Born to Be With You

Why the hell does he want to force a woman to love him?? Is that not the creepiest thing ever????

some surprisingly good stuff in there but otherwise mostly lightly irritating crooning

Didn’t know what to expect but pretty enjoyable

There were a few moments I liked on this but it’s all been done better elsewhere. I’d prefer to listen to the doo wop stuff.

Sometimes you can totally judge a book (or album) by its cover. I saw this cover and thought wow this is gonna be a steaming pile of dogshit and I was not wrong. This was one of the least enjoyable albums I’ve ever had the displeasure of having to listen to. Who thought this was a good idea?

You were definitely born to be with someone else, Dion. Perhaps someone who thinks mayonnaise is spicy?

I will not include Dion's 1976 album Streetheart and the bonus track "Baby, Let's Stick Together" from the 2001 Ace Records CD reissue in this review.

Okay, I have to ask - why is this album included in the 1001 Albums books? Seriously. Because I do understand that there is an underlying agenda to include at least one album from some of the more notable figures in music history to give at least a taste of what they were known for. I've seen it with the likes of Loretta Lynn, Al Green, Nina Simone, Merle Haggard, and other names on my album journey, and I reckon that Dion DiMucci fits that mold. He certainly made an impression as frontman of the doo-wop group The Belmonts before embarking on a hit-making solo career and diversifying his sound. But that said, why Born to Be with You in particular?

For those who don't know, Born to Be with You is characterized by the troublesome recording sessions with Phil Spector on the production. To wit, Phil was a chore to work with at this point, heavily drinking on the job and threatening artists like Bruce Springsteen and Cher who came into the studio during sessions. It was not a pleasant experience, and I don't blame Dion for disowning this record, because it shows in the shoddy production. For most of the tracks, Phil's once-famous Wall of Sound production style became a problem, as the instrumentation surrounding Dion's voice is generally overblown. It can work in moments, like the slowed-down, spaced-out opening title track, the anthemic stomper "Only You Know", and the upbeat closing track "Good Lovin' Man". But for the sentimental pop-rock ballads like "Make the Woman Love Me" and "In and Out of the Shadows", the mix can be absolutely suffocating to the atmosphere. It gets to the point where the slapdash arrangement and vocal pickup on Dion for the cover of "(He's Got) The Whole World in His Hands" had me on the cusp of a migraine headache.

It sucks to say that, because I think Dion has a decent singing voice. I can point to the two tracks that Dion co-wrote and Phil did not produce - "Your Own Back Yard" and "New York City Song" - and recognize the genuine talent that Dion injected into his downbeat, character-driven storytelling. I honestly wish the rest of the album were on the same level as these two.

Honestly, I feel that it was a disservice to Dion that this was the album chosen to represent him in the books. A different album would have made for a better showcase, maybe Runaround Sue with its title track and "The Wanderer" as notable singles. Otherwise, cherry-pick your favorites and go from there.

First song and Phil Spector made it sound so outdated and overproduced. You can hear it throughout the album, which doesn't pair well with Dion's vocals.

Horrible. Boring, over sentimental on every song. You would expect someone that looks as such a loser as in the cover at least learned to write good songs but the lyrics seemed to be written by a highschool boy that wants to write poetry. This album makes me wonder if finding new music is worth listening to music this bad.

Very drab in deed. Nothing much nice to say at all.

During the opening track I really thought I was gonna hate this one but it grew on me by the end. It’s still not an album I’m likely to go back to but it wasn’t a bad listen overall.

Top Track - Only You Know. Mainly because Jarvis Cocker sampled it for the track Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time from his first solo album.

This was a decent enough listen. It is missing a little something that would elevate it to the next level, but there's really nothing wrong with it.

Щось таке незрозуміле. 2.5

The spiritual cousin of Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies Man, both featuring the same curdled 70s Spector production and attendant struggle through the recording process. This is the nicer cousin but the songs aren't quite as strong. Nor does it have Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg singing backing vocals about boners.

His vocals are fantastic though, especially on In and Out of the Shadows.

Exceeded my low expectations

it was an album that played in the background without any impact

For me, this album passed the time without much thought. It’s a solid piece of work, no obvious flaws, but no obvious USP either that makes Dion particularly remarkable. I do genuinely like his voice and his easy, charming presence, but wish there was some spicier songwriting!

First sentence on Wikipedia: “Born to Be with You is the fourteenth solo studio album by Dion”.
That’s a lot of records for someone I’ve never heard of. That’s when I knew this wouldn’t go well. There’s really nothing remarkable about this record - it’s not even remarkably bad enough to earn 1 star. If Phil Spector didn’t produce this, I don’t think we’d be talking about it at all. It’s bland AM Gold backed by a moderately sized wall of sound. They really tried to bring out the artillery for “Good Lovin’ Man” but it’s too little too late (and also, I don’t believe you). Kind of begrudgingly, I did add that song to my ‘Boat Rock Of Last Resort’ playlist because it fits so well.

Also, was he ever investigated for soliciting a fifteen year old girl? Because the album art makes him look like he’s tried to solicit at least one fifteen year old girl.

The sort of thing that gives 4th rate music a bad name.

This made little to no impression on me. I guess it wasn’t terrible.