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Something Real is the seventh studio album by the American musician Phoebe Snow, released in 1989 by Elektra Records.[2][3] It was her first album in eight years.[4] While caring for her disabled daughter, Snow spent five years making demo tapes, and mailing them to labels.[5]

Something Real
Studio album by Phoebe Snow
Released	1989
Genre	Pop
Label	Elektra Records[1]
Producer	Rob Fraboni, Ricky Fataar
Phoebe Snow chronology
Rock Away (1981) Something Real (1989) The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon (1991)

The album peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard 200.[6]

Production

The album was produced by Rob Fraboni and Ricky Fataar; Russ Titelman also worked on the album.[7][5] Mick Taylor played guitar on "Cardiac Arrest".[8] Lou Marini and Tom Scott led the horn section.[9]

Snow shot a video, her first, for the album's first single, "If I Can Just Get Through the Night".[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[12]
Los Angeles Times	[13]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]
Vancouver Sun	[15]

The Los Angeles Times thought that "while this album is classy and polished, there isn't much that approaches classic Snow territory, aside from 'We Might Never Feel This Way Again', with its touching, grab-the-moment romanticism, and the softly tender 'I'm Your Girl', which Snow wrote for her late mother."[13] The Buffalo News wrote that the singer "still has trouble resisting instrumental sucrose in the background, but the sound of Phoebe Snow singing 'I'm Your Girl' or 'If I Can Just Get Through the Night' is the essence of pop authenticity."[16] The Boston Globe concluded that Something Real "has a couple of slick, poorly chosen cover songs, but her four original songs on the album are sparkling."[8]

The Vancouver Sun opined that "the highly produced musical packaging feels too slick and hip for conveying truly honest emotions."[15] The Washington Post declared: "With a voice that's equally suited to pop, R&B and gospel, she has no difficulty reviving the old Emotions' hit 'Best of My Love' or emulating James Taylor's tuneful insouciance on 'Soothin'', but other song choices don't pan out nearly as well."[17] The New York Times deemed Something Real Snow's "most coherent album," writing that her "excesses are reined in just enough to make her sound bighearted and benevolent rather than overwrought."[18]

AllMusic called the album "a sturdy, respectable set," writing that Snow "tends to de-emphasize the more unusual aspects of her voice, although not so much that you'd confuse it with anybody else's."[11]

Aftermath

Something Real would prove to be the final Phoebe Snow album release on a major label, Snow abandoning the 1991 recording of a second Elektra Records album after cutting six tracks which (Phoebe Snow quote:) "were just wrong. They weren't who I am. I was like the gal singer who phoned her part in." Snow asked for release from her Elektra Records contract, recording what would be her final two studio albums: I Can't Complain (1998) and Natural Wonder (2003), for indie labels.[19]

Track listing

References

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