Greatest Hints

The added percussion is nice, but what separates this album from previous efforts is the cohesive sound of the band, something Stanley has repeatedly attributed to the virtuosity of Michael Gizmondi on bass. The next thing that jumps out at you are the background vocals of Kevin Raleigh. Hired as an extra keyboard player, it didn't take long to figure out he was much more than that. ""Last Night"" was the only song ever co-written by Raleigh/Stanley, and Kevin made major writing contributions with ""Promises"" and ""Hold Your Fire"". ""Beautiful Lies"", ""We're Not Strangers Anymore"" and ""Lights Out"" further established the song writing team of Stanley/Pelander. A cover of the Supremes' classic ""Back In My Arms Again"" features a great sax solo from Mr. Gizmondi, as does Stanley's ""Down To The Wire"". It was produced by Harry Maslin, who had just finished David Bowie's ""Young Americans"" album.