Don't Cry Out Loud

Melissa Manchester's reputation in Japan is a curious one. Pop listeners know her through big hits such as ‘Don't Cry Out Loud’ and ‘You Should Hear How She Talks About You,’ but this album's fully developed smooth, mellow urban soul gained broader recognition when free-soul listeners reassessed it in the 1990s. She had written numerous fine songs with Carole Bayer Sager and had always possessed an adult quality and a feeling for soul. Under Leon Ware's production, this album brings its urbane mellowness to perfection.

James Gadson, Chuck Rainey, David T. Walker and Richard Tee supply an exceptionally fine groove, intertwined with Gene Page's splendid strings. Stevie Wonder's ‘Bad Weather’ has a wonderful bounce, while ‘Almost Everything,’ written by Melissa and Leon, offers meltingly lovely singing. Both are superb. Only the emotional, conventional ballad ‘Don't Cry Out Loud,’ a No. 10 American hit, has a different producer.