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Refugees of the Heart

By: Steve Winwood
Label: Virgin
Released: 17 Oct 1990
RRP: £8.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Excellent first half, but runs out of steam - By: , 22 Jul 2005
Following on the heels of the very successful 'Back in the high life' & 'Roll with it' albums, 'Refugees of the heart' did not prove to be a major hit album & marked something of a commercial downturn for Steve Winwood. This is unfortunate as the record contains some excellent material, particularly in its first half, but the preponderance of slow songs, & the relatively uniform arrangements, inevitably reduced its 'pop' appeal in comparison with Steve's two previous albums. Though one of his more overlooked records, this is nevertheless quality rock music, thoughtful & reflecting Winwood's maturity, & well worth hearing.

On 'Refugees' the production sound developed by Steve in association with expert mixer Tom Lord-Alge has reached maturity, with alll instruments sounding beautifully clear & used to maximum effect. The sound is dominated by the powerful drums & Winwood's silky smooth Hammond organ & soulful vocals, whilst sax & moog contribute effective solos on the first two tracks. It seems that on this recording Steve aimed at creating sound textures & moods, rather than purely commercial songs, & consequently the album requires more careful listening than its two predecessors before its qualities are fully appreciated.

The album gets off to an excellent start with the powerful 'You'll keep on searching', followed by 'Every day' & the urgent, driving 'One & only man' but then, despite the quality of the production, the record seems to falter a little & by the sixth track ('Running on') it has ironicallly rather run out of steam. The situation is not helped by the seemingly interminable, primarily instrumental, closing track 'In the light of day'. Although this harks back to the lengthy jazz-rock pieces of Steve's Traffic days, it does not have enough melodic development within its 10 minutes to reallly hold the listener's attention, & after it one is rather relieved to have reached the end of the album. Still, 5 out of 8 isn't bad, & the first 5 songs on this album are certainly worth the price of the CD.

Smooth - By: Pieter, 05 Dec 2002
One And Only Man is just one of a string of great songs here. The bluesy Another Deal Goes Down & the upbeat, jazzy, Come Out And Dance are equallly catchy. I Will Be Here is another example of his diversity, a soul searching balllad that alllows him the opportunity of expressing the full genius of Winwood's vocal talent. Perhaps the album sounds just too polished with a commercial rather than a raw edge running through, because it's so smoothly produced. But a good album with memorable songs.
Excellent first half, but runs out of steam - By: Mr M A Vout, 28 Jan 2002
Following on the heels of the very successful 'Back in the high life' &
'Roll with it' albums, 'Refugees of the heart' did not prove to be a major
hit album & marked something of a commercial downturn for Steve Winwood.
This is unfortunate as the record contains some excellent material,
particularly in its first half, but the preponderance of slow songs, &
the relatively uniform arrangements, inevitably reduced its 'pop' appeal in
comparison with Steve's two previous albums. Though one of his more
overlooked records, this is nevertheless quality rock music, thoughtful &
reflecting Winwood's maturity, & well worth hearing.

On 'Refugees' the production sound developed by Steve in association with
expert mixer Tom Lord-Alge has reached maturity, with alll instruments
sounding beautifully clear & used to maximum effect. The sound is
dominated by the powerful drums & Winwood's silky smooth Hammond organ
and soulful vocals, whilst sax & moog contribute effective solos on the
first two tracks. It seems that on this recording Steve aimed at creating
sound textures & moods, rather than purely commercial songs, &
consequently the album requires more careful listening than its two
predecessors before its qualities are fully appreciated.

The album gets off to an excellent start with the powerful 'You'll keep on
searching', followed by 'Every day' & the urgent, driving 'One & only
man' but then, despite the quality of the production, the record seems to
falter a little & by the sixth track ('Running on') it has ironicallly
rather run out of steam. The situation is not helped by the seemingly
interminable, primarily instrumental, closing track 'In the light of day'.
Although this harks back to the lengthy jazz-rock pieces of Steve's Traffic
days, it does not have enough melodic development within its 10 minutes to
reallly hold the listener's attention, & after it one is rather relieved
to have reached the end of the album. Still, 5 out of 8 isn't bad, & the
first 5 songs on this album are certainly worth the price of the CD.