Randy Newman
Bad Love

THE REVIEW

Randy Newman is undoubtedly a songwriter who breaks out of the mold: he has always had a musical education decidedly superior to the average of his singer-songwriter colleagues. He has often questioned the centrality of his songwriting career by frequently dedicating himself to soundtracks and theater music; in essence, he is truly an artist for whom, without rhetoric, the definition of “singer-songwriter” is very reductive. This is particularly evident in the '90s, when he left his audience dry of original material for a full 12 years, except for a theatrical reinterpretation of Faust and a multitude of soundtracks.

And so, he reappears at the end of the century, in 1999, with Bad Love, an album he himself counts among the best of his career. From a technical standpoint, we cannot disagree—it is an undeniably well-played album, arranged with great taste and, above all, well written. However, at several points, it feels like listening to a Randy Newman who has found his new dimension in repeating his personal recipe for a good song, for a good album. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but sometimes the impression is of facing almost perfect clones of his other tracks from the '70s: a few chords are changed, the framework alters slightly, the lyrics hit where they need to hit, but in the end, we already know the game. It is not surprising that the most focused and successful tracks on the album are precisely those born from Newman's recent experiences and feelings: so My Country is an heartfelt and effective critique of '90s American society, annihilated by television but still retains a soul and common spirit somewhere; similarly, Everytime it rains and I miss you are sincere, autobiographical ballads, written after the separation from his first wife. Likewise, it is easy to understand when Newman is singing what he essentially already sang twenty years before, but with a conviction and urgency that are evidently not replicable on demand.

Just like the subsequent albums, which to date are Harps and Angels and Dark Matter, Bad Love is a good album in style, illuminated by two or three flashes in which Newman reminds us that, when he truly believes in what he's singing, he is capable of telling his life and that of others with an originality and freshness that have few equals in the American singer-songwriter landscape.