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Roll with It

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Artist: Steve Winwood
Label: Virgin Records Us
Category: Music

List Price: ~~$11.98~~
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

20 reviews
Sales Rank: 15352

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5

MPN: 86069
UPC: 077778606925
EAN: 0077778606925
ASIN: B000000WGH

Publication Date: 1988
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 20

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One great album December 1, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I understand Steve's yearning to return to a simpler sound as he did on his latest cd but, for me, this is his true calling. I rate this one as one of the best albums of the 80s. It literally jumps out of the speakers with enthusiasm and infectious rhythms every time I put it on. I love the horns, the background singers, the drums, the tight arrangements and clear sound and, of course, Steve's wonderful vocals throughout. This is just one great album.

4 out of 5 stars

Winwood rolls with it! March 23, 2004
0 out of 4 found this review helpful

ROLL WITH IT was no megahit like BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE,released in 1986,was. The title track is like one of Hall & Oates' albums,rock and soul. HEARTS ON FIRE contains the title of Steve Winwood's 1981 hit,his first,WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE. In addition to the title track,hits include HOLDING ON and DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THE NIGHT CAN DO?. The latter song was featured in several Michelob commercials. Total playing time for this CD is 44 minutes and 50 seconds. Some CD players read it as 44:48.

2 out of 5 stars

Inconsistent, lots of filler unless you're a diehard fan September 15, 2003
2 out of 6 found this review helpful

If you are a die-hard Winwood fan, you'll probably like this album well enough to own it, but for the rest of us it is a disappointing follow-up to Back in the High Life. There are definitely good songs on this album, but they are the exception. You get the sense listening to this album that record company execs pressured Stevie for a couple of cookie-cutter hits and a quick release date.

Let's start with the positive: "Shining Song" is a catchy, fresh, inspiring tune, lyrically along the lines of "Still in the Game". And "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" is possibly the best beer ad ever made, but for anyone who watched TV ads in the late 80's it will be hard to separate from the commercial. A couple of other songs are passable: "Roll With It" is catchy, but it doesn't stand up to very many listens without sounding trite, like a cheap copy of some of Winwood's better work. "Holding On" is also at least average-quality for a Winwood album track, which is saying a lot.

The rest of this album isn't really listenable except as background music, because there aren't enough hooks or lyrical substance to make the otherwise perfunctory songs worth your time. This isn't an album you can just pop in and listen to front-to-back, over and over, like Arc of a Diver or Back in the High Life or Talking Back to the Night. Those are all better choices if you want a studio album from Stevie.

5 out of 5 stars Fantastic!! August 16, 2003
2 out of 6 found this review helpful

This album was great in 1998 when first released and it's even better in 2003! Would love to hear some more from Winwood.

3 out of 5 stars Yeah, he rolled with it July 2, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

For some reason, "Roll With It" seems to be Steve Winwood's most popular song. Even now, when listening to stations that play at least a little bit of 80s rock at times, I hear that song more than any other from Winwood. It baffles me. I think to myself a lot, "Why do they play this one when they could be playing his much better songs, such as Back in the High Life, The Finer Things, or Valerie?"

Don't get me wrong, I like the song, "Roll With It," I just don't find it to be his best song ever. It's one of the three hits featured here on the album of the same name. The other two are the subtle "Don't You Know What The Night Can Do?" and my personal favorite, "Holding On." "Holding On" is one of those songs that I can listen to over and over and over again without ever growing tired of it. I love it; its chorus is just TOO catchy.

But from there, the album takes a turn downward. The other five songs weren't hits at all, and apart from "Morning Side," I don't like any of them much at all. So that means that I usually listen to half the tape and skip the other half.

Steve Winwood rolled with the success of Roll With It. But don't mistaken it for his best album, which is definitely Back In The High Life. If there's a song on Roll With It that you just gotta have (I HAD to have "Holding On"), then get this one. If you're just looking for a nice sampling of Steve Winwood's best (he hasn't had a good compilation album made yet), then get Back In The High Life.