PAUL SABU – In Dreams

Description

Originally released by Zero Records in Japan, in 1994 and subsequently picked up by the fledgling Now & Then records for Europe the following year – “In Dreams” was Sabu’s first album of the nineties. After the release of the seminal Only Child album in ’88 It had been a barren few years for Sabu fans and save for a few production credits on albums by the likes of Tattoo Rodeo, Malice and Little Ceasar, he’d pretty much dropped out of the public eye. Having come a long way since his late seventies Disco career, that saw him, alongside his own band “Sabu”, work with the likes of Ann Margret and Debbie Jacobs, “In Dreams” is far removed from his earlier output, but like all of Sabu’s albums, it’s not about the style, it’s all about the songs and this former Med school student certainly knows a good song when he writes one. When “In Dreams” slipped out in ’94 it was accompanied by very little fanfare, but went on to top the Japanese charts for several weeks. According to Sabu, in a recent interview with Brian Rademacher, “Everyone was freaking out because they didn’t expect it to be so good. Last week you hated me, this week you love me!” And it was easy to see why. Produced, engineered and mixed by Sabu at various studios in California, “In Dreams” was stuffed full of potential. Whether it was the blatant AOR of “Arms Of A Hang-man”, the lighter-waving balladry of “Baby Blues” and “This Time” or the throwaway bombast of “At War With The Weights” and “The Babysitters”, there was no denying that this album rightly belongs in the Top five of Sabu’s career. One also can’t go without mentioning the sterling renditions of “Ain’t Gonna Eat My Heart Out Anymore” (Angel) and “If You Can’t Take The Heat” (Lee Aaron).With a supporting cast that includes the likes of Barry Sparks, Tommy Amoto, Lance Bullen and Dave “The Beast” Spitz, the record you have in your hands is a worthy successor to the brilliance of his past works. If Sabu’s career were an Olympic sport then “In Dreams” may have missed out on a medal behind the likes of Only Child, Kidd Glove and “Heartbreak”, but you can guarantee that it ran the race of its life and pushed them to the wire.

Track List 

1. Baby Blues
2. Arms of a hangman
3. At war with the weights
4. Aint gonna eat my heart out anymore
5. This time
6. The Babysitters
7. Brothers forever
8. Bad Blood
9. Natural born killer
10. Dream Burnin Down
11. If you can’t take the heat