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Randy Newman began the slow process of transforming himself into a polished L.A. song-crafter on the album Little Criminals, and with Trouble in Paradise the metamorphosis was complete; by this time, Newman could make a record just as ear-pleasing as anything Paul Simon, Don Henley, or Lindsey Buckingham could come up with, and proved it by persuading all three to appear on the sessions. But no matter how polished the arrangements and smooth the production, Newman's songs don't sound like they're ready for radio, and he's too bright not to understand that songs about apartheid, self-pitying white bluesmen, and arrogant yuppies are poor prospects for the pop charts. Trouble in Paradise marked the high point of Newman's struggle between pop sheen and his satiric impulses, and the album is a significant improvement over Little Criminals and Born Again. The targets of Newman's satirical gaze are easy to skewer, and his pen is hardly subtle, but the overall tone is more respectful than on Born Again and the results are stronger. The bitter Afrikaner in "Christmas in Capetown" and the egocentric blowhard in "My Life Is Good" have at least earned Newman's disgust, and while many of the character studies ("Mikey," "I'm Different") and vignettes ("Miami," "Take Me Back") take a less than charitable view of their protagonists, like the losers and half-wits that populate Good Old Boys, they're human beings whose flaws reveal a hint of tragedy. And the closing number, "Song for the Dead," is a stunner in which a soldier explains to the bodies he's burying the purpose behind the war that took their lives. While too slick for Newman's core audience, Trouble in Paradise was his most intelligent and best realized work since Good Old Boys, and his finest album of the 1980s.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
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Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Lindsey Buckingham, Background Vocals - Waddy Wachtel, Rhythm Guitar - Randy Newman, Composer, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - Christine Mcvie, Background Vocals - DAVID PAICH, Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Linda Ronstadt, Background Vocals - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Paulinho Da Costa, Additional Percussion - DON HENLEY, Background Vocals - Bob Seger, Background Vocals - Wendy Waldman, Background Vocals - Jennifer Warnes, Background Vocals
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Dean Parks, Solo Guitar - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Paul Simon, Vocals - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Neil Larsen, Solo Piano - Paulinho Da Costa, Additional Percussion
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LEE HERSCHBERG, Mixer, Engineer - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - Lenny Castro, Percussion - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Ralph Grierson, Piano
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jon Smith, Horn - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Organ, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Jim Horn, Horn
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Ernie Watts, Solo Saxophone
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Dean Parks, Guitar, Mandolin - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Organ, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Rickie Lee Jones, Background Vocals - Arno Lucas, Background Vocals - Leslie Smith, Background Vocals
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LEE HERSCHBERG, Mixer, Engineer - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Ralph Grierson, Piano
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Ernie Watts, Horn - Steve Madaio, Horn - LARRY WILLIAMS, Horn - DON HENLEY, Background Vocals - Bob Seger, Background Vocals
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jon Smith, Horn - Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Jerry Hey, Horn - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Jim Horn, Horn
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Dean Parks, Guitar - Nathan East, Bass - Linda Ronstadt, Background Vocals - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar - Wendy Waldman, Background Vocals - Jennifer Warnes, Background Vocals
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Jeff Porcaro, Drums - Nathan East, Bass - Randy Newman, Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Orchestration, Synthesizer, MainArtist - LENNY WARONKER, Producer - Russ Titelman, Producer - MARK LINETT, Mixer, Engineer - Bob Fernandez, AssistantEngineer - DAVID PAICH, Fender Rhodes Piano - Lennny Castro, Percussion - Michael Boddicker, Synthesizer - STEVE LUKATHER, Guitar
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
Album review
Randy Newman began the slow process of transforming himself into a polished L.A. song-crafter on the album Little Criminals, and with Trouble in Paradise the metamorphosis was complete; by this time, Newman could make a record just as ear-pleasing as anything Paul Simon, Don Henley, or Lindsey Buckingham could come up with, and proved it by persuading all three to appear on the sessions. But no matter how polished the arrangements and smooth the production, Newman's songs don't sound like they're ready for radio, and he's too bright not to understand that songs about apartheid, self-pitying white bluesmen, and arrogant yuppies are poor prospects for the pop charts. Trouble in Paradise marked the high point of Newman's struggle between pop sheen and his satiric impulses, and the album is a significant improvement over Little Criminals and Born Again. The targets of Newman's satirical gaze are easy to skewer, and his pen is hardly subtle, but the overall tone is more respectful than on Born Again and the results are stronger. The bitter Afrikaner in "Christmas in Capetown" and the egocentric blowhard in "My Life Is Good" have at least earned Newman's disgust, and while many of the character studies ("Mikey," "I'm Different") and vignettes ("Miami," "Take Me Back") take a less than charitable view of their protagonists, like the losers and half-wits that populate Good Old Boys, they're human beings whose flaws reveal a hint of tragedy. And the closing number, "Song for the Dead," is a stunner in which a soldier explains to the bodies he's burying the purpose behind the war that took their lives. While too slick for Newman's core audience, Trouble in Paradise was his most intelligent and best realized work since Good Old Boys, and his finest album of the 1980s.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:39:44
- Main artists: Randy Newman
- Composer: Randy Newman
- Label: Warner Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 1983 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1983 Warner Records Inc.
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