What a Feelin'

Album review

As a general rule, you would expect that an album featuring a gold-selling number one hit, a Top Ten hit, and two Top 40 follow-ups would itself be a considerable success, but Irene Cara's second album had trouble staying among the 100 best-sellers. Why? That chart-topper, "Flashdance...What a Feeling," had come the previous spring, and most people who wanted to own it had purchased it either as a single or on the multi-platinum soundtrack album. Plus, Cara never established a base beyond her individual hits. This wasn't surprising, really, since, despite her participation as singer and co-lyricist, Cara essentially was the mouthpiece of Euro-disco producer Giorgio Moroder on these recordings. Thus, although she was all over the airwaves in 1983-1984, and although this album contained all five of her chart entries from the period, Cara herself failed to benefit over the long term, and as a glut for this kind of material set in, she was left behind.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo