WINWOOD WAS BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE AGAIN WITH THE SUPERGROUP OF `86

Another gem from the 80`s, and this time it isn`t from a commercial friendly AOR like bands which I have covered on here like Toto and Foreigner or anything quite like your typical 80`s pop, even though the result was an album that combined progressive rock dynamics with pop to produce a set of songs that were just made for FM radio back in 1986. 

Steve Winwood was his name, and the album was `Back In The High Life`.
Top album, even if it was a bit of a blues based rock sellout to compete with the slick rock trend of the time. 

Winwood had been attempting to smooth out the rough edges of his Spencer Davis style beginning with the transitional and underrated album `Arc Of A Diver` in 1980.

The more commercial sounding and upbeat `Talking Back To The Night`was still slightly understated like `Arc`, but the title track indicated where Winwood was heading to later on in the 80`s. 

Steve isn`t a great singer, he is a bit of a rambler whose multi-instrumental skills
far outweigh his vocal abilities, but he did improve on his singing as the 80`s wore on. 

Compared to his output with the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, his singing on `Back In The High Life` sounds a thousand

times better. 

The album was a much tighter set of melodic blues tinged contemporary rock and that probably helped in allowing him to sing at a much better pitch and with more confidence than he ever had, the album begins with the popular but often overlooked `Higher Love`.

The third song `Freedom Overspill` is a free flowing and less structured affair, while the all too cute but upbeat `The Finer Things` is groovy, reggae influenced contemporary rock at its best. 

The best song on HIGH LIFE to me is the synthesiser opus `Wake Me Up On Judgement Day`, in much the same mould as `Freedom Overspill` but with more rhythm to get it moving. 

The title track features a startling mandolin intro by Winwood, while not groundbreaking instrumentally it would have to be regarded as one of Winwood`s most convincing vocals. 

The fillers, like the Phil Collins influenced `Take It As It Comes` and the marginally
forced `Split Decision` are still good rock songs which dont detract too much from the standout four.

The album finishes with the rhythm-less `My Love`s Leavin`, a song that could have done with some more zest but Winwood`s vocal is good enough to save it from being a dud.

Winwood had a brilliant and much underrated supergroup backing him, and the modern and innovative blend of synthesisers, drum programming machines, trumpets, trombones, horns, as well as some dynamic drumming from a couple of humans welded together perfectly to make
what ended up being a great 80`s album. Winwood never bettered it.