Bonnie Tyler
Faster Than The Speed Of Night

Janis Joplin had a hoarse, rough voice. It was the late '60s, and legends said it was the abuse of smoking, alcohol, and drugs that made it that way.
Bonnie Tyler has a hoarse, rough voice. But the legends that accompany her at the dawn of the '80s are a bit different... It is said that the young Englishwoman Gaynor Hopkins, even before realizing that to make it big there would definitely need to be a new name, was in the hospital after a vocal cords operation. She had, as one might easily imagine, the absolute ban on speaking. But how can you stay silent when they serve you a bowl of strawberries without cream! Gaynor shouted, and that scream was her blessing...
The difference between these two stories is directly proportional to the difference between the two eras in which they are set.

When "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" was released, we were indeed in the midst of the new wave that shook music after the '70s. It was 1983, and Bonnie Tyler's third incredibly successful studio album can be considered one of the finest examples of the musical trends of the moment.
A light, easy-listening, unpretentious music was born. In discos around the world, people no longer danced to the notes of great disco orchestras filled with overwhelming brass and percussion. The new music was electronic, and to be successful, one needed to dress like extraterrestrials on leave.
It would be useless to reopen debates about change... So let's try not to notice the bush of teased hair this woman had on her head and focus on the content of the album, the result of the collaboration with skilled producer Jim Steinman (the same one who would bring Bonnie back to the top of the charts worldwide the following year with the famous "Holding Out For A Hero").

The album opens with the reinterpretation of "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The electronic drums, electric guitars, and powerful interpretation appear as an excellent statement of intent. The difference with the original is abysmal; John Fogerty and company's classic is transformed into a stadium power ballad perfectly balanced between rock and pop, like many that would be heard in the following years.
The next track, the one chosen to give the entire work its title, is the first of the two tracks penned by Steinman. "Faster Than The Speed Of Night" does not change genre but amplifies the starting points exceptionally, thanks to the elaborate arrangements and the superb performance of the musicians. A track of enormous energetic impact, to be listened to strictly at extremely high volume.
Highest marks also for the following "Getting So Exciting", a sensual and highly successful soft-dance piece, the result of very meticulous production work.

The immortal song of the album is "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", from Steinman's pen, destined to remain one of the most famous slow songs of the decade. Once again, the care of the arrangement and the power of the emotional impact are astonishing, between the suspended choirs of the verses and the opening of the refrains.
After the fun disco-reggae of "It's A Jungle Out There", however, begins a declining phase. The album falls back on easily catchy and somewhat unoriginal FM rock ("Goin' Through The Motion", "Tears", "Take Me Back"), though supported by the interpretation, which is always exceptional.
"Straight From The Heart", an intense ballad by Bryan Adams, manages to close the work worthily.

"Faster Than The Speed Of Night" is a record of fashionable music and surely feels the weight of the years, but once understood, it can be appreciated as an expression of an era, as well as for the undeniable talents that worked on it.
Bonnie Tyler's success, as easily understood, ended abruptly after just a few years (suffice it to say that she recorded "Save Up All Your Tears" and "The Best" without causing any stir before they became two worldwide hits by Cher and Tina Turner, respectively).

She has the ability to be content with having remained, for better or worse, one of the symbols of a musical phenomenon, perhaps not the most glorious, but certainly one of the brightest in terms of variety and lightheartedness.