While perusing the Web for information about velvety-voiced '80s crooner Billy Ocean, one of the initial descriptions I found for this flowery ballad that scraped the outer range of the Top 10 in 1986 was that it is a "timeless" love ballad. Well, I'd have to disagree vehemently on that one, because if Billy Ocean can claim anything, it's that his music screams '80s about as loudly as that of any artist from the era. Still, that's not nearly as much of an insult as it sounds, as few singers from any decade have performed straight pop love ballads as luxuriously and richly as Ocean does on this tune. Clearly, the man is a gifted singer with a fine ear for accessible adult contemporary melodies. Unfortunately, his choices concerning arrangements and the use of keyboards were never quite as sharp, as evidenced by the tinkling but hardly calypso sound employed on this track. I thought that particular keyboard fad had passed as far back as 1979 and Styx's retch-inducing "Babe." Even so, although the whole affair has a slightly off-putting
American Idol feel to it, Ocean's singular vocal talent continues to shine through two decades later, even if it's pretty obvious that it's been about that long since he hit the charts.
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