Alright, today I recieved my copy. Hm, my feelings are somewhat mixed. I knew (and like very much) the Love Bizarre... some other tracks seem to be interesting. The title track is okay, too.

What do u think about the album, especially in relation with "The Glamorous Life" (that I ain't got yet)?

Edit: sorry, this seems to be the wrong forum. Should have been posted in the related artists section. God, THATS INEXCUSABLE! Sorry, Mods & all!
[Edited 2/8/06 17:22pm]

You gotta get the First Album. It's solid from start to finish.

Romance 1600..... well it's kinda dated. I'm one of the biggest Sheila fans out there (the biggest? )and I never listen to it.

At the time I was ecstatic to have a new album by her. But the whole concept was very much of the time (the Amadeus thing, the clothes, the pseudo-classical influences) etc. So now 20 years later it's hard to appreicate.

To me the intro and Sister Fate are great, although the extended version of Sister Fate is even better.

Love Bizarre is good but goes on too long, and the live versions make this version obsolete in my opinion (why didn't they put all the horn parts on there??)

Toy Box is pretty cool..... Sheila gets all Morris Day on our ass . The live version on Romance 1600 live video is even better!

Dear Michaelangelo and Bedtimw story are cute.

I never liked the title track..... the keyboard and drum sounds are very "tinny" and dated to me.

Yellow is an ineresting jazz experiment. Interesting, but nota song you'd listent over and over.

You should definitely get The Glamrous album, and then get Sheila E selftitled. The latter is much stronger than Romnance 1600 and is closer to what a live Sheila show might be like.

SenseOfDoubt said:

I love each of Sheila's first three albums in the order they were released.

#1 fave is The Glamorous Life, 2nd favorite is Romance 1600 (though "A Love Bizarre" is the best track you'll find from Sheila, barring none), and in third is her eponymously titled album.

"Oliver's House", "The Belle Of St. Mark", "The Glamorous Life", "Shortberry Strawcake" - I really dig those tracks.

As far as Romance goes, I really only care for the first side. Once the Toy Box closes, I get kinda bored.

I have Romance 1600 but to be honest I only really bought it for A Love Bizzare, which is my favourite Sheila track, and in the hope that the rest of the album would live up to the standard. Its ok, but I cant say its never been outta my stereo

Same kinda goes for The Glamourous Life really, but I like the other tracks on that as well. That seems to be the general consensus!

Personally, of her three Prince-related albums, I like her third self-titled album best. Her own compositions are up to par with Prince's and seem to compliment eachother just right.

Romance 1600 is still great, even though, as you said, it is a bit dated. Tracks like Toy Box and Dear Michaelangelo still hold dear memories to me, even though the album as a whole does not work so well as the third album.

And Bedtime Story is one of my guilty pleasures!

i think this is my favorite of the 3 Sheila releases.

it off the wall kookyfunkycrazy, and i'm a lovin it. just had in my car a couple of weeks ago, and it rotates thru my itunes at work.

For all you Love Bizarre fans, have you all head the live versions, like on Romance 1600 live video, or any of Sheila's shows in the psat 10 years?

Cuz for me, the original now is too boring now in comparison. . Just curious what ya'll think.

GaryMF said:

i'm a bigger fan of the live versions also. especially the Revolution ones. but listening to Romance 1600 recently, i remember how much i like that version, too, although it does go down a pretty repetitive lane.

i absolutely love the live version of the glamourous life from that video.
i love this woman and want her to be my wife.
so sheila if your reading,
WILL YOU MARRY ME.....

"Love Bizarre" is the only good song on that album. The rest is pretty much filler. I remember back in the day, MTV showed footage of Sheila in concert. It was pretty good, But when Prince joined her onstage and they did "Love Bizarre? Whewww they brought the house down!!!

I havent heard any live Sheila E.... good then is it? Ill have to keep my ears peeled for some

HamsterHuey said:

I feel the same way. Of Sheila's first three albums, I like the first one the least. I thought it was spotty.

sextonseven said:

i'm exactly the opposite. it's the 3rd that i find spotty.

thanks for your responses so far! (I always forget this section of the org... ts). I'm sure to get Glamorous Life (I would have bought it but the delivery time was too long). At the time Romance is playing in the back.

I tell you sincerely that I fell in love with Sheila E. I think she is sooooo damn beautiful (not only) on the Sign O' The Times movie. Intelligent, too. On the PR 2DVD Edition there is this interview - I think Eddy Murphy is the interviewer - and he states something like: "A woman of a few words". I love that.

