Album Review: Chris Rea - Wired to the Moon (1984)

I love the music of Chris Rea.  I absolutely love it.  A brilliant singer and songwriter whom I feel is badly underrated and underappreciated.  Ask anybody who even remotely knows who he is and they'll probably tell you, "oh, he's the guy who sings 'Driving Home for Christmas.'" And of course, he is.  Some will say he's the guy who wrote "The Road to Hell (Part 2)." Others may say "oh, I love that song 'Let's Dance.'"  But very few people will tell you just how good Wired to the Moon actually is.  In light of his more successful recordings such as the magnificent On the Beach or the not too shabby The Road to Hell it certainly comes across as a filler album of sorts, something that sold well enough but never reached the chart heights of his magnum opus.  I'd personally like to be the first, if I am indeed the first, to review this album with great appraisal.  There's only song here that ever made his greatest hits compilations, and even then in re-recorded form.  That song is "Ace of Hearts."  A brilliant song, but not the best here.  I would say that accolade goes to the title track "Wired to the Moon."  The first three tracks are the weaker points on this album, but they're not exactly crap, either.  A brilliant album all around. A