Includes "Big Scary Animal" & "Lay Down Your Arms"

Track Listing

1. Goodbye Day
2. It's Too Real (Big Scary Animal)
3. Too Much Water
4. Lay Down Your Arms
5. Where Love Hides
6. One With You
7. Wrap My Arms
8. Tell Me
9. Windows Of The World
10. Here Comes My Baby

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106485 in Music
• Released on: 1993-10-01
• Number of discs: 1

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Customer Reviews

Belinda's most important album
I love this CD, and I think it clearly establishes Belinda Carlisle as a serious, powerful singer in her own right. This is a mature album in terms of the music and the lyrics; while faint echoes of the Go-Go's can be detected in a couple of songs, there is no sugary pop aspect to be found. She does indeed get real on these songs, going quite deep into the listener's soul. This music does differ from her earlier work somewhat, which explains to some degree why casual listeners might not recognize its merits without hearing the songs several times. Most unfortunately, many people never got a chance to hear a single track on here because radio stations largely ignored it. This is a recording of high quality, consistently enjoyable from start to finish.

It is strange in a way to detect traces of Go-Go's music in places here because in depth and emotional content these songs are on the opposite side of the spectrum from that great music from the past. "Goodbye Day" starts with a quick flurry of drums, which is a little unusual, but its vibrant, full sound makes it an excellent opening track. "Windows on the World" has somewhat of a Go-Go's music pace and sound, but it is by no means a meaningless pop song. "Tell Me" is a wonderful song. The verses have a slight Go-Go's feel to them, but the choruses take the intensity up several notches and imprint Belinda's individual voice on the song. It features an uptempo beat similar to that of "Lay Down Your Arms," but Belinda's singing gives this song the kind of emotional pathos it really needs. I really love "Lay Down Your Arms" because of its passionate and intense choruses; of all the songs on the album, this is the one that I often find replaying itself in my head. "Wrap My Arms" is another gem of a song which really seems to come from the heart.

I think the album is definitely geared more toward women than men, yet I as a man certainly treasure it. Its lyrics deal more with love's failures than love in and of itself. "Lay Down Your Arms" is a passionate appeal to rebuild a relationship that is being pulled apart by the man. "It's Too Real" is a catchy song reflecting the inherent tensions between men and women: "Who wants to live in a man's world?" Belinda asks. "Too Much Water" is a slow song with a gentle rhythm in the background that makes me think of waves washing on the beach. It is an emotional song about relationships washing away when the bridges connecting us emotionally fall down. "Where Love Hides" is one of Belinda's better slow, melancholy songs. Following it, however, we have a real rocker of a song called "One With You." The two songs offer an interesting contrast to one another. The first one is about longing for an undiscovered love; the second one is a straightforward appeal to a specific person.

Any doubts about the merits of the album disappear completely when one hears "Here Comes My Baby." The relatively quick pace of the songs preceding it makes its tender beauty stand out all the more. Belinda always ends her albums with a particularly impressive song, and "Here Comes My Baby" is second to no other. In a way this album has it all, from fast-paced songs to tender ballads; it should amaze rather than disappoint any Belinda Carlisle fan.

This is the real Belinda
Real, in my opinion, is one of her best recordings. It rocks, it's mature and with Belinda co-writing about 6/10 of the songs is what makes "Real" real. I hadn't heard of Real's existance until one day when I was in the cd store I just happened to walk by and with a glance I saw her there standing proudly in Belinda Carlisle's cd section in all its beauty, it was Real. I thought how strange I haven't heard of its release and none of the Milwaukee radio stations gave Real any air-play. So I bought it not knowing what to expect or even how it sounded, but I'm glad I did. Lay Down Your Arms is my fav as is Too Much Water, Tell Me, Good Bye Day, Where Love Hides, Big Scary Animal, and Here Comes My Baby.

Criminally Ignored CD
As a BC fan since 1988 I can say that this album is excellent. Don't expect many catchy pop tunes - this is serious stuff. Belinda must have taken a knock when she saw the sales figures especially when you consider she co-wrote over half the album. (On nearly all her other albums she played virtually no part in the songwriting). This CD just goes to show that there are great albums out there that were commercial flops.

Buy it - and make sure you play it several times over to appreciate it.