Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Richard Marx is more than just a Songwriter, he is one of those blessed individuals whose very name is synonymous with the art he has immersed himself within, a creator who stands alongside and shoulder to shoulder with many of the greats of the 20th Century, and who has, if it were indeed possibly, surpassed himself as in the following decades has become established in the minds of the modern music listener.
The Songwriter can be overlooked if they only produce songs for others to take the limelight, content to stand in the shadows as their words, their beliefs are held by others in the awe of rapturous applause, the stage and the audience exulting the ones who give the performance, not the ones who sweated, perhaps even with tears of frustration and misery, with hope and dreams in their minds, and toiled to create the aural equivalent of Constable’s The Haywain, or Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading The People.
Overlooked, not in his lifetime, and certainly not after it, Richard Marx has led his own liberty, he has put words to the pain felt by those in loss, in breakups, he has painted the imagery of the wronged man, the suspect, the lover, and he continues to do so, and in his latest album, Songwriter, the muse is shared, but also remains constant, faithful to the last to the Chicago- born musician, and one that reminds the listener of all he has contributed to in his long and exceedingly enlightened career.
An album packed full of emotions, split four ways between Pop, Rock, Country and Ballads, and with names such as Burt Bacharach, David Hodges, Matt Scannell, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, as well as his sons Lucas and Jesse, accompanying and supporting the rich textured voice and sublime music that the album offers as a near complete package.
Through tracks such as Same Heartbreak, Different Day, Only A Memory, Moscow Calling, Shame On You, One More Yesterday, One Day Longer, Breaking My Heart, Misery Loves Company, Always, As If We’ll Never Love Again, and Never After, Richard Marx excels at reading his audience in times of concern, in periods of emotional distraction, and gives them a reason to hold on to their heart to ensure it heals, or that it survives the onslaught of damage from outside events and from people to whom having a soul means little.
Songwriter is an album that perhaps frames Richard Marx at his best, not just with lyric and music, but with style, a master of the art he takes up the aural brush and paints the scenes with momentum and accuracy, not a single part of the canvas is left untouched, and yet like all good artists, he allows, he insists, that it is the listener who fills the painting with their own appreciation and imagination; a physical act to which few can emulate.
Ian D. Hall