because I was playing with excel. Will revisit.

This one, damn, van mijn sokken geblazen. Putting it on the Vynil buying list.

Потрясающе!

Loved it! Keep in rotation!

Ok...so...Im shook. I have two songs, of course they were all over radio but I never listened to the album. This is surprisingly good. I mean really good.

p584, 1987. 5 stars. 2022-01-25 1980s electro soul. Great voice, catchy hooks, great songs. Production a bit dated - cheesy synths - but still excellent and still sounds great today. I'd forgotten what a great album this is.

Brilliant - what a voice! At least 7 world-class songs on this album. Shame he went nuts after it.

I love this album, there isn’t a bad track on it and it flows from track to track. It’s been many years since I last listened to it, it’s now on my repeat playlist 5/5

A fantastic album.

Muy muy fresco Me ha gustado mucho

Okay daddy

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: If you all get to heaven, If you let me stay, Dance little sister, Seven more days, Rain, Sign tour name, Who’s loving you

The rest of the album is much better that the top 40 hit "Wishing Well:

look if you can't get laid when you put on "Sign My Name" on the stereo then man you just can't get laid.

Music is treasure because it evokes memories both remembered and forgotten. 1987 was a magical year for me and this album evokes that magic. Love it.

One of the weirdest things in pop music history. One of the best singers of the last 35-40 years makes, out of the blue, a smash hit debut album second half 80s (8M copies sold): this album which contains several great songs, including two absolute classics, and is nearly perfect in terms of production and flow.. .. then has some moderate European success a couple of albums later down the line (with songs just as strong as his debut modulo "Wishing Well" & "Sign Your Name").. ...and then changes his name, and just disappears to Italy, where he regular goes on tour, while all the time releasing 75-min to 3-hour albums, most of which could have easily been cut down to 3*-4* albums of 35-40 minutes. It is a bit of a mystery why in 1995 the Vibrator tour (with a great band with amongst others, Kevin Wyatt) did not put him back on the map - just listen to the impressive live version of "Let Her Down Easy" recorded in London '95 on Youtube. ..or not? -> check a 2017 Guardian interview or Nick Duerden's Exist Stage Left...

I loved this album when it was first released. His soulful voice and catchy melodies... nearly everything is perfect here (though Dance Little Sister and As Yet Untitled are kind of duds to me). An incredible release. What I remember most about this album is how bad the follow-up was. Terence Trent D'Arby is my vote for the artist that fell the furthest from Album #1 to Album #2. Still an amazing release.

Yeah this was an enjoyable listen all the way through. Very good stuff Stand out songs: - Dance Little Sister - Who's Loving You

1 cos researching the artist they sound like an annoying asshole and this album is such mediocre 80s pop music that them being a dick immediately brings it way down. Them claiming this was the most important album since Sgt Peppers is so funny lmao

Wow. He has a great voice, and there's a dark strength to this album. I really enjoyed it. I'm saving this to my favorites list.

Really enjoyed it!

L'r&b poques vegades ha sonat tan potent. Amb els anys Samanda passaria per vàries turbulències personals i professionals, pero el seu primer i tercer disc són dels millors treballs dels 80 i 90 respectivament. En aquest, singles tan imbatibles com 'Sign Your Name', 'Wishing Well', 'If You Let Me Stay' o 'Dance Little Sister' es barregen amb album tracks gairebé igual de recomenables com 'Seven More Days' o 'If You All Get to Heaven'. Una meravella sense moment dolent que mirava de tu a tu a les grans obres d'aquells anys dels seus rivals artístics Michael Jackson o Prince

Really enjoyed every track actually!

Holy soul! If You Let Me Stay sounds so familiar especially the backing baseline but I can not figure out if I know it from a cover. That album was powerful. Such impressive singing by him and the backing choir on a few of the songs made it even more epic. The horn usage I'm a bunch of songs really added some great elements as well. A few of the songs were a bit slow for me by themself but they added greatly to build up some of the more intense songs. This worked perfectly with the last two songs. I was between a 4 and a 5 here but I'm going to give it the step up because I think it was a pretty special album

I saw him at the launch of this at Oxford Street Virgin Megastore. He was brilliant 🤩

Silky Smooth

Oh so good!

"Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trend D'Arby" was a tremendously brilliant album back in 1987 and is still—an easy 5 Star.

Loved his voice, the songs- feel Bad that he fell off my radar.

Both classics (Sign Your Name) and songs that cannot be listened (As Yet Untitled)

Fantastic late 80s nostalgia

Surprisingly good R&B+Pop album

8.5

Pretty unique, but good.

