I've just listened to both Vanity's solo albums and I'm in a state of shock!

-----

Wild Animal is just crazy, a very funny album. She has that image of a sex craze, just like a wild animal, with such stupid lyrics, but very funny! She doesn't sing, she sighs, moans, screams and shouts! Ridiculous. But the problem is that the album musically has its moments. I like most of the songs, they're catchy and with irresistible grooves. "Pretty Mess" is my guilty pleasure of the moment, I'm afraid. "Such a pretty mess on my dress". Then "Samuelle" has a nice melody and "Mechanical Emotion" has an impressive groove.

-----

But the biggest surprise comes with Vanity's second record, Skin On Skin. Brilliant album! Certainly there's better songcraft there, really good songwriting! And she sings very decently. She's still sexual (you can't expect her not to be), but now she has a far more sophisticated image. "Romantic Voyage" has a very strong melody. And, really, "Under The Influence" is an awesome track. Brilliantly constructed, I can't (and actually don't want to) take the melody out of my mind. Not a single weak track here, seriously.

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I may not find someone who agrees, but I like Skin On Skin more than the Vanity 6 album.

[Edited 9/2/13 0:23am]

[Edited 9/2/13 4:03am]

I have these on vinyl and only regret they are not on CD. They sound like records, unfortunately, so I don't want to burn them onto disc because I am hoping that maybe - one day - they will make it to CD. I like them both because they capture the sound of Prince protoges from a more prolific time period and I miss that era. Heck, anything from back then seems like a "classic" now!

I would love to see them remastered and released on CD by someone like Cherry Pop/BBR.

Love both albums - but Wild Animal might win out in the end because I love a lot of the songs on there, it feels almost like a concept album - if I can stretch a Vanity album to say such a thing! But no doubt Skin On Skin is the more polished set, if you look at the credits it's got a fair few backing vocalists padding out the tracks, including Donna DeLory (long time Madonna backing vocalist). Even songs like Gun Shy and Ouch are pretty inventive and fun.

Wild Animal is a mess Like you said,Vanity doesn't really sing on this album..she yells,sighs and moans.She wrote these lyrics herself and the songwriting can be downright horrible at times ("Crazy Maybe").When she left Vanity 6 in 1983,I was really hoping that she would come out with a stunning solo album.This album isn't it.There are a few good things about this record."Mechanical Emotion" boasts a hot,Minneapolis-styled groove and having Morris Day on the track was a good idea."Pretty Mess" is so bad that it's good...lol...those two tracks are the highlights.

Skin On Skin was a major improvement.After the failure of the first album,Motown insisted that outside producers and songwriters be brought in.The result is an album that's glossy and more commercial,but also an album that features better vocals.On the sexy first single "Under The Influence",Vanity sounds pretty good.The track is sultry,moody and catchy....much better than "Pretty Mess".There are 'real songs' on this album,with improved lyrics.

Javi said:

I may not find someone who agrees, but I like Skin On Skin more than the Vanity 6 album.

I don't think either of her solo albums can compare to the Vanity 6 album.The V6 album is fun,racy,sexy,outrageous and bold.It was really ahead of its time.I don't know how he did it,but Prince actually made Vanity sound pretty decent,as a vocalist.

80s R&B flashback: "Under The Influence" by Vanity (1986)

^^ so what exactly is the 4-letter word that Vanity refers to in this song??

Javi said:

I've just listened to both Vanity's solo albums and I'm in a state of shock!

-----

Wild Animal is just crazy, a very funny album. She has that image of a sex craze, just like a wild animal, with such stupid lyrics, but very funny! She doesn't sing, she sighs, moans, screams and shouts! Ridiculous. But the problem is that the album musically has its moments. I like most of the songs, they're catchy and with irresistible grooves. "Pretty Mess" is my guilty pleasure of the moment, I'm afraid. "Such a pretty mess on my dress". Then "Samuelle" has a nice melody and "Mechanical Emotion" has an impressive groove.

-----

But the biggest surprise comes with Vanity's second record, Skin On Skin. Brilliant album! Certainly there's better songcraft there, really good songwriting! And she sings very decently. She's still sexual (you can't expect her not to be), but now she has a far more sophisticated image. "Romantic Voyage" has a very strong melody. And, really, "Under The Influence" is an awesome track. Brilliantly constructed, I can't (and actually don't want to) take the melody out of my mind. Not a single weak track here, seriously.

-----

I may not find someone who agrees, but I like Skin On Skin more than the Vanity 6 album.

[Edited 9/2/13 0:23am]

[Edited 9/2/13 4:03am]

I'm not so much into the first one but I'm totally in love with Skin On Skin, and Romantic Voyage, that song is fabulous!!!

[Edited 9/2/13 7:51am]

SoulAlive said:

^^ so what exactly is the 4-letter word that Vanity refers to in this song??

