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DISCID=8809e90a
DTITLE=Julian Lennon / The Secret Value Of Daydreaming
DYEAR=1986
DGENRE=
TTITLE0=Stick Around
TTITLE1=You Got What You Want
TTITLE2=Let Me Tell You
TTITLE3=I've Seen Your Face
TTITLE4=Coward Till The End?
TTITLE5=This Is My Day
TTITLE6=You Don't Have To Tell Me
TTITLE7=Everyday
TTITLE8=Always Think Twice
TTITLE9=Want Your Body
EXTD=The Secret Value Of Daydreaming (West German Pressing)\n\nOrigina
EXTD=lly Released 1986\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: On The Secret Value of Da
EXTD=ydreaming, the follow-up to his successful debut, Julian Lennon e
EXTD=mphasizes his mainstream pop leanings by adding a tighter, more p
EXTD=olished production which brings out the best in his songs. That i
EXTD=s, it does when the songwriting is up to par. Lennon had some dif
EXTD=ficulty producing a consistent set of songs for his second album,
EXTD= with only a handful of tracks -- including the hit "Stick Around
EXTD=" -- standing out amidst the slick, immaculately-produced materia
EXTD=l.  -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nW
EXTD=orst Julian Album, September 9, 2005 \nBy  Godzilla (Denver)\nJul
EXTD=ian was rushed back in the studio after his 1985 tour, and he nev
EXTD=er felt he had the time to do this album the way he wanted. It wa
EXTD=s produced by Billy Joel's producer, but the whole album just is 
EXTD=missing something. Only Stick Around and Want My Body sound like 
EXTD=music. The rest is hard to listen to. \n\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIE
EXTD=W\nThe secret value of daydreaming is that it permits you to expl
EXTD=ore your imagination at little cost in the way of consequence or 
EXTD=action. At least, that's the conclusion that can be drawn from Ju
EXTD=lian Lennon's first two LPs -- 1984's Valotte and the newly relea
EXTD=sed The Secret Value of Daydreaming.\n\nThe records differ in way
EXTD=s worth mentioning. Valotte was like a mental movie filmed in the
EXTD= mind of the great man's son as he watched the wheels go round an
EXTD=d round. In an odd way, the pleasant escapism the album often evo
EXTD=ked seemed earned. Much is made of how Julian's connections score
EXTD=d him a record deal when he had little more than snippets of song
EXTD=s and a few years of celebrity pub-crawling to show for himself. 
EXTD=But growing up in the shadow of an irascible legend who divorced 
EXTD=your mom when you were a child and whom you barely knew can't hav
EXTD=e been a nonstop laugh riot. Julian surely underwent enough emoti
EXTD=onal turmoil to counterbalance whatever opportunities his father'
EXTD=s name provided.\n\nIts title taken from the French chteau where
EXTD= Julian recorded his first demos, Valotte established a tone of r
EXTD=everie and contemplation fitting for his debut. Songs like "Well 
EXTD=I Don't Know" hardly resolved the complexities of Julian's herita
EXTD=ge, but they allowed us to glimpse what seemed to be the beginnin
EXTD=g of a tranquil, unhurried search for selfhood. The polite reggae
EXTD= bounce of "Too Late for Goodbyes" may have been a bit sappy, but
EXTD= the song's optimism was heartening, suggesting confidence about 
EXTD=the happy outcome of that search. On the other, shakier hand, "Je
EXTD=sse," a cautionary antidrug tale written by Julian's friend China
EXTD= Burton, pointed out the dangers of being "a fool to yourself" an
EXTD=d failing to answer the hard questions of identity. And if the ca
EXTD=reful production of studio veteran Phil Ramone wrapped Julian's p
EXTD=ersonality in a cocoon of musical textures, there was a reason fo
EXTD=r his protectiveness. Julian virtually lived with his producer du
EXTD=ring the recording of Valotte, and Ramone became the father figur
EXTD=e who would lead him into the world where he could both accept hi
EXTD=s legacy and establish his own place.\n\nUnfortunately, The Secre
EXTD=t Value of Daydreaming continues Julian's float down the stream o
EXTD=f consciousness but doesn't carry him any nearer to self-discover
EXTD=y or self-revelation. Ramone is back at the board, and the cluste
EXTD=r of virtues he represents -- refinement, melody, structure and g
EXTD=race -- are all, once again, in evidence. It may be possible simp
EXTD=ly to accept this LP as a well-crafted, ably performed collection
EXTD= of catchy pop tunes, but the suspicion that Valotte's amiable st
