X "Marx" the spot

I'm not a hardcore Richard Marx fan, primarily because I never have kept track with his musical career, save a few songs that he released that were big radio hits, like "Endless Summer Nights" and "Right Here Waiting".

Because of this, I will admit I was a bit hesitant on making a purchase. However, noticing that this CD was a compilation of his "Greatest Hits", I figured it was worth a shot. Not the first to discourse about the fact, this compilation was WELL worth the money invested.

WHY I BOUGHT THE CD

There was only one main reason I bought the CD. Richard Marx's voice is one of a kind, and his lyrics are emotional, not to mention his vocal clarity and purity are enough to move your inner being. If one artist makes me quiet inside and want to listen, it's Richard Marx.

It would be best if everyone could go out and purchase this CD and then read the review to gain a better understanding of the musical content, but I digress.

THE MUSIC --WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT

Track by track, I present my interpretation of the music; what tickles my fancy, and what leaves more to be desired.

Track One --Don't Mean Nothing-- 4:41
The beginning song on this compilation is one of those pieces that make you feel good. It's a slow rocker with good guitar backing and solid drumbeats. Richard sings with assurance that life is not worth spending too much time on in one area. Take everything in stride, and you'll be much better off. One of my favorite lines:

When you're trying to make a living, there ain't no such thing as pride

Very well executed, the lyrics are lighthearted and fun, yet true. I like this song for its uniqueness and good-naturedness.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5

Track Two --Endless Summer Nights-- 4:30
The synthesizers and extra hollow drumbeats on this track are a great accompaniment to the song because they help one to sort of "drift back" and enrapture himself into times past. It also helps to know that Richard is doing the same thing on this track.

Summer came and left without a warning
All at once I looked and you were gone
And now you're looking back at me
Searching for a way that we can be like we were before

Richard goes on to sing that he would give anything to go back to those blissful times in his life. Hey, who wouldn't want to be in their lovers arms and just stay there, still, surrounded by it all? This song is a good representation of that emotional state, and continues to be one of my favorite songs by Richard Marx.

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Song Three --Now and Forever-- 3:32
Okay, if someone didn't put this on their Valentine's Top Love Songs list, they're gonna get nailed. Okay, only kidding.

On a serious note, this song has an unequaled and unmatched sense of love flowing from its lyrics. One of the best lines:

Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand
Now and forever, I will be your man

Oh man...and you should listen to him sing it; you'd melt. This song is nothing but love, and most definitely ranks in the top love songs of all time. Guitar and soft melodies coo you throughout, and you leave the song with cold chills. Perfect.

Rating: 5 1/2 stars of 5. Not a typo.

Song Four --Should've Known Better-- 4:10
After the previous slow song, Richard picks up the pace and throws in a soft rocker. Sometimes we pick the wrong person to fall in love with, and it comes back to bite us in the butt at the most inopportune times. Again, Richard does a great job of expressing those experiences.

Should've known better than to fall in love with you
Now love is just a faded memory
Should've known better
Now I'm a prisoner to this pain
And my heart still aches for you

Moody background guitars top off this platter of musical delicacies. Yet another wonderful song by Richard. Can you tell I'm liking this CD yet?

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Song Five --Angelia-- 5:17
Although a bit overfocused on the "lost love" scene, Angelia is not a clunker by any stretch of the imagination. Richard throws his whole heart and voice into the track and asks himself why he let another woman go, but then doubts the whole relationship altogether.

Maybe my love is in vain
Maybe you're the hurting kind
Can't take no more of this pain
I've got to get you off my mind

The saxophone in this song serves as a highlight of some sort, I'm not sure why it's here, though. It's too blended into the background with the rest of the synthesizers and drums and wanes in comparison to the rest of the structure of the song. Otherwise, this track is definitely worth listening to.

Rating: 4 stars of 5

Song Six --Hold on to the Nights-- 5:12
I never thought I would hear such a moody piano that causes my insides to calm; and those blurry, waning synthesizer sounds. It almost puts me to death, but in a good way. This song does remind me oddly of death for some reason, but I'm sure that was not the targeted effect Richard had in mind.

Otherwise, this VERY slow track has a good handle on a love relationship that desires to grow stronger.

