ROBERT PALMER : Music & Style

Titre : Honey

Date de publication : 1994

Label : EMI

Type : Album

Classement : UK#25

Morceaux :

1. Honey A

2. Honey B

3. You're Mine

4. Know By Now

5. Nobody But You

6. Love Takes Time

7. Honeymoon

8. You Blow Me Away

9. Close To The Edge

10. Closer To THe Edge

11. Girl U Want

12. Wham Bam Boogie

13. Big Trouble

14. Dreams Come True

L'édition japonaise comprend un titre bonus :

15. No Fuss 

Une réédition de l'album chez Edsel (2012) intègre des morceaux supplémentaires:

Know By Now (Pinaxa Mix) 

In The Stars 

You Blow Me Away (remix Edit) 

You Blow Me Away (Alge Mix) 

Simples :

• Girl U Want  b/w  No Fuss (7")
• Girl U Want  + Girl U Want - Pinaxa mix + No Fuss (CD single)
• Girl U Want  + Know By Now + Girl U Want - Pinaxa mix (JP CD single)
• Girl U Want  + No Fuss (Cass single)
• Know By Now - radio edit  b/w  Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You (7")
• Know By Now - radio edit  + In The Stars + Simply Irresistible + Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You (CD single)
• Know By Now - radio edit  + In The Stars + Know By Now - Pinaxa mix + She Makes My Day (CD single)
• Know By Now - radio edit  + In The Stars + Know By Now - Pinaxa mix + She Makes My Day + Girl U Want (AU CD single)
• Know By Now - radio edit + Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You (Cass single)
• Know By Now  + In The Stars (US Cass single)
• You Blow Me Away  b/w  Simply Irresistible (7")
• You Blow Me Away - album version + remix edit + Alge mix + Change His Ways (CD single)
• You Blow Me Away + No Control + You Blow Me Away - Karaoke mix + Know By Now (CD single)
• You Blow Me Away + Simply Irresistible (Cass single)
• Girl U Want + You Blow Me Away + Know By Now + Wham Bam Boogie + Love Takes Time (promo CD sampler)

Critiques / Reviews :

• "Though he’s best known for a few hits (and videos), Robert Palmer has been making music for over two decades. His new album reflects his experience like a well-aged bottle of wine, graceful and dignified. The most impressive aspect of the record is the versatility he displays, throwing in a sampling of world music on the track 'Honey B', a bit of a twang on 'Honeymoon' and his own sound from the mid-’80s on 'Nobody But U'. Most delightful is the full-blown blue-eyed soul on 'Love Takes Time' and the scaled-down soul on 'You Blow Me Away'. It’s not a style done well very often anymore, making the times it is done right that much more special." (Cash Box)

• "Robert Palmer has always been one of those performers who has consistently released good material, and only now and then been recognised by the general public at large. He seems to go through short periods of quite remarkable success, then longer periods of public unawareness. Must be very frustrating for him! I'm not really sure that this new album 'Honey' will catapult him back to the top of the charts either. That's not to say it's not good, but more so, that it just doesn't seem to have that outstanding track or two which would guarantee him success on the singles charts. In fact after hearing the first single, a cover version of the old Devo rocker 'Girl U Want', I expected the album to be a real driving rocker. Just goes to show how wrong you can be! Prior to that there's some really well constructed, mellow, and in some cases reggae tunes to keep the listener entertained. In fact it takes well over half an hour of enjoyable listening before the album starts to rock and roll. Probably the pick of the early parts of the album would be 'Honey B', 'Know By Now' and 'Love Takes Time'. As I said, it really starts to get jumping after about half an hour, and songs like 'Closer To The Edge', 'Wham Bam Boogie' and 'Big Trouble' should satisfy the rocker in everybody. Check out the guitar work too. Featuring Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme, you just know that it's going to be good. (...) All in all, 'Honey' from Robert Palmer is mainly one for the Palmer fans." (Port Lincoln Times)

• "Every once in a while, you encounter an album so stunning in its cluelessness that it's like coming up on a car wreck. Robert Plamer's 'Honey' is precisely that, a mangled mess of music that you'll run away from with your eyes averted. It accelerates the decline of a career that once had its moments. One could guess by the cover not to expect any originality: A smirking Palmer is pictured with a fresh-faced model planting a kiss upon his cheek. It's another of his seemingly endless references to his biggest hit, 'Addicted To Love', with its video of pouting models  miming instruments. After a useless intro, Palmer's title cut is sort of a low-rent Paul Simon or Peter Gabriel. To a disjointed island beat, Palmer sings some gibberish about marijuana and urges his 'honey bee' to 'establish a colony'. 'Honeymoon' is a similar island embarrassment. Palmer is distressingly off-key in a ballad filled with lyrics trite and ridiculous. 'I can hear your melting heart', he swoons. Huh? 'Know By Now' is the only serviceable cut, but it is so bereft of originality that you'll swear you heard it 10 times before. Palmer usually shows astute taste in cover songs, but here takes Devo's peppy fluffball, 'Girl U Want', and blows it up into a metallic monster. This is a cynical piece of work for which Palmer - who produced it and wrote all of the songs except for the Devo cover - has only himself to blame." Rating : One star (Kentucky New Era)