EXTD=rategy has hardened into formula is gnawing. It may also be unfai
EXTD=r to expect not just skillfulness but significance from Julian. B
EXTD=ut if it's small-minded to begrudge him his success, it's patroni
EXTD=zing to assume he doesn't have to, or can't, meet the responsibil
EXTD=ities success carries with it.\n\nProbably in response to carping
EXTD= that Valotte didn't rock, each of Value's sides kicks off with a
EXTD= thumper. The opening track and first single, "Stick Around," fin
EXTD=ds Julian singing more assertively than he did on the first LP, h
EXTD=is attractive appropriation of John's inflections stretched to in
EXTD=clude some of his bite. Topping the second side, "This Is My Day"
EXTD= blends big guitars, layers of keyboards, hot horns and a symphon
EXTD=y's worth of melodic details to forceful effect. Again, Julian's 
EXTD=singing is strong, but this time the lyrics say less than he seem
EXTD=s to want them to.\n\nIn fact, the slightness and abstraction of 
EXTD=many of Value's lyrics are the LP's most frustrating problem. In 
EXTD=the same way that he defined himself against his father's edgines
EXTD=s by embracing Ramone's glossy ethic of taste, Julian avoids both
EXTD= John's visionary power and his opinionated intensity by writing 
EXTD=almost exclusively about boy-girl themes. That's fine as far as i
EXTD=t goes, but the "you" to whom so many of these songs are addresse
EXTD=d rarely takes on sufficient character to matter. Although the su
EXTD=rfaces of these songs are quite engaging, the relationships descr
EXTD=ibed are only sketched out and, as a result, often fail to compel
EXTD= a full flesh-and-blood response. A typical example of this is th
EXTD=e childlike "Want Your Body," where both the lust of the title an
EXTD=d the "people" who are "so unkind" and "tear us apart" lack all d
EXTD=efinition.\n\nInterestingly, Value often raises the emotional dil
EXTD=emma of simultaneously desiring and fearing self-revelation. On t
EXTD=he dreamy "You Don't Have to Tell Me," one of the LP's most effec
EXTD=tive tracks, Julian intimates, "You don't have to tell me/You don
EXTD='t have to cry," equating self-exposure with suffering. In the sa
EXTD=me song, he implies that emotional pain, and the confusion that c
EXTD=omes in its wake, may be the source of his lover's reluctance to 
EXTD=open herself up: "Isn't life a mystery when we hit every wall?" A
EXTD=nd on the lovely "Let Me Tell You," Julian boyishly offers, "I'd 
EXTD=like to tell you 'bout some times I've had/The kinda good ones an
EXTD=d the kinda bad." But he quickly backs out on that offer, explain
EXTD=ing, "But if I did, you'd know my secrets, too/Some things are pr
EXTD=ivate."\n\nThis guardedness turns tough and somewhat defensive on
EXTD= the ballad "Coward till the End?" (ironically the one song on Va
EXTD=lue that ventures beyond a personal theme). In telling the story 
EXTD=of a soldier shot for refusing to fight, Julian asserts, "When yo
EXTD=u trust your feelings/They toss you in the pit" and "You seem so 
EXTD=apprehensive/You question my beliefs." By the time he asks, "Why 
EXTD=am I to blame?/Why am I put up on trial?" anybody making demands 
EXTD=of Julian's approach to his work is duly brought up short.\n\nThe
EXTD= potential to do important work, the expectations of others and t
EXTD=he weight of the past can be difficult burdens, and Julian can ha
EXTD=rdly be faulted for making two albums that are merely very good. 
EXTD=Ultimately, however, he'll have to push himself harder if he want
EXTD=s more than hits and teen-idol status. This may involve drawing m
EXTD=ore directly on his own experience in his songwriting, and it wil
EXTD=l almost certainly involve working with a different producer than
EXTD= Ramone, who's fulfilled his role and more in this career. Seamle
EXTD=ssness has outlived its value -- the edges have to start to show.
EXTD=\n\n"When you're closin' the door/Don't you look back for more?" 
EXTD=Julian asks on "Want Your Body," the final track on The Secret Va
EXTD=lue of Daydreaming. People probably will look back in disappointm
EXTD=ent this time. But maybe next time they won't have to. (RS 473 --
EXTD= May 8, 1986)  -- ANTHONY DECURTIS
EXTT0=J. Lennon [#32]
EXTT1=J. Lennon
EXTT2=J. Lennon
EXTT3=J. Lennon
EXTT4=J. Lennon, J. Clayton
EXTT5=J. Lennon
EXTT6=J. Lennon
EXTT7=J. Lennon, J. Clayton, C. Morales
EXTT8=J. Lennon
EXTT9=J. Lennon
PLAYORDER=
