"One Voice" is one of Barry Manilow's moodiest albums and ranks among my favorites. The album's black-and-gray cover suits most of these songs, which sounded especially good as the weather turned colder in late 1979 and hold up very well today. Ultimately hopeful, the famous title track starts with a stark, attention-getting a cappella intro. The first single, "Ships," featured the already familiar, starts-quiet-ends-big arrangement of previous hits, but the lyric (by veteran British rocker Ian Hunter) about a fading father-son relationship was different from what Barry'd done before. Fans aware of Barry Manilow's non-relationship with his biological father sensed that "Ships" was more personal than his other Top 10 hits. This is also true of "Sunday Father", about a divorced dad trying to make the most of his one day a week with his son..."one day to keep the two from turning to strangers." "Where Are They Now" is a lament to lost friends which sadly becomes more applicable each passing year. "Rain" is an excellent midtempo song built around Michael Boddicker's hypnotic synthesizer playing.

The pace changes in the second half with two fast songs. The blistering, rock-disco "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" just kicks. I wish Barry had pursued this direction a little more; if you haven't heard it, this aggressive song will surprise you. "Sleeping" would have been a far better single release than either "When I Wanted You" or "I Don't Want To Walk Without You", which made the Top 40 but didn't reach many radio listeners outside the loyal fan base. "Bobbie Lee" is a well-done rock song that continued a series of young girls-for-hire-songs last seen with Even Now"'s bonus track "No Love For Jenny". Hmmm...

The bonus track, "They Gave In To The Blues," was originally the B-side to "Ships." It's a good addition to the album, though it's not blues.

Barry's singing is excellent here. (Phrasing much improved.) "One Voice" grew on me in disco-heavy 1979 thanks to the fine songs and fantastic singing. I hope more fans discover "One Voice" despite its relative lack of hit singles. P.S.: after this fine effort, the bottom dropped out for a short while with 1980's "Barry" album, which Arista skipped over in its late '90's reissue campaign.

This is Manilow at his best. An excellent piece of work from a master. The music in this CD flows with grace and energy. A true musical experience. It's a wonderful CD filled with music to melt your heart and charm your soul. I love it.

One Voice was the album that came immediately after one of Barry's most traumatic times in his life. Months before, backstage, a man came and visited him after a concert. That man was his father. Someone he hadn't seen in over 20 years. This is the man who left him and his mother forever.

The meeting was brief and uneventful. This led to the somber state of this very album called One Voice. Listen to the words of the song SHIPS. You'll see what I mean.

Song's like Rain, Where Are They Now and Sunday Father have a real meaning to Barry. Songs like Bobby Lee and I Don't Want To Walk Without You are more standards and convey a somewhat positive side of seeing old friends and feeling old feelings.

This is a good album and my favorite song - again, think of his father is When I Wanted You. A really really good song and one that makes think about old times and memories. You'll enjoy this one!

just about the time of growing up and Barry held me together through the terrible teens. Very fond of this album cause it was to be the last one my best buddy and grandmother gave me before she went to Heaven. Of course, had she listened to it, she may not have approved, but hey Barry might pop out and nasty word every five albums or so, but compared to the music of today, thats a feather in his cap.

"One Voice"--yeah, but whaddah voice! Great album. It is AWESOME! The more I listen to it, the more I LOVE it!!!! Some standard songs like "One Voice, I Don't Wanna Walk Without You, Ships, Who's Been Sleeping in my Bed, & When I Wanted You." They are all great, of course. "Who's Been Sleeping in my Bed" is a wee bit different version than the other version I have and it's cool. It has this guitar-drum bridge that is awesome--I mean, it ROCKS!!! I LOVE it! The song lasts over 4 1/2 minutes, too. Man, play that one loud in the morning and blast down the interstate! (and I do, too!) Everytime I hear this song, I wanna DANCE!!!

There are some new-to-me songs "Why Don't We Try A Slow Dance, Rain, You Could Show Me, Where Are They Now, Bobbie Lee, Sunday Father" and 4 bonus tracks "They Gave in to the Blues" is one plus there and 3 demos "Learning to Live Without You, Where I Want to Be, and I Let Myself Believe." (and these last 3 are outstandingly beautuful). 15 songs in all--digitally remastered. "Why Don't We Try A Slow Dance" makes me think of the high-school dances--you know, slow dancing with a boy. Very pretty song, Heck, they're all such pretty songs! "Rain" has a catchy tune and beat to it. Makes me wanna dance. Kinda in between slow and fast. Sort of an easy beat, like 35 miles per hour. "Rain" (I can't stop the rain, kissin my love goodbye) so pretty. Also, in Rain, they make these plunk, plunk rain sounds on the guitar all through the song. Really creative. Really cool.

Great album, great sound quality! Runs a wee bit under 51 minutes. I highly recommend it. On a scale of 1 - 5, I give it at least an 20. I find myself getting hopelessly addicted to it. I have to listen to it at least once a day, if not more. It has definitely become one of my favorite Barry albums! Oh, and there's a booklet included with the words to all the songs, so you can sing along with Barry Blue-Eyes.

Update July 2008: This has become one of my absolute favorite Barry albums, along with Summer of '78. It was really hard for me to pick favorites. People sometimes write and ask me. I truly love everything Barry does.