Well I think I've been true, to everybody else but me
And the way I feel about you, makes my heart long to be free
Everytime I look into your eyes, I'm helplessly aware
That the someone I've been searching, for is right there

And when Richard says "right there", the beautiful guitars and drums start their unchained melody. This is one of the best slow rockers Richard has ever produced. Although Richard's voice seems weary, it doesn't fail, thus making for a great listen.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5

Song Seven --Angel's Lullaby-- 3:57
Children are a parent's greatest gift. The gift of new live gives many reasons to celebrate, whether it be wildly, or humbly, as Richard quells in this song.

These lyrics are wonderful, and although I don't think they compare to Bob Carlisle's Butterfly Kisses, Ricahrd's love is evident. My favorite stanza:

So tell me how to stop the years from racing
Is there a secret someone knows
I'll never catch all the memories I'm chasing
I'll never be ready to let go

Who would be ready? This song makes me cry thinking about it. Gosh, I'm a sucker.

Rating: 5 stars of 5

Song Eight --Take This Heart-- 4:10
Evidently, Richard has a huge desire to sing love songs; but he's not alone, of course. This track continues down the journey of love. While these songs may be wonderful to listen to over a timespan of eight or nine years or so, it's much more difficult to digest in one sitting, especially with such a narrow topic. Unfortunately that biased ear may cause an adverse rating that may otherwise not have happened, had it listened less often.

In any case, Richard sings with all his might in this piece, just like the others.

Don't keep the dream in you locked outside your door
Just believe in this love
And don't be afraid anymore

I hope that when I find love, this will be the way my heart reacts; and that my head doesn't get in the way too much.

This song has Richard singing some strong vocals, but after seven or eight relationship songs, the aura of beautifulness is starting to wane, if ever slightly.

Rating: 4 stars of 5

Song Nine --Satisfied-- 4:14
This track has a hard edge to it that reminds me a lot of heavy rock; although it only slightly borrows from that genre's soundbase. The main edge of the song is accumulated from the guitar only, but Richard doesn't do a bad job of singing in a more laid back tone himself, which really helps this piece out.

Zany guitars spice things up at the two and a half minute mark, serving to garnish this musical dish.

I've gotta make my move now or never
And if they turn me loose on this town
They're gonna have to hold me down

Sporting a "get it all" attitude, Richard rockets himself up the happy-go-lucky energy scale in this piece. A surefire butt buster of a song, for him at least. Not bad!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5

Song Ten --Until I Find You Again-- 4:24
The time comes for another slow dance track. This track sounds very similar to many other slow Marx tracks, so it doesn't exactly make my ears perk. Somehow, though, Richard has a way of using his voice to make me recognize his honesty and pure intentions. Sometimes you can just "tell" things about a person, and inferring from what I hear now, and what I've heard before, Richard is a good person; and his lyrics and songs are his heart poured out upon paper.

In this track, Richard is without his love, and has generally the basic same topic as "Angelia".

How many dreams will end?
How long can I pretend?
How many times will love pass me by
Until I find you again?

Poor guy, he's always searching for that woman. I like this song, though. You will too, unless you hate sappy love songs.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5

Song Eleven --Hazard-- 5:17
This is a very dramatic sounding song, especially from the synthesizers and drumbeats that float through your ears. Listen to the high pitched sound effects in the background, and you get a sense of eerie anticipation. Richard's voice then kicks in and makes this song sound even more dark.

Sometimes you can feel the depression and foreboding a song can give off, and this track is certainly foreboding. Richard loves a woman and then she mysteriously disappears. Heartbroken, Richard only comes to find out he is the main suspect in her death. Talk about a dramatic turn of events.

Here is one of the more interesting lyrics contained:

I swear I left her by the river
I swear I left her safe and sound
I need to make it to the river
And leave this old Nebraska town

This song often gives me cold chills; it is sure to evoke some sort of eerie feelings among all listeners.

Rating 4 3/4 stars of 5

Song Twelve --The Way She Loves Me-- 4:15
The way this track starts out, I'm oddly reminded of New Kids on the Block or something. Thankfully we don't have a continuation of that cheesiness.

One of the "get down and boogie" tracks, "The Way She Loves Me" is very similar to the earlier track Satisfied, but is a bit lighter on the guitar, and heavier on background bass and drums, with a few added instrumental supports.

