HOLD ON TO LOVE

While I still think that "In the City of Angels" is a very Pop Rock album from JON ANDERSON, very eighties influenced in musical style and production, it is a good album, anyway. And the best song from this album (in my opinion) was released in the Side One of this single / EP in 1988, along with a very commercial promotional video clip on which even Chris Squire appears briefly "playing" a contra- bass. In fact, it was thanks to that video clip, which I watched on TV once, that I listened to "Hold On To Love" for the first time in the late eighties.

"Hold On To Love" was composed by Anderson with Lamont Dozier, who is one of the persons in the trio of composers (Holland-Dozier-Holland) who composed a lot of songs for several Motown Records artists in the sixties (one of them were THE SUPREMES, a trio of female singers) and even THE BEATLES played and / or recorded some of their songs. The production of this song in particular is very good, with very good session musicians playing the song with very good arrangements. The song does not sound as a Motown song in musical style, but it is very good for my taste, even if it is a bit commercial. It has some very good keyboard arrangements which for me are the best part of the song.

"In a Lifetime", another song composed by Anderson and Dozier, is a ballad, a love song, which also shows some eighties music influences. It is maybe a bit "sugar song", but good, anyway.

By the way: Lamont Dozier also composed some songs with Phil Collins in 1988 for the soundtrack of the "Buster" movie, on which Collins had the main acting character.

"Sundancing (For The Hopi / Navajo Energy)" is a song composed by Anderson alone which has some New Age / World Music influences, sounding a bit similar in musical style to "Teakbois", a song which he was going to record for the "ANDERSON, BRUFORD, WAKEMAN, HOWE" album in 1989.

Three songs from the "In the City of Angels" album released in this single / EP, very eighites in production and style, but good anyway. Very well produced, sung, and recorded with very good session musicians. It is a very professional job, in my opinion.