Coke.

Just lissened 2 Skin On SKin again... I also love In THe Jungle so much

databank said:

Just lissened 2 Skin On SKin again... I also love In THe Jungle so much

.

.

.

@ BlaqueKnight

[Edited 9/2/13 10:30am]

databank said:

Javi said:

I've just listened to both Vanity's solo albums and I'm in a state of shock!

-----

Wild Animal is just crazy, a very funny album. She has that image of a sex craze, just like a wild animal, with such stupid lyrics, but very funny! She doesn't sing, she sighs, moans, screams and shouts! Ridiculous. But the problem is that the album musically has its moments. I like most of the songs, they're catchy and with irresistible grooves. "Pretty Mess" is my guilty pleasure of the moment, I'm afraid. "Such a pretty mess on my dress". Then "Samuelle" has a nice melody and "Mechanical Emotion" has an impressive groove.

-----

But the biggest surprise comes with Vanity's second record, Skin On Skin. Brilliant album! Certainly there's better songcraft there, really good songwriting! And she sings very decently. She's still sexual (you can't expect her not to be), but now she has a far more sophisticated image. "Romantic Voyage" has a very strong melody. And, really, "Under The Influence" is an awesome track. Brilliantly constructed, I can't (and actually don't want to) take the melody out of my mind. Not a single weak track here, seriously.

-----

I may not find someone who agrees, but I like Skin On Skin more than the Vanity 6 album.

[Edited 9/2/13 0:23am]

[Edited 9/2/13 4:03am]

I'm not so much into the first one but I'm totally in love with Skin On Skin, and Romantic Voyage, that song is fabulous!!!

[Edited 9/2/13 7:51am]

[Edited 9/2/13 13:10pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

SoulAlive said:

^^ so what exactly is the 4-letter word that Vanity refers to in this song??

Coke.

What a very mean to say! But expected from you....

Anyway. Not to change the subject of this thread. I think everyone on this site should buy Vanity's book"Blame it on Vanity" .I don't think she is doing well financially and could use the funds to help her health wise. Since she has to do dialysis three times a week now! I have been chatting with her lately & the woman has had it rough. She was the most beautiful woman, I had ever seen in her glory years. It didn't really matter how good she was vocally. Her looks is why people were mesmerized about her. This should have its own thread...But

PLEASE HELP HER AND BUY HER BOOK @!!!! Blameitonvanity.com

[Edited 9/2/13 16:57pm]

[Edited 9/2/13 18:49pm]

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Coke.

What a very mean to say! But expected from you....

Anyway. Not to change the subject of this thread. I think everyone on this site should buy Vanity's book"Blame it on Vanity" .I don't think she is doing well financially and could use the funds to help her health wise. Since she has to do dialysis three times a week now! I have been chatting with her lately & the woman has had it rough. She was the most beautiful woman, I had ever seen in her glory years. It didn't really matter how good she was vocally. Her looks is why people were mesmerized about her. This should have its own thread...But

PLEASE HELP HER AND BUY HER BOOK @!!!! Blameitonvanity.com

[Edited 9/2/13 16:57pm]

[Edited 9/2/13 18:49pm]

My point on this thread is that, apart from her beauty, the music is also fantastic, both the Vanity 6 and the solo albums.

-----

I wish she could have coped better with her past. One thing is the desire to change and the unhappiness with one's past, and another is that it makes you suffer that way.

[Edited 9/3/13 3:03am]

One thing I want to make clear here! Denise is not UNHAPPY! She believes the lord will bring her through this and deliver her. She believes in Jesus for her devine healing. I want to make clear! She also in no way, shape, or form told me to ask for this help. I believe the entertainment industry has forgotten her! They don't give her credit for being an innovator for artist like Madonna, Rhianna,Lil Kim,Trina etc. Women that freely express themselves sexually. I'm asking out of my heart to help her. Just buy her book.

Blameitonvanity.com

OK, if she's doing well, them I'm happy for her. But I always find it disturbing when someone rejects his or her past. But hey, I'm very glad if she's doing good.

NouveauDance said:

I would love to see them remastered and released on CD by someone like Cherry Pop/BBR.

Love both albums - but Wild Animal might win out in the end because I love a lot of the songs on there, it feels almost like a concept album - if I can stretch a Vanity album to say such a thing! But no doubt Skin On Skin is the more polished set, if you look at the credits it's got a fair few backing vocalists padding out the tracks, including Donna DeLory (long time Madonna backing vocalist). Even songs like Gun Shy and Ouch are pretty inventive and fun.

Taking the idea from you (thanks), I wrote Cherry Red. This - about Vanity and the "Eroica" album from Wendy & Lisa, hoping they'd put them out in expanded edition CDs. Here is the response I got via email. (Follows in italics.)

