Patty Smyth – Never Enough

Patty Smyth is of course the voice behind 80s pop rockers Scandal, 9 tracks only, but there’s nigh on a weak moment here.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Patty Smyth
ALBUM: Never Enough
LABEL: Columbia
SERIAL: FC 40182 (LP), CK 40182 (CD)
YEAR: 1987
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Patty Smyth – lead vocals * Keith Mack, Rick DiFonzo – guitars * William Wittman – guitars, production, backing vocals * Eric Bazilian – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals * Peter Wood, Ralph Schuckett, Richard Termini – keyboards * Rob Hyman – keyboards, backing vocals * Neil Jason – bass * Anton Fig – drums * Ray Spiegel – tabla * John Agnello – engineering, backing vocals * Rick Chertoff – production, backing vocals * Andy King, Ellison Chase, Eric Troyer, John Leffler, Kasim Sulton, Rory Dodd – backing vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Never Enough * 02 Downtown Train * 03 Give It Time * 04 Call To Heaven * 05 The River Cried * 06 Isn’t It Enough * 07 Sue Lee * 08 Tough Love * 09 Heartache Heard Around The World

WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

Patty Smyth is of course the voice behind 80’s pop rockers Scandal, and the long-standing good woman beside 80’s tennis tyro John McEnroe. It’s a shame that Scandal broke up so soon after their 1984 breakout album ‘The Warrior’. There was potential for the band to progress onward for a few years but it wasn’t to be.

By 1987 however, Smyth had returned to the public eye with her debut solo album ‘Never Enough’, and was lucky enough (there’s that word again) to strike a new deal with CBS Records. Patty has gone on record saying that this was supposed to be the third Scandal but it never quite worked out like that. 9 tracks only, but there’s nigh on a weak moment here.

The Songs

The best-known track on the album is the reworking of the Tom Waits tune ‘Downtown Train’, which was all over MTV at the time, it’s where I first heard it. A great version for sure, two years after Waits’ version, and two years before Rod Stewart‘s version.

Other tracks which regular readers here will be aware of include a song called ‘Call To Heaven’, which is in fact a cover of the Magnum track ‘Les Morts Dansart’ (‘The Dancing Dead’) off the ‘On A Storytellers Night’ album. ‘The River Cried’ is the same track that Air Supply singer Russell Hitchcock did on his debut solo album a year later.

The title track ‘Never Enough’ and ‘Isn’t It Enough’ (there’s that word again) both punch above their weight with bristling energy. The latter is a cover of the Danny Wilde track off his ‘The Boyfriend’ album a year before. ‘Sue Lee’ is the closest track to Scandal‘s previous style, ‘Tough Love’ too could return listeners to that 1984 timeframe. Big piano dominates ‘Give It Time’ if not for the intro but also throughout this rollicking tune. Not to be outdone, ‘Heartache Heard Around The World’ keeps up the rock banner. There’s no real ballads here folks.

In Summary

The album though short at 40+ minutes, is a mostly rockin’ affair that lands right in the Goldilocks zone of lightweight and middleweight, for want of a better phrase. It’s tailor made for the MTV era of 1987. ‘Never Enough’ is an album that holds its head up high in what was a great year for AOR. In between motherhood duties, Patty Smyth would return for solo album #2 in 1992, and continues on well into the 21st century as a performer.

Video

Downtown Train

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