Album review : JOHN MILES – The Albums 1983 – 1993 (3 CDs)

Cherry Red [Release date : 19.07.24]

Behind the John Miles’ name and his launchpad hit single ‘Music (Was My First Love)’ in 1976, there lay a musician whose full-on career in music can barely be crammed into a Wikipedia page.

Born and bred in England’s north east, Miles paid his dues in local bands before going solo.

Despite the fact that the heat of fame generated by that hit single eventually dissipated, Miles went on to enjoy a lifetime career as a musical artist, recording 8 albums – the most recent 3 are celebrated in this boxset collection.

Fans and followers of the man and his band will know that he was an in demand singer and musician, playing on Joe Cocker, Jimmy Page and Alan Parsons’ albums, and serving as Tina Turner’s touring music director from the years 1987 to 2009.

CD1 : Play On (1983)
CD2 : Transition (1985)
CD3 : Up Front (1993)

By 1983, it was clear that Miles had gone out of fashion, only the wise old owls of the Music Press recognised that the man’s exceptional songwriting talent sailed on.

Play On had a slick, Americanised sound.

Two singles were released from the album.
The bright and breezy ‘Song For You’ had touches of Michael McDonald’s blue eyed soul, as yet unsullied by the hard rock and glam working their way across the Atlantic.

The beautifully orchestrated‘The Right To Sing’ was ‘Music Was My First Love’s little brother. But the heightened emotions of Miles’s polished, pleading delivery no longer struck a chord with the public or the press.

Problem was, pop music culture was now embracing the MTV age, and Miles’s music was moored in an AC past.

His popularity – mainly due to the annual ‘Night Of The Proms’, held annually throughout Europe – kept his profile high where it counted, and that carried momentum into his 1985 album, Transition.

Again, two singles, released in hope rather than expectation.
The slick, Americanised AOR flavouring was still strong.

‘Blinded’ was a huge, chest beating ballad, borrowing heavily from Air Supply and Meatloaf. Ten years earlier, Miles’ powerful, impassioned vocal would have carried the song into the charts.

Another ballad, ‘I Need Your Love’ was typically hot blooded. The arrangement hovers between expertly done and MOR, which is inclined to suck some of the life out of it. Time to move on.

1993 album, Upfront, again had a few single releases.

The sweetly orchestrated ‘One More Day’ dips into US styled soft rock, an Anglicised version of Foreigner and Peter Cetera, while the emphatic ‘Oh How The Years’ has a got a bit of soul music in its DNA, and is all the better for it.

From there, Miles moved into the world of Stage Musicals, all well documented on various online sites.

His death in 2021 ended a significant career that too often flew under pop music’s radar. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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