Let me tell you 'bout the way she loves me
Ooh, I want the world to know
I'm crazy 'bout the way she loves me
Ooh, I'm proud to let it show

Richard sings as though he's proud of it; more power to him. I like the song, but the simplistic lyrics and lighthearted nature of this song do not seem to make a great match for Richard's otherwise mysterious nature.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars of 5

Song Thirteen --Keep Coming Back-- 6:51
This piece softly enters your ears with light drumtaps and continues to slowly get louder until it stops at a comfortable noise level. The first few seconds give me a mental picture of a man in a brown leather jacket slowly strolling through a dimly lit parking garage in the dead of night. Blame my odd imagination for coming up with weird stuff when listening to music.

This slow strolling song has Richard focused on the mysterious nature of a woman. He leaves and comes back, leaves and comes back, and he just can't figure out why he does it.

I'm so in love, so in love with the games that you play
So in love, and nothing can keep me away

He continues by saying he doesn't "want to get over" her. Well, it's probably his nature, and the natural instinct a man has with a physical and emotional attraction to a woman.

Note the duet vocals of Luther Vandross in this piece, as well as an extremely moody saxophone.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5

Song Fourteen --Children of the Night-- 4:45
Nighttime scenes seem to be a recurring theme in this collection, doesn't it? I wonder what type of thoughts, feelings, actions, and other things are harbored by the nighttime? Perhaps Richard has an idea.

Another eerie wave of synthesizers introduce this track, but thankfully Richard's voice is not quite so dark as in Hazard. The tone of the song (due to the synthesizers) is a bit misleading, and has a topsy-turvy emotional state, almost as though the lyrics are even a bit uncertain of themselves, which is interesting.

However, after critical listening of the song, we can see that this is an inner struggle that goes on inside a child's own being. Living in unhappy childhood conditions (without money and the luxuries of life) can be disappointing and difficult, but Richard says he owes it all to his parents.

We are the children of the night
We won't go down without a fight
Our voice is strong, our future's bright
And thanks to what we learned from you
We've grown into the children of the night

There's still an inner struggle that seems to be going on, however, between nighttime and why children would be "children of the night". Why of the night? Why not the morning? Perhaps their lights are burning bright as an example to the rest of the world. I'm still not completely sure whether this song is positive or negative.

Rating: 4 stars of 5

Song Fifteen --Touch of Heaven-- 4:51
This track has a throbbing beat to it, and is heavy on the bass. I especially like the lifting "end of line" lyrics that Richard accentuates throughout the piece.

The way he sings here reminds me of many great Boyz II Men tracks. It's a very good rendition of harmonized vocals and lyrics.

Yet again, Richard has fallen in love with his "angel" woman, and wants her touch, sent from up above.

I'd go around the world.
I'd take you anywhere,
oh, baby, anywhere,
for a touch of heaven.
Tell me what you want,
I'd give you anything,
oh, baby, everything,
for a touch of heaven.

That's a lot of devotion for such a small amount of time. Not a bad song, but not my favorite.

Rating: 3 1/3 stars of 5

Finally, we reach my favorite song, and one of the greatest Richard Marx hits of all time, or so I think ..

Song Sixteen --Right Here Waiting-- 4:23
Sweeet sixteen perhaps? This song is repetitive considering all the other tracks contained on this disc; however, listening to it by itself, you can hear the devotion and heartfelt lyrics shine through all the others.

I really think this track sums up all that unconditional love should be. No matter what you do, no matter how wrong you may be, they'll still be there to help you out or give you a shoulder to cry on, and share some of life's most precious moments.

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes,
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you.

Top it all off with a soft piano melody and wonderful guitars, you've got one of the best Marx songs ever written. Superb.

Rating: 6 stars of 5

CONCLUSION OF DISC AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Richard Marx is one of those singers and songwriters who has a spirit about him that is unique and difficult to find, especially considering today's musical genres and focuses.

While Richard Marx may not be a chart topper anymore, his songs and compositions should not be passed up. By purchasing this CD, you will be able to keep all of Richard's greatest musical efforts, which are sure to satisfy.

If you've only heard "Right Here Waiting", you are certainly missing out on some other wonderful songs by this artist. Do yourself a favor and buy this compilation.

Hot Tracks: Endless Summer Nights, Now and Forever, Hazard, Right Here Waiting

As the title suggets, X "Marx" the spot, and this compilation of greatest hits is Richard's treasure chest.

Enjoy!

Review Copyright 2004 Aaron Coffey