Review Summary: Rick Springfield yet again confirms his pop-rock karma.
After over ten years of musical absence, pop-rock hero Rick Springfield returned, presenting to the world his new album with a somewhat intriguing title:
Karma. So, could it satisfy his fans following a whole decade? And what could the singer offer, since he quietly skipped an entire epoch – the 1990s, a period of musical revolutions and breakthroughs, a time when many musicians achieved fame or even cult status while others managed only to warily welcome the dusk of their greatness?
It is an undisputed accomplishment that Rick sounds refreshed and rested, as if after an extended vacation – something not many others can manage following a long hiatus or long-awaited reunion. The stylistic baggage of the 80s was discarded as useless; past hit-making advances were noted, developed, and expertly placed on modern-sounding rails.
As for the songs, despite the narrow genre constraints Springfield operates within, he hit upon an almost ideal balance of rockers and ballads, in addition to an abundance of great melodies that grab you by the heart and please the unpretentious ear. The album opener,
It’s Always Something, already includes the recipe (winding guitar fills, a catchy chorus, a memorable melody, and a pulsating beat) used later on in various proportions (
Beautiful Prize or the heaviest track on the album,
In Veronica’s Head). In
Prayer, a thick and persistent bassline leads the rest, creating another hook-filled pop song with a typical (in a good way) Springfield-ian chorus and pre-chorus.
Among ballads and mid-tempo cuts of note is
Religion of the Heart, which is cleverly encrusted with low-key yet prominent and Clapton-like homely guitar whirls against an Elton John-esque melody. Another one is title track, with its expected Eastern motifs and an unexpected, rockier chorus and bridge that open up the arrangement. The only downside of the track is its brevity, despite the fact that it is longer than the average duration of other cuts. It would seem in this instance that a longer running time could have amplified the innate epicness of the song.
The most diverse and, arguably, best tracks on the album are
Shock to My System and
The White Room. The former deploys its arsenal with an R&B rhythm to fire on all cylinders in the chorus while simultaneously developing the Eastern vibe employed on
Karma. The latter suddenly changes mood during the chorus, switching from a contemplative and touching cut to a practically arena-rock number before reverting.
The overall picture is somewhat blemished by the final three tracks, which are run-of-the-mill and border on filler quality (
Ordinary Girl,
Act of Faith,
Hey Maria), but this shortcoming is more than outweighed by the previous set of songs and has almost no impact on the pleasant aftertaste.
And so, Rick Springfield circa 1999 stepped back into the ranks in great shape, serving his fans an accomplished pop-rock album: a gruff but tender voice against a soft and feathery yet precise and distinct guitar, a measured and concise rhythm section, ambient keyboards, and convincing, simple tunefulness – all within the confines of mainstream song structures.
