Chris Rea might not immediately strike a feeling of recognition with you, but when I say Josephine, On the Beach, I Can Hear Your Heartbeat, or Fool If You Think It´s Over, then I am quite sure you know at least some of those tunes. For me, this album Wired To The Moon ranks among the most beautiful things he has done. And he has done a lot of beautiful things ladies and gentlemen!
Opening with the hypnotic groove of Bombollini, a 6 minute showcase of how one can write a catchy tune, yet still maintain a high level of artistic integrity. And a showcase of the stratocaster fretwork one Mark Knopfler would get a lot more praise for, yet here of course done by the master himself. Touché d´Amour is a reggae influenced song with that dark brown voice Rea is famous for. Shine Shine Shine is another example of the musicianship of Rea. Very tasteful playing catches the attention between the sung lines over another laid back groove with lots of keyboards.
Next up is the title track. The pace is picking up, but that voice and the stratocaster are still prominent. As is the use of a vast array of keyboards. On board is also another hit single: I Don´t Know What It Is But I Love It. Yep, it does, although I do know what it is. It is the combination mentioned before, all wrapped in melodic pop rock songs and a lot of emotional appeal. So it is no wonder the last track on the album is called Winning. That is an appropriate tag for the man…
