Track Listing

1. Once Upon A Time
2. Faster And Faster To Nowhere
3. Fairy Tale High
4. Say Something Nice
5. Now I Need You
6. Working The Midnight Shift
7. Queen For A Day
8. If You Got It Flaunt It
9. Man Like You
10. Sweet Romance
11. Dance Into My Life
12. Rumour Has It
13. I Love You
14. Happily Ever After

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31183 in Music
• Released on: 1995-12-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
Although disco is primarily thought of as a singles-based music, Donna Summer and her primary collaborators, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, indulged in some fairly ambitious concept albums that belie that simplistic assertion. ONCE UPON A TIME is one of their most wide-ranging efforts, a double-album modern-day fairy tale that truly only makes sense when listened to as a whole, rendering Summer's inter-song narration and Moroder and Bellotte's use of repeated musical elements much more effectively. Of course, this didn't really help the album reach its dance-floor audience; it was a comparative flop, with the single "I Love You" barely cracking the Top 40. In retrospect, however, ONCE UPON A TIME has become a firm fan favourite, with the anthemic "Queen for a Day" and the funky-yet-symphonic title track among Summer's most beloved songs.

Customer Reviews

One of the best albums of the 1970s
This really is not only the best disco album ever made but also one of the best (double!) albums of the 1970s. Across its original four sides the inventiveness, rhythm and melody never flag and Summer's voice floats effortlessly above the Moroder/Bellotte disco machine.

As for the original album's side two (Now I Need You / Working The Midnight Shift / Queen For A Day) synth-whizz Giorgio Moroder never created anything finer. It makes today's dance music (bloated on easy-to-programme samplers, synths and sequencers) sound childish by comparison.

I have both original UK and US pressings of this album and I can assure any propective buyers that this CD release is absolutely identical in running order (and musical segues) to the original album. I recall that the original 1977 German double album was misleadingly labeled so perhaps they are confusing it with that edition?

(Universal Records - if you're reading: this classic CD was mastered back in the late 1980s and could certainly benefit from some new high-definition remastering!)

The Definition of DISCO - The definitive Donna Summer albun!
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviews....
I just wanted to re-emphasize a couple of points: Like a previous reviewer mentioned; Anyone who has ever said DISCO music is crap, or childish, or rubbish, or whatever, etc., etc., etc., has never heard any tracks from this album...and if they ever did, had no idea they were actually listening to so-called "DISCO" music.
If you never buy any other Donna Summer album (or any other disco album for that matter) but still want to have an idea of what all the fuss on DISCO was about back in her hay days, this is the album to get....original sequence or not. Having said that about the sequence...this album still has to be treated (and listened to) like you read a book, meaning you must start with track 1, and listen unbroken to the end of the whole album - because it is essentially a story set to music - IT COULD REALISTICALLY ACTUALLY BE CONVERTED TO A STAGE MUSICAL - AN OPERA! (which is why I reckon it had to be a double album) as a standard 2-sided single album would not have been enough time to do the story justice!

The music was way, way ahead of its time, and still is...because I listen to this album today and wish music being made today still sounded this gorgeous --- think of it as delicious ice cream for your ears!!!

Music Heaven with Once Upon A Time
This album is a superb collection of songs that tap the feet, move and seal Donna's title as the Queen of Disco. But the album offers more: tracks such as 'Man Like You', 'Sweet Romance' are as soulful as anything Aretha Franklin or any other female singer of this ilk has achieved. 'I Love You' is one of my favourite Disco songs ever and always reqested at discos. The music takes you into the stratosphere of love. 'Once Upon A Time', 'Fairy Tale High' and 'Happily Ever After' go hand in hand and are the stuff that dreams are made of. Music cannot get any sweeter than this and what is remarkable about this album is how it not only showcases Donna's amazing vocal ability and versatility as an Artist but also her astute commentary of modern living. 'Faster & Faster to Nowhere' sums up the essence of inner city life of today.