Track Listing

1. Natural High
2. I'm Waiting For The Man
3. Silver And Gold
4. Be My Baby
5. Lonely Rainbows
6. Sunday Mondays
7. Your Love Has Got A Handle On My Mind
8. The Future Song
9. Paradis
10. Just As Long As You Are There
11. Gotta Have It

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69371 in Music
• Released on: 2000-12-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 37 minutes

Customer Reviews

Surprising and fun
For a long time (well, since this was released 15 years ago) I've had the song "Be My Baby" floating intermittently around my mind. So, finally, I have decided to buy the album it came from.

In many ways, Vanessa Paradis has a breathy, sweet Kylie-ish voice which, though delicate, certainly is not slight, and this first English-language effort shows it off to great effect. It shouldn't really work but, honestly, it does. And how. Slipping a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man" into the picture takes some chutzpah, but it doesn't fall flat.

At the time there were rumours that she was involved with Lenny Kravitz, who did pretty much everything on this album. Considering that it was written when Kravitz was in a pretty purple patch, he hasn't skimped on good quality material either, so the songs are generally first rate, especially the aforementioned, Phil Spector-ish Be My Baby, and Sunday Mondays.

The overall feel is light, poppy and soulful, which would be easy to put down to Kravitz alone. That would be a mistake; without Vanessa Paradis' voice this album simply would not sound as good as it undoubtedly does.

Retro-hippy-girl-motown -chic -r&b- French -chick- thing
I missed this album when it came out in 1992. I only remember critics panning it as a Lenny Kravitz ego-trip. And true, his production is all over it but it sounds great. Vanessa Paradis is very under-rated. I love the understated nature of her performances - by that, I mean she doesn't go in for ridiculous, over the top vocal gymnastics like Mariah Carey and her ilk. She just nails a song straight and simple. Her backing harmonies are top class too. This album covers a variety of r&b styles from the catchy Diana Ross sound of "Be my baby", sixties pop of "Sunday Mondays" to the rousing gospel sound of "Just as long as you are there" and the soul of "Your love has got a handle on my mind." There are a couple of nice ballads too. The Velvet Underground's "I'm waiting for my man" may seem an odd choice for squeaky-clean Vanessa (I wonder did she understand it fully?)but it sounds good. If you're looking for an introduction to Vanessa Paradis but are put off by French, this is her only all English album. The great Duke Ellington once said the only rule in music is "if it sounds good, it is good." This sounds great to my ears.

Distinctive, not unsophisticated, great voice if you like it
Lorksalordy I can't believe no-one wrote a review of this album. Okay, it's not an absolute stunner but it will fit a slot in a record collection that is hard to fill with anything else, hence a 4-star rating. Key to all this is the way she sings, which some might hate but if you like her voice then the tunes are good, the arrangements professional (no great fan of Lenny myself, but he's a pro and has a knack for a catchy tune) and this album doesn't seem to fade with time. As a friend used to say off-handedly, it fits a mood, which is actually a fine recommendation. That mood itself probably belongs near the end of a party, after the dance music but before sleepy jazz, or on a late, lazy, sunny afternoon.