Review – Kim Wilde

This is a well conceived, thoughtfully produced and professionally performed commercial effort. Most of the cuts are easy on the ear and make for infectious listening. The Wildes are a talented family, Kim is the daughter of Marty (remember his vocal efforts?), and the album is produced by frater, Ricky. Kim has an easy, melodious voice which nevertheless copes adequately with the up tempo rockers on the plate. Her band provides excellent support and generates enough energy and feel to complement Kims’ voice. All the numbers are composed by father and son, which points to a real family affair; most of the compositions are commercially good and the lyrics retain enough interest to raise them above the ordinary mundane. The overall sound of the album is difficult to define, it contains some rockers as previously mentioned, which are nicely rounded off by some pleasant synthesizer work, and the obligatory ‘slowies’, one of which titles ‘Everything We Know’ is the ideal showcase for Wildes searching voice. It is not the voice of a tigress, nor is it that of a choirgirl, but rather a controlled, even modulated delivery. It is not a voice which immediately grabs attention but one which gradually coerces and seduces; some maybe critical of its similarity, that will be demonstrated in time. Very few first albums leave a genuine stamp of authenticity and individuality, and one has but to listen to the hordes of aspirant ‘new music’ bands (send in the clones) to bear out this little tenet. Kim Wildes album though not qualifying for those high stakes does nevertheless provide us with some of the more listenable new music in evidence today.