Dance little Sister, sign tour name, Wising well , if you letr me stay

Some hits. Creative. Acapella

I really liked this album! It was so funky and dancy, quite different than a lot of the other stuff we have listened to so far

Chłop ma flow jak GEORGE MICHAEL a wokalizy jak PRINCE kurwa sztosiwo ale szybko mnie męczy

Really good! A solid 8, would relisten

Good album, nice vocal performance and interesting lyrics. 8

👍

Eigenlijk 4.5 sterren. Heel fijn album. If you all get to heaven is ook sterke opener, maar As Yet Untitled is de echte uitschieter hier.

Nice and funky

Some really nice songs, but I doubt I will remember it in the future. Worse 4.

Very cool album. After reading the AM description, I can definitely see how Neo-soul followed this. Bring on D’Angelo, baby!

What a blast from the past. Great album

Smooth, ret nice.

This was a fun poppy kinda album, it probably had some deep and dark brooding message that went right over my head but I enjoyed the sound to my ears

I recognized Wishing Well and Sign Your Name, but not the artist. It's a time capsule of the late 80s.

I should listen to more 80's music that didn't become super popular hit singles, although the singles on here were also really good.

Pretty cool album that blends R&B and rock in a prince-kinda way. Some pretty fun lyricism combined with funky beats and layered vocal arrangements. A fun time, would definitely listen to again- not a single bad song on the album.

Thought this might be pretty good. Sgt pepper it ain’t but still enjoyable!

Fanastic debut

Reminded me a lot of MJ with a few other vibes thrown in.

Dance Little Sister is a brilliant song guaranteed to make me dance. His other hits are good too and the rest of the album was mellow. He has a lovely, soulful voice. 4*

Big Michael Jackson energy. I enjoyed the heck out of this. Some great hooks, and romantic grooves.

3.5 stars but I'll round up. Not something I would listen to regularly but I generally like it.

More 80s weird pop. Terence Trent D'Arby's voice is melodic and calm and passionate all at once and he carries these funky tunes with his performance. Dance Little Sister has hints of a much better Michael Jackson performance. Good - Wishing Well, Dance Little Sister, Sign your Name, Rain

J'ai eu la chance de tomber sur la version "Alben für die Ewigkeit" de l'album du jour, ce qui m'a permis de profiter d'une performance exceptionnelle. En effet, en plus des enregistrements originaux de Sananda Maitreya (ou Terence Trent D'Arbanville, c'est au choix), des adlibs issus des plus grandes personnalités de la musique allemande ont été rajoutés à chaque pré-refrain. Ici, c'est RIN qui vient nous gratifier de son "oh junge" legendaire. Là, c'est Sido qui vient répéter sans interruption "der beste Rapper ich bin". Nous avons même la chance d'assister à un salut nazi parfaitement efectué de la part de Xavier Naidoo en fin d'album. Une version collector à mettre entre toutes les mains.

Je tenais d'abord à préciser que cette critique sera probablement impactée par le fait que je me sois brûlé une partie de mon index gauche hier en mettant une bûche dans mon poêle à bois. J'ai beaucoup & mais alors beaucoup _-_ beaucoup aimé %%% cet album $$. Terence Trent D'Arby semble être né () d'un mariage entre Michael Jackson et Stevie Wonder "#/# à cette différence près qu'il possède un timbre immensément plus flûté. @@

Thoroughly enjoyable..

A very good album.

Great hybrid fusion of pop, soul, rock, and funk! While he's no The Beatles or Mozart, this man always keeps the audience on their feet.

Actually pretty good.

Ah - ah. Why do this to me? Didn't know until recently that Martyn Ware produced this album

Funky, soulful 80's pop. I actually like this guy better than Stevie Wonder - he's less saccharine. 4.5 stars.

This was pretty nice.

Good jams, especailly the cover of Who's loving you!

