Don’t Explain

RELEASE
LABEL
EMI Music Distribution
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary, Blue-Eyed Soul, Soul, Album Rock, Dance-Rock

Album Review

Robert Palmer's second EMI album, which turned out to be a sales disappointment, seems to combine two different musical concepts in its 18 tracks. The first is a straightforward, rhythm-heavy Robert Palmer rock album that takes up about the first half of the record. The second is a soundtrack for a planned musical that a Palmer bio describes as "a futuristic comedy using telling songs from the '40s to the present day," some produced by jazzman Teo Macero. These include songs like Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (done reggae style), Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" and "I Want You," and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "People Will Say We're in Love." The idea looks forward to Palmer's next album, Ridin' High, which is comprised entirely of standards, but the mixture of rhythm tracks and string-filled arrangements here makes for a confusing mixture.
William Ruhlmann, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. Your Mother Should Have Told You
  2. Light-Years
  3. You Can't Get Enough of a Good Thing
  4. Dreams to Remember
  5. You're Amazing
  6. Mess Around
  7. Happiness
  8. History
  9. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
  10. Housework
  11. Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You
  12. Don't Explain
  13. Aeroplane
  14. People Will Say We're in Love
  15. Not a Word
  16. Top 40
  17. You're So Desirable
  18. You're My Thrill