Kenny Rogers - Eyes That See In The Dark

Album  :  Eyes That See In The Dark

Artist  :  Kenny Rogers

Genre  :  Pop

Year  :  1983

- Tracks -  (favorites in pink)

01.) This Woman
02.) You And I
03.) Buried Treasure
04.) Islands In The Stream
05.) Living With You
06.) Evening Star
07.) Hold Me
08.) Midsummer Nights
09.) I Will Always Love you
10.) Eyes That See In The Dark

   This is another LP from the height of Kenny Rogers' career.  Produced by Barry Gibb, with guest appearance by the Bee Gees, the Gatlin Brothers, and of course, Dolly Parton dropping by to sing the mega-hit duet, Islands In The Stream, which I found to be interesting in the fact that they trade off singing the lead and harmony.

   For some inexplicable reason, Eyes That See In The Dark, like the KR album Gideon (reviewed here), is not available as MP3 downloads from both Amazon and iTunes.  At least it is somewhat more-remembered than Gideon: 31 people have left ratings/and reviews for it at Amazon.

    This LP actually comes from my personal collection.  It is Liz's personal favorite Kenny Rogers album, and it is likely she who purchased it.  I eschewed the scratch-removing software again, because I am somewhat of an audiophile.  It is slightly embarrassing then, to admit that the bargain-bin Gideon LP was in better shape than this one.  Both had about a half-dozen significant scratches, but my LP had a lot more minor ones.

    I'm impressed how smoothly the Bee Gees and Kenny Rogers blend together.  I like this album almost as much as Gideon.  My only quibble is that it contains too many sappy ballads for my taste, especially Side 2.  But then again, what would you expect from something produced by one of the Bee Gees?

Kenny Rogers - Gideon

Album  :  Gideon

Artist  :  Kenny Rogers

Genre  :  Country, Pop

Year  :  1980

- Tracks -  (favorites in pink)

01.) Goin' Home to the Rock
02.) Gideon Tanner
03.) No Good Texas Rounder
04.) Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer
05.) The Buckeroos
06.) You were a Good Friend
07.) Call Me Up
08.) These Chains
09.) Somebody Help Me
10.) One Place in the Night
11.) Sayin' Goodbye
12.) Goin' Home to the Rock

    You're Kenny Rogers.  You've had two straight smash-hit albums ("The Gambler" (5x-platinum; 1978) and "Kenny" (3x-platinum; 1979).  How do you possibly follow them up?

   Answer : by doing a concept album, a retrospective story of a cowboy (and somewhat of a scoundrel) named Gideon Tanner.  All songs were penned by Kim Carnes, who wrote them with Kenny Rogers specifically in mind.  He returned the favor by singing a duet with her on the one radio-play hit from the LP, Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer.

    I picked this LP up a couple weeks ago for $2.99 at Half Price Books.  It was in pristine condition; maybe a dozen scratches or so.  So I removed them manually, which helps preserve the original audio quality, especially the highs and lows.

    Gideon was a wonderfully pleasant discovery for me, with fantastic lyrics (thank you, Kim!), excellent musicianship, smooth vocals, and almost no filler.  Tracks 10 and 11 are ballads, which I found to be a bit ...well... slow.  But I could've marked all the other tracks above in pink.  Track after track is one treat after another.

    Truth be told, Gideon didn't quite meet the dizzying success of its two predecessors.  It only achieved single-platinum status.  Surprisingly, Amazon doesn't offer this album as MP3 downloads, and the audio CD will run you a mind-numbing $49.99.  Presumably because it's an import.  Over the years, only nine people have left comments/ratings for the album on Amazon.  Fame is apparently fleeting.

    If you come across this album - vinyl, CD, or otherwise - snatch it up, and give it a listen.  You'll not be disappointed.