From Amazon.com
Subtitled "Adventures in Tropical Music: 1977-1997,"
Woke Up Laughing is a surprisingly listenable recycling of the smooth hitmaker's more worldly tracks. A lengthy sleeve interview details the diverse musical sources--ranging from Brazilian
samba and lilting Nigerian
juju to hot Cuban
son and Caribbean
soca--that inspired tunes excavated largely from B-sides, film scores, and alternate tracks. There's not a whole lot new here, but this one-time Caribbean resident at least seems to be in touch with his slick facility in a way that pop's other great white international borrowers--Paul Simon and David Byrne--would never cop to. The rhythms and vocal harmonies are so intricately constructed, you could almost imagine Palmer has something of substance to say. He doesn't. But glibness, at least in this case, is its own reward.
--Richard Gehr
Album Details
Although he is best remembered for his '80s hits both solo and with Power Station, Robert Palmer was one of the finest Rock vocalists of his generation. Gritty, soulful, powerful and passionate, Palmer could handle any musical style with sincerity and passion, and over the course of his 30 year career, he did it all. This album, originally released in 1998, consisted of older album tracks brought together, remixed, re-recorded or updated, creating a cohesive and thrilling album. Palmer purposely avoided any hit singles or popular album tracks and concentrated on great songs and performances and this CD is filled with them. 14 tracks including 'Housework', 'Pride', 'Best Of Both Worlds', 'Honey Bee' and others. Blue Note.
