SoulAlive obviously didn't see this.

"The Wanderer" is probably the best post disco albums, although it doesn't have a "post disco" sound (I'm thinking Madonna's first album, D-Train, Cheri, Shannon, and other artists that made dance music but had a different approach than disco...wasn't quite 80s dance pop either). If it had to be categorized, it would be considered New Wave, with elements of Rock (definately taking the sound of "Hot Stuff" a little further).

If not her best after disco, especially when it comes to the writing. After this one, I think Donna got lost trying to both play it safe with her music ("Donna Summer" was produced by Quincy Jones right before "Thriller" but it's not thrilling IMHO....this was Geffen's idea so Donna is not totally to blame) and try to write from a Christian perspective (that's most apparent on the album "She Works Hard For the Money"...surprisingly the almost hitless and poorly selling "Cats Without Claws" with the same co-writer and producer Michael Ormartain is better overall). I would also highly recommend the new album ("Crayons"). Not sure where people stand on that one over a year later.
[Edited 8/30/09 18:16pm]

The only track that I listen to other than "The Wanderer" is "Cold Love"...or is it "Cool Love"? Oh well, just goes to show how much I play that album.

That would be 'Cold Love.'

I like the album.

"The Wanderer" (Moroder, Summer) - 3:47
"Looking Up" (Bellotte, Moroder, Summer) - 3:57
"Breakdown" (Bellotte, Faltermeyer) - 4:08
"Grand Illusion" (Moroder, Summer) - 3:54
"Running for Cover" (Summer) - 4:01
[edit]Side B
"Cold Love" (Bellotte, Faltermeyer, Forsey) - 3:38
"Who Do You Think You're Foolin'" (Bellotte, Sylvester Levay, Jerry Rix) - 4:18
"Nightlife" (Bellotte, Moroder) - 4:00
"Stop Me" (Bellotte, Forsey) - 3:44
"I Believe in Jesus" (Summer) - 3:37
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...er_(album)



I don't care for 'NightLife' but I usually let it play
Faves are 'Looking Up,' 'Breakdown,' 'Grand Illusion,' 'Stop Me,' 'I Believe in Jesus,' 'The Wanderer' 'Cold Love' and 'Stop Me.'

'The Wanderer' is an interesting album....one of Donna's best.But don't buy it expecting another 'Bad Girls'...it's a dark,serious,moody album (at least most of it is).There's more rock here than disco.In 1980,Donna become a born again Christian and her religious views are reflected in much of the lyrics.I've always thought of this album as a concept album.It has a 'movie soundtrack' quality to it,with songs about a woman (Donna) who's living in sin...a "wanderer" who roams the city streets (the title track,"Running For Cover","Nightlife"),looking for lovers and breaking hearts along the way ("Breakdown"),meeting all types of characters on the street,including those looking for fame and fortune ("Who Do You Think You're Fooling",in a world filled with sadness,fear and uncertaintly ("Grand Illusion").After dealing with all this drama and evil,she finally sees the light and turns her life around ("I Believe In Jesus","Looking Up").

The highlights are : "Looking Up","Breakdown""Grand Illusion","Running For Cover",and "Who Do You Think You're Fooling".The first half of the record is amazing,the second half is not as strong,but it's still very good.


"Grand Illusion" is the underrated gem on this album.It's an extremely haunting,eerie song,with a hypnotic drum machine beat.I'm surprised that a rapper hasn't sampled this track.The music/beat is very interesting.You can easily imagine a rapper spitting rhymes on top of it.

vainandy said:

"Cold Love" and "Stop Me" are the only two songs that I'm not crazy about.

As I remember it, this Donna Summer album was her nod toward New Wave. Billy Joel was trying to be a little New Wavy around this time too. Gary Newman, Devo, The Cars and the like were threatening to take over the music scene during this period as well, taking advantage of "The Death of Disco", lol. I also remember that when Donna released this album, it fed into the rumors that she was a transsexual, because of the size and appearance of her feet on the cover, lol. I just checked the price of this album on Amazon and OMG!!! I'm glad I have the vinyl, lol.

PDogz said:

The so-called "death of disco" must have really freaked out Donna.When this album was released,she was going around doing interviews,acting as if disco was a bad word,lol.I remember her telling one interviewer "Disco was fun,but people can't dance forever".It's clear that,with this album and the (rejected) follow-up 'I'm A Rainbow',she was trying to move into rock/pop territory,venturing far away from dance music.The problem for her was,rock fans were clinging to Pat Benatar and Debbie Harry.They weren't too keen on hearing "rock music" from a former disco queen.I remember "Cold Love" and "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" becoming only minor hits.I didn't hear those songs on the radio very much.

SoulAlive said:

Neither did I. I really only remember hearing "The Wanderer" on the radio in any kind of regular rotation. As popular as Donna Summer had been, she really wasn't getting a whole lotta love during this period of her career (...not from the kids that put her on the map anyway, lol).

PDogz said:

Yeah,this was a strange era for her.She was getting alot of respect and praise from rock critics,but the general public wasn't crazy about this album or its singles.I remember a popular R&B radio DJ explaining why his station was refusing to play "Cold Love"...

"Hot Stuff" was one thing,but this is something entirely different"

I know what he means "Hot Stuff" was a blend of disco and rock,and it appealed to R&B audiences as well (reaching Number One on the R&B charts)."Cold Love" is a straight-up rock number,with no trace of disco or R&B whatsover.Donna had ventured into Pat Benatar territory.

PDogz said:

I think I preordered a lot of the Donna albums like "The Wanderer" just before it went out of print. I ended up buying a few online for somewhat reasonable prices as well years ago. Since they've been out of print for SOO long, it makes sense that the price has went up.

SoulAlive said:

I find it unfortunate that Donna never found a "post disco" dance sound and went into more straight forward dance pop. She came close with "I'm A Rainbow" but of course it never got released. That album featured some good experiments but Geffen just didn't hear it. Think about Donna doing songs with the sound of something like "You're The One For Me".

"Grand Illusion" is the clear standout. It's so unlike most everything on that record, or in her catalogue.

A fan of "Breakdown", "The Wandererer", and "Running for Cover". Hardly pay attention to the second side.

Tortilla said:

l agree,Side One of this album is amazing! The first five songs are superb.Side Two is less exciting...."Nightlife" is only slighty intriguing,"Stop Me" feels like filler,and the closing "I Believe In Jesus" is nice,but it slows the album down considerably.

The R&B stations in my area didn't even play the song "The Wanderer" even once. Pop radio gave it plenty of airplay though.

vainandy said:

Yeah,our local R&B station avoided this album.It was strange because,just a year or so earlier,they were playing all of the 'Bad Girls' singles like crazy.This album was considered much too pop for R&B stations.

Which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever why they played Shitney's music years later. At least the song "The Wanderer" was good pop instead of dull ass adult contemporary pop.

vainandy said: