John Paul Young
Love is the Air -Albert 1978
Tracks: 1. The Day That My Heart Caught Fire / 2. Fool In Love / 3. Open Doors / 4. Lost In Your Love / 5. Red Hot Ragtime Band / 6. Lazy Days / 7. Love Is in the Air / 8. It's All Over / 9. Lovin' In Your Soul
Comments:
"Love is in the Air" from 1978 was John Paul Young's big international breakthrough album, with the single of the same name, which over time has become his signature song.
In fact, the album is his fourth and the three previous ones had been nice successes in his home country Australia. Young's force is his strong soulful vocals and combined with the great songs his producers George Young and Harry Vanda wrote for him, success seemed Inevitable. On the first two albums, Vanda / Young had written by far most of the material, while J.P. Young on the third "Green" together with Warren Morgan had taken greater responsibility for the songwriting. Vanda / Young were behind only four. This, however, was not necessarily a lucky decision, as Young's songwriting does not match that of his well-known mentors.
On "Love is in the Air" Vanda / Young are back as main suppliers and with their great songs, Young's vocals, the solid band with i.a. pianist and songwriter Warren Morgan, we have a solid recipe for a successful soul-pop album. Vanda / Young's fine ears for catchy rhythms and a good melody, as well as their unique abilities as producers were obviously crucial to the success of Young.
The very infectious beat on "Love is in the Air" is very unique to John Paul Young, and although it was this number that gave the breakthrough, there were actually earlier songs that had a beat / and bassline similar to this. Especially "Standing in the Rain". Although the title track is a stand out track, there are several really nice pop soulsongs on the album. Three others were also released as singles, though not with quite the same success. All three are fine and written by Vanda / Young. "The Day That My Heart Caught Fire", has a beat somewhat reminiscent of "Love is in the Air". "Lost in Your Love" is a really nice pop song - also with a similar beat, but more of a different song with a nice melody. "Fool in Love" offers acoustic guitar and is a bit folkish pop; the least successful single.
Among the album's other tracks "Open Doors" and "Lazy Days" are favorites. The former is a soulful ballad with a good portion of gospel vibe; a song that may well be reminiscent of a couple of songs Vanda / Young wrote for themselves in their group Flash & the Pan - "On My Way" and "First and Last". "Lazy Days" has a lot of Ray Davies about it - both in lyrics and melody.
J.P. Young's own numbers are quite solid, but not particularly memorable.
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