Richard Marx – Repeat Offender

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MENINI ANTONIO
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ITALY.

Great highs, lows, mids/vocals a bit bright as was the case on Richard Marx' first album too, nice depth and stage again here too. Nicely pressed and a delight to listen to all the way!

Marx's 1987 self-titled debut was the culmination of a songwriter asserting himself after years operating in the background in the music industry, but its 1989 follow-up "Repeat Offender" is even more accomplished, showing discernible improvement on every conceivable level. Though it fails to stray from the previous pop formula or evolve in any way in terms of production, there is nothing wrong with adhering to a tried and tested method if it worked the first time around. Without deviating from his established style, Marx creates a distinctive slick record, adding substantial warmth to melodic rock instrumentation as his rousing foundation; his already fine vocal abilities are markedly advanced from the first album, and this maturation is present most notably on "Right Here Waiting", the ubiquitous piano ballad that remains a saccharine yet utterly seductive soft rock classic. It goes without saying that "Right Here Waiting" is the album's standout, a welcome flourish on an album devoid of stylistic divergence.

"Repeat Offender" is a well-made album featuring many memorable, hook-laden tracks, and is as romantic and urgent as Marx's debut, albeit with sharper vocal work, instrument additions and overall execution.

Rating: 4/5

One annoyance about this particular Columbia house release is that the "nothing you can do about it" track has a particular slight dip in the left channel audio during the first minute of audio and seems to carry it throughout the first side. I suspect when they cut the master that there was a dirty tape head responsible for this. :( So if you are wondering if it's your setup, it's not.

I do believe there is a 2 X Cd Version of this album which includes a live Cd,its from Australia