| Sail Away |  | Artist: Randy Newman
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 364503
Media: LP Record
UPC: 075992720311
EAN: 0075992720311
ASIN: B00008G0QP
Release Date: October 17, 1990
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| Tracks:
| • | Sail Away | | • | Lonely at the Top | | • | He Gives Us All His Love | | • | Last Night I Had a Dream | | • | Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear | | • | Old Man | | • | Political Science | | • | Burn On | | • | Memo to My Son | | • | Dayton, Ohio 1903 | | • | You Can Leave Your Hat On | | • | God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
Odd man out in California's early '70s panoply of singer-songwriters, Randy Newman didn't play guitar, refused to confess specific personal dreams and sins, and sidestepped the counter-cultural trinity of sex, rebellion, and self. Newman dared to be a neo-classical pop survivor, narrative guerilla, and prankster, and no album summarizes these gifts better than this 1973 classic, which found the singer, songwriter, pianist, and arranger spreading his wings to fuse the economy of his songwriting with his lush gifts as a composer. The classic title song mingles its elegiac orchestral bloom with the devastating, deadpanned sales pitch of its slave trader protagonist, while elsewhere Newman wraps his whiskey drawl and laconic piano around acerbic meditations on God ("He Gives Us All His Love," "God's Song"), celebrity ("Lonely at the Top"), nuclear Armageddon ("Political Science"), and sex ("You Can Leave Your Hat On"). Funny, tragic, moving American pop at its zenith. --Sam Sutherland
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 Brilliant Album, But -- January 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The money-makers' addings of extra tracks in order to sell it one more time destroys the original integrity of it.
 Sail Away is one of Newman's finest works July 7, 2007
On his third studio album, Randy Newman found a middle ground between the heavily orchestrated pop of his debut and the more stripped-down, rock-oriented approach of 12 Songs, and managed to bring new strength to both sides of his musical personality in the process. The title track, which Newman has described as a sort of commercial jingle written for slave traders looking to recruit naive Africans, and "Old Man," in which an elderly man is rejected with feigned compassion by his son, were set to Newman's most evocative arrangements to date and rank with the most intelligent and effective use of a large ensemble by anyone in pop music. On the other end of the scale, "Last Night I Had a Dream" and "You Can Leave Your Hat On" are lean, potent mid-tempo rock tunes, the former featuring some slashing and ominous slide guitar from Ry Cooder, and the latter a witty and willfully perverse bit of erotic absurdity that later became a hit for Joe Cocker (who sounded as if he took the joke at face value). Elsewhere, Newman cynically ponders the perils of a stardom he would never achieve ("Lonely at the Top," originally written for Frank Sinatra), offers a broad and amusing bit of political satire ("Political Science"), and concludes with one of the most bitter rants against religion that anyone committed to vinyl prior to the punk era ("God's Song [That's Why I Love Mankind]"). Whether he's writing for three pieces or 30, Newman makes superb use of the sounds available to him, and his vocals are the model of making the most of a limited instrument. Overall, Sail Away is one of Newman's finest works, musically adventurous and displaying a lyrical subtlety that would begin to fade in his subsequent works.
 Strong Lyrics, Musically Limited January 12, 2005
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have great respect for Randy Newman and I have absorbed many of the raves for this album and his other early work, but I have to say this is music that I don't completely love. Newman is a great lyricist, but let's be honest: he is not a great singer-songwriter. He has neither the voice nor the knack for melody to make these songs truly take off.
The throwback Tin Pan Alley-ish pop sound guarantees that the usefulness of this CD will be limited: its neither driving/party music nor effective relaxing/headphone music. The problem with Newman's voice isn't exactly its lack of musicality. There have been many great singer songwriters with subpar voices in the classic sense, including the greatest of all time, Bob Dylan. To me, Newman sounds like he has a constant smirk on his face. It's either him saying "I know how witty my lyrics are" or him demonstrating that most of his songs are simply artificial constructions meant to entertain others and are not deep and heartfelt in the way the best songs are.
I'm sure many people will read this and say I am missing the point about Randy Newman -- that the pre-rock pop sound and wry lyrics/delivery are exactly what makes him great. I guess I can accept that, but for me it means he is an artist I admire but won't often listen to. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Genius & Heart September 24, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I heard Randy Newman state during an interview that his songs should not be taken as autobiographical or expressing "his" opinions, that they are like separate characters and stories. I believe that this album is his best, and shows that he pours more of himself into his work than he may admit. The "Sail Away" album shows the full range of his thinking and emotions. Newman tends to see two sides to every situation, what we aspire to and what we actually are, but with a core of hope. There is wry but sympathetic political commentary on American history in "Sail Away", and biting political satire in "Political Science," which was written in 1969 that applies perfectly to the Bush administration. ("We give them money, but are they grateful? No they're spiteful and they're hateful. They don't respect us, so let's surprise them, We'll drop the big one and pulverize them.") There is the expression of sincere, simple, bedrock faith in God in "He Gives Us All His Love" and complex despair in watching the works of a seemingly sadistic supreme being in "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)." In between there are wonderfully crafted songs about dancing bears, rivers that burn at night, and women that give us reason to live. I listen to this album again and again and enjoy and marvel at Newman's talent every time.
And NOW... June 12, 2002
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
...for something completely different. Randy Newman is a musician that I have always had a fondess for(predating my "Metal" days by a couple of years). I really like his soundtrack work(and still do). However, Randy Newman's masterpiece is truly Sail Away(which I bought at a Borders Books and Music for 10 bucks).What Randy Newman lacks in voice(honestly, he is not the most vocally talented musician), he makes up for in lyrical creativity and song composition. His piano playing is amazing, but his arrangements with his backing instruments are what really help make this record so great. Sometimes entering the realm of classical, the majority has lounge jazz feel to it. What makes for the real twist is the lyrical potency. Filled to the brim with satire(see; Political Science) and sincerity, his lyrics are what defines him and makes who he is: a great musician. I highly recommend this to any music fans, especially those who want a peak into the mind of a great American songwriter.
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