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Rating: "In Flight" can be considered a "missed small masterpiece", a halfway dream to be rediscovered and appreciated in its tender imperfection.
In 1995, leaving the Four Non Blondes after a sole album, the excellent "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!", and the famous hit "What's Up" which, despite themselves, made the band a classic example of a "one-hit wonder", Linda Perry returned the following year with "In Flight", her first solo album.
"I wasn't a big fan of my group" she said, referring particularly to their sound, which she claimed was "a sleek and softened bulls***", and indeed in this work of her own there is little, if anything, of that captivating yet catchy mix of rock, blues, and funky that had brought her success a few years earlier.
"In Flight" is a surprisingly restless and introspective album, characterized by a singer-songwriter style that at times is too ambitious, yet precisely for this reason has a very direct and personal impact, sincere and ruthless yet sweet and gentle.
With "In my Dreams" you immediately find yourself immersed in a dark autumnal scene, where Perry's splendid voice, both sharp and sensitive, seems to paint hopes destined to vanish into nothing. Occasionally, glimpses of light appear, as in the elegant "Fill me Up" and "Freeway", the first and second singles respectively, but it is the melancholic reflective tones of the various "Uninvited", "Success", "Life in a Bottle", "Too Deep", and "Knock me Out" that characterize the true soul of the album.
There are also moments of apparent lightheartedness in "Taken" and "Fruitloop Daydream", however, they are suffocated by the closing tracks "Machine Man" and "In Flight", which unfold slowly leaving the listener with a bitter taste in their mouth, a feeling that intensifies upon learning the fate of this work.
As it is said regarding it, "In Flight" is indeed a flight that never took off.
Not supported by the record label, which expected something more commercial, the album turned out to be a sales flop, marking the artist's career almost definitively.
It's true, today one can say that Perry has achieved many satisfactions as a producer and songwriter for other singers, but considering this album there is a distinct feeling that she could have given much more to music. A shame.
Rating: 7+/10
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Fill Me Up (05:00)
Wake me up when
The party's over
It seems I've had too much wine
Please remember
to remind me
If I had a good time
Was I friendly?
Or was I bragging?
And did I start to bore you?
Was I charming?
Or was I absent?
Did I even say goodnight?
Fill me up lets take a ride
From your mouth into my mind
Cause I grow weary from this trip I'm on, Yeah
And the ride keeps getting longer
And in morning
I'll be hungover with my face into the phone
Please forgive here on after
By the way how'd I get home?
Was I laughing?
Was I choking?
And did I start to annoy you?
Was I sleazy?
Or was I dazzling?
Did I even say goodbye?
Fill me up lets take a ride
From your mouth into my mind
Cause I grow weary from this trip I'm on, Yeah
And the ride keeps getting longer
So wake me up when the party's over
I seems I've had too much wine
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