6/27/2022 - ALBUM #151 Today's Album: "Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby" by Terence Trent D'Arby - This is a really great late 80s R&B pop album that demonstrates the talent of Terence D'Arby. The sound of this record is very reminiscent of sounds I've heard before from artists like Prince and Michael Jackson, but this time it feels like there is much more soul involved, with a lot of the more commercial and synthetic sounds that Jackson is known for being replaced with more creative auxiliary percussion. I particularly like how on some tracks, the guitar is used as more of a percussive instrument, only being placed in the back of the mix to serve some rhythmic purpose. The flow of this album is also something to compliment, with a really solid crop of tracks to start things off before transitioning into some of the slower or more experimental cuts, and then finally ending off with the extremely artful As Yet Untitled and the great closer, Who's Loving You. D'Arby maintains such a cohesive sound to this album, while still offering a lot of different kinds of tracks. If You All Get to Heaven is a heavier song, commanding the listener to pray for D'Arby's entry into heaven. If You Let Me Stay and Wishing Well are certified R&B bangers, Dance Little Sister is an energetic dance track, and As Yet Untitled is this slow spoken word poetry piece with harmonizing vocal lines splitting up the quiet verses. There are moments where the album does trail off and get a bit boring and I specifically think the track Rain sort of jumps the shark with the instrumental and gets a little too goofy, but the fantastic moments of this record demonstrate that this is not simply someone messing around. Overall, this is one of the most unique and fresh R&B albums I have heard and there are a ton of fun bangers in the track list to keep me coming back to it. Give this one a listen if you like Prince or MJ and want a new R&B pop influence. Highlights: If You All Get to Heaven, If You Let Me Stay, Wishing Well, I'll Never Turn My Back on You, Dance Little Sister, Sign Your Name, As Yet Untitled, Who's Loving You Score: 8/10 Some funky, soulful, and earthy R&B bangers

Enjoyed it, has some good songs.

Elska þessa plötu. Nokkrir bangerar og afskaplega falleg lög þess á milli. 35 ár og 1 vika síðan hún kom út og hefur elst afskaplega vel.

Brilliant. When this came out, everyone thought Terence Trent D'Arby was the next big thing...then... what happened? This album is brilliant. But, TTD turned out to be a one-album wonder... like so many before him and since... 4.5/5

This is a case of an album, that has a very well-known song ('Sign Your Name'), but you had no idea who the vocalist or the band is. And I have to say, that's a real shame, because Terence Trent D'Arby, or Sananda Maitreya as he is known now, is a really talented and entertaining singer. The album started on a very high note with a great 'If You All Got To Heaven'. Funky and with some rock influence, masquerading as a soul song.The rest of the album is leaning more into a mix of funk and soul. And although it is not my favourite combination, I really enjoyed listening to the album. Very solid record, I'm happy that I found out about this album.

I enjoyed this album. Clean late-80s soul, reminded me of Stevie Wonder at times.

Really enjoyed it

I always have a fable for essential 80s, and this hits a nice note, but never breaks through to be truly extravagant. I could listen to it all day on loop though.

Oooo, very soulful. Love the 80s sounds (drums especially). Huey Lewis meets Marvin Gaye.

I thought this was a really good one. Though I have to say my favourite song was probably the first one, and the others on the album weren't quite as good to me, but overall this was still a great album with some 80s pop. Favourite: If You All Get to Heaven

not mine but epochal

Liked it! He has a great voice

Really good 80s album I had never heard of before.

funkeeee cewlllllll

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. The music incorporated elements of soul, funk, R&B, as well as some more latin flavored genres to create something that had a great groove that held throughout while exploring more unusual rhythms and melodies. I was only familiar with 'Wishing Well,' but I found the rest of the album to be just as memorable.

I LOVE Michael Jackson. I LOVE Stevie Wonder. I DON’T MIND Prince. I’m not that bothered about 80s power-pop-soul. This album has some decent tracks on it but it’s not anywhere near as good as it thinks it is.

Если бы на этом альбоме не было инструментов, он бы всё равно мне очень понравился. Теренс Трент Д'Арби обладает настолько потрясающим голосом, что он мог бы вытащить один альбом целиком на чистом вокале. Меня очень порадовало что фокус здесь не только на его голосе, но и на замечательном инструментале, который привносит немного души в каждый трек. Также стоит отметить очень чёткий и точнейший продакшн, который радовал мои уши на протяжении всего альбома - каждый инструмент слышно чётко, никакой музыкальной каши. В общем и целом прекрасный альбом. (7.5 - 8)

Solid

80s but good. Huge choruses that work due to pure power. A maximalist sound that fits with the artists character, and a general cohesion that makes the record work in an albun format, rather than feeling like a singles collection. A great record.

If You All Get to Heaven- 8.4 If You Let Me Stay- 7.8 Wishing Well- 7 I'll Never Turn My Back on You- 8.6 Dance Little Sister- 8.5 Seven More Days- 7.6 Let's Go Forward- 7.8 Rain- 8 Sign Your Name- 7.6 As Yet Untitled- 7.3 Who's Loving You- 7.8