15 Minutes Shines!

15 Minutes Shines!

It is a rare and special treat when a musical legend like Barry Manilow releases an album of all original material. Barry's millions of fans have been waiting for original material, and finally 15 Minutes is here! Of course, the 15 Minutes concept was inspired by Andy Warhol's iconic statement that "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." In addition, the very appropriate tag line for 15 Minutes is "Fame...Can You Take It?" Barry's long tenure with Arista and Clive Davis has ended, and 15 Minutes is released on his own label (Stiletto Entertainment.) Now having the artistic and creative freedom to make a gem of an album like 15 Minutes, each song is an important part of telling the story of a young man who seeks fame, gets it, loses it, and then wants to get it back again. There is no doubt 15 Minutes is definitely guitar and acoustic driven, however, the songs do range from more traditional sounding ballad most often associated with Barry Manilow like "Bring On Tomorrow" to rock/guitar driven songs like "Work The Room" and "Now It's For Real." One of the things that makes this album so amazing and brilliant is how all these songs blend and work together. This is definitely a different sounding Barry Manilow, which shows how versatile his musical talent is, and that he can do pop, rock, jazz, swing, Broadway show tunes, Big Bands, Sinatra, etc., and do them all very well indeed. The ups and downs of fame are also addressed in 15 Minutes with songs like "Winner Go Down." "He's A Star" (which was originally recorded as "She's A Star" from Barry's "Tryin' To Get The Feeling" album) works perfectly on 15 Minutes with a new arrangement that gives it more muscle for a male singer. There is also "Letter From A Fan/So Heavy, So High," with a great performance by Nataly Dawn of "Pomplamoose." "Letter from A Fan" starts out innocent and becomes haunting, and the best description of this song is that it is really about a fan in general, who goes too far, and becomes (for the lack of a better term) obsessed with the singer. Barry's fabulous performance of "So Heavy, So High" is infused with "Letter From A Fan" and tells the artist's point of view about such fans. Other favorites are "Wine Song", "Slept Through The End Of The World" and "Trainwreck." From beginning to end, 15 Minutes is a pleasure to listen to, and you may want to get up and dance to "Everything's Gonna Be All Right." with it's infectious disco-inspired beat. In conclusion, Barry's voice has never sounded better, and I believe 15 Minutes proves why he is such a powerful musical force. Yes, he really does write the songs the whole world sing because Barry is not just a singer. He is a singer, composer, arranger, producer, recording artist and concert entertainer extraordinaire! Barry and his team of incredibly talented people have created a musical work of art, and I strongly believe 15 Minutes is definitely a Grammy contender! I highly recommend you listen to 15 Minutes yourself, and go on an amazing musical journey with Barry through all the ups and downs of fame.