FormerlyKnownAs said:

NouveauDance said:

I would love to see them remastered and released on CD by someone like Cherry Pop/BBR.

Love both albums - but Wild Animal might win out in the end because I love a lot of the songs on there, it feels almost like a concept album - if I can stretch a Vanity album to say such a thing! But no doubt Skin On Skin is the more polished set, if you look at the credits it's got a fair few backing vocalists padding out the tracks, including Donna DeLory (long time Madonna backing vocalist). Even songs like Gun Shy and Ouch are pretty inventive and fun.

Taking the idea from you (thanks), I wrote Cherry Red. This - about Vanity and the "Eroica" album from Wendy & Lisa, hoping they'd put them out in expanded edition CDs. Here is the response I got via email. (Follows in italics.)

Hi

Many thanks for these project suggestions to Cherry Red.

We've tried and failed to license material by Vanity so I can't see anything happening in the near future.

I'm sure the 3rd W&L is under consideration should our previous reissues sell to the anticpated levels.

With best wishes

Tim @ Cherry Red

It's a shame to hear that.

Damn. Even though they couldn't license them, I'm glad that they've already tried.

.

.

edit - thinking about it. This is probably Vanity's doing? Assuming she has at least some say in events(?) - because who else would bloke such a thing? Surely everyone else involved would be glad of a few quid royalties, even from such evil?!

[Edited 9/5/13 15:19pm]

I love both of these albums. I have some pretty good vinyl rips of them. I was in contact with one of the guys at FTG last year about those albums and he told me those were two of the titles that they have been asking Universal for but Universal is continuing to give them a hard time about reissuing their back catalogs. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping next year will be the year we finally see these albums on CD!

SoulAlive said:

^^ so what exactly is the 4-letter word that Vanity refers to in this song??

If I'm under the influence, it is usually b-e-e-r.

In 1988,she was working on a third album that was titled Cherry Bomb,but it never materialized.

I'm going to help Vanity any way I can. She deserves it!!

LukeJamesGirl said:

So far. I love Mechanical Emotion. I love that song!! The instermental is so sweet . I

"Mechanical emotion" is the highlight of Wild Animal.That groove is hypnotic! Funky and mesmerizing.The lyrics and vocals aren't too great,but it's a good song.It was also a good idea to include Morris Day on the track.

80s R&B flashback: "Mechanical Emotion" by Vanity featuring Morris Day (1984)

SoulAlive said:

LukeJamesGirl said:

So far. I love Mechanical Emotion. I love that song!! The instermental is so sweet . I

"Mechanical emotion" is the highlight of Wild Animal.That groove is hypnotic! Funky and mesmerizing.The lyrics and vocals aren't too great,but it's a good song.It was also a good idea to include Morris Day on the track.

80s R&B flashback: "Mechanical Emotion" by Vanity featuring Morris Day (1984)

Wow, totally agree. I can listen to Mechanical Emotion back to back time and time again. Love this song.

Really, I love both albums, but if I have to choose a fav, it's Wild Animal, for the simple fact its her first solo outing. Also I love the playfulness of the songs and she was just so different. 'Pretty Mess' is one hot mess if you ask me. Altho I loved the video, she just looked amazing.

But the funkiness of Mechanical Emotion, that intro alone. It does something special to me

And it reminds me of those days when Vanity was the shit and no girl could touch her. I know for a fact that several artists around that time were so envious of her looks and her popularity. They knew she was too beautiful and no one like her at the time. Not the best voice in the world, but she had a presence, smart, funny and sexy. And the music was just fun. Skin on Skin was just OK for me.

SoulAlive said:

LukeJamesGirl said:

So far. I love Mechanical Emotion. I love that song!! The instermental is so sweet . I

"Mechanical emotion" is the highlight of Wild Animal.That groove is hypnotic! Funky and mesmerizing.The lyrics and vocals aren't too great,but it's a good song.It was also a good idea to include Morris Day on the track.

80s R&B flashback: "Mechanical Emotion" by Vanity featuring Morris Day (1984)

Motown must have been out of their bloody minds not to promote this single. There was no music video for it (BIG MISTAKE!) and it was certainly more radio-friendly than "Pretty Mess". It received very heavy airplay here in Michigan. Driving, funky beat. Guest vocal by Morris Day. Aggressive, sexy vocal from Vanity. All of the ingredients were there for a sizeable hit. This could have been it for her. It ended up peaking at #23 on the R&B side. This should have easily topped the Dance Chart. The label really dropped the ball with this one!

^^I agree...Motown should have promoted this song aggressively! It's a funkier,better song than "Pretty Mess".I heard that a video was shot,but never released.Can't understand why.

"Mechanical Emotion" is great, as is the whole album, but I continue under the influence of Under The Influence.

[Edited 10/14/13 5:12am]