:: On the Albert Magnoli Prince documentation from 89, there is a clip of a P aftershow party, where Sheila wears a leather top (or something like that). Good God! ::

I heard that she had some troubles with her health in the early 90s (1991?). Has anyone got some info on that? - Btw, what's about the rumour of a car accident Prince was involved in 1987 - I could not find anymore info on that... it must have been around the Black Album time. If you do know something, please tell me

If you haven't heard Sheila live, you haven't really heard her . Kind of like Prince.

Unfortunately, the only official release is that Romance 1600 live show which is sitll only on VHS. And her musicanship and talent has gotten even better since then, so if you ever have the opportunity to see her in concer..... YOU MUST!

She did have health problems in hte 90's. She's talked about it in her interivews..... basically her lung collapsed and she ws very ill and was bedridden for a while. She talks about it as a turning point in her life and she get much more involved with religion at that point and changed her life.

If you go to her site you'll see she co-founded a charity to help abused children http://www.elevatehope.org

I ohpe she takes this COED thing on tour so everyone can see what kind of show she puts on , cuz it's really quite amazing.

ThePunisher said:

I think the standout tracks are "Dear Michaelangelo","A Love Bizarre","Bedtime Story" and "Toy Box",which should have been the first single,imo.It's a very good album...much more interesting than the debut.
[Edited 2/13/06 6:38am]

LisasBrush said:

I think her third album is her best work! It's the strongest,most consistent Sheila E. album to date.Songs like "Faded Photographs","Hold Me","The Pride and The Passion" and "Love On A Blue Train" are excellent.I was really pissed when this album didn't become the big hit that it deserved to be.

DavidEye said:

It's "Faded" and "Pride" that make it weak, IMO. I loved them at the time, but I don't think they stand the test of time.

Kinda shocked at the dislike for 1600. I loveeeed it then and love it now. The title track rocks.

I kinda liked the album back then, even though I didn't put it on spin in quitee some time... "Yellow" was cool... weird, but cool



oh... and almost a decade ago that album also inspired a certain orgers online-name yes Sir!

Romance 1600 was such a hot album at the time! I remember thinking that there was NOTHING like it anywhere (FYI - I wasn't a Prince Fan until I got into Sheila E).

Some of the tracks are definitely dated. But my perennial fav's are;

Yellow
Dear Michaelangelo
Love Bizarre
Merci For The Speed Of A Mad Clown In Summer

DavidEye said:

I totally agree on all counts. When it was first released, I played the heck out of Wednesday Like A River, Faded Photographs, Hold Me and Blue Train.

I, also, really like Romance 1600. I never really thought of the music itself as sounding 'dated' even though the artwork/marketing concepts might be...

I don't listen to Glamourous Life that much... I think it has, overall, the weakest material of the three.

jtfolden said:

Interesting how we all have different opinions .

I agree with DavidEye about the 3rd ablum not getting the credit it deserved..... those tracks were awesome.

But to me, the best will always be The Glamrous Life. The title track, Oliver's House, Strawberry Shortcake alone make it a must.

If I could only take 5 albms with me to a desert island, this would be one of them!

GaryMF said:

Indeed! I've tried getting into The Glamorous Life again and again over the last 20+ years but it just doesn't do it for me. I think part of it might be that, at it's core, this is the album that sounds most like "generic protege" tracks of the era, imo... There's a lot on there that could have just as easily been given to Vanity/Appolonia 6, etc... Romance 1600 (and later) sounds more like quintessential Sheila to me.
[Edited 2/20/06 20:28pm]

jtfolden said:

Yes,except for all the signature Sheila percussion .

Next time you want to try getting into it, put on headphones and listen to the 2nd half of glamrorous life and oliver's house and get into all nuanced percussion.

Apples or Vanity could never have done that

GaryMF said:

Yes, but with The Glamorous Life it feels to me like Sheila's percussion is more grafted on to those existing tracks (except, perhaps, for the title track) where it's more integrated into future albums. I know what you mean about tracks like Oliver's House and I had to actually go back and listen to that this evening to see what there was there to hear, as far as her percussion work goes. With something like Sister Fate, I have trouble imagining the track without Sheila's contribution.

I dig Romance 1600 a whole lot, not long ago, I was playing it a lot. Especially Dear Michaelangelo and "Yellow" (which I just ADORE)

susannah said:

You have to get the Romance 1600 video for the live version of Bizarre, it's at least 9 or 10 mins long, the Revolution comes on stage and Sheila's band kinda just disappears in the background.

I had bought this cd about 2 years ago and sold it back to a musi store a couple of months later. I just couldn't get into it.

dancerella said:

that's BLASPHEMY...!