Christopher Cross' self titled debut album "Christopher Cross" marked a return to simplicity as the decade would change from the 1970s to the 1980s. The 1970s had introduced the hard rock sound as well as the disco sound. Christopher Cross' album would be filled with what would today be classified as adult contemporary songs. In some ways, this album was also a sign of things to come for the 1980s - an album that is infused with a keyboards and synthesizers. This album would go on to be the big hit of the 1980 Grammy Awards. Some may be critical of the efforts (my Grandfather attended the 1980 Grammys and was not happy that Cross would win all the awards), but most applaud the efforts (including myself - despite my Grandfathers opinion).

Cross and producer Michael Omartian did a lot of right things when putting together this colleciton. No doubt Omartian knew he had a gem of a songwriter and a gem of a voice in Christopher Cross. This was something that could lead to big things, but what Omartian did is take out an insurance policy - he surrounded Cross with some outstanding talent to contribute background vocals to the songs on the album. The names are Michael McDonald ("I Really Don't Know Anymore" and "Ride With the Wind"), Don Henley ("The Light is On") and the late Nicolette Larson ("Say You'll Be Mine"). There also is a lesser known vocalist named Valerie Carter who does an outstanding job on contibuting vocals to "Spinning". There also is a solid studio band - Tommy Taylor and Andy Salmon play drums and bass respectively on all of the tracks. Rob Meurer contributes keyboards, piano, etc on 8 of the 9 tracks.

Michael McDonald does a tremendous job on his two tracks. His soulful voice is perfect as he echoes Cross on the chorus of "I Really Don't Know Anymore". Meurer's synthesizers will also give this song a very catchy beat. McDonald is much better known for his background vocals "Ride Like the Wind". "Ride Like the Wind" is an awesome song. McDonald is used in a similar role as "I Really Don't Know Anymore" provided the "echo" to Cross. In 1982, I remember watching "The Great American Bike Race" (a transcontiential bicycle race) on ABC Sports. The person who won that race was kind of a "loner" character named Lon Haldeman. They used this song to describe him and I remember how perfect this music was. Even today I have visions of the "loner" cyclist when this song is played.

On "The Light is On", this isn't a song I would expect to hear Don Henley on. Henley contributes vocals and not any percussion or drums. Henley's vocals are combined with Cross himself and someone named J.D. Souther. You won't hear Henley stand out on this song, but I'm sure having someone like him in the studio contributed to great quality this song delivers. As for Nicolette Larson (the late singer who passed away in 1997 - famous for her hit "Lotta Love"), she is the perfect vocalist on "Say You'll Be Mine". On this track, Larson basically performs a duet with Cross. She blends beautifully in this song. Larson doesn't come on to the song til about 1:35 into the song - and she "folds" into the song beautifully as her role gets more prevalent as the song goes on. On "Spinning", Valerie Carter also plays a duet role - but her role starts much earlier in the song. "Spinning" is a hidden gem on this album - it is a very soulful and romantic song featuring some terrific flugelhorn by someone named Chuck Findley.

There are two other songs that are hidden gems on this album. Both of these songs feature terrific lyrics and terrific music. The first is "Poor Shirley" is a song that deals with someone named 'Shirley' that Cross describes as someone who has went through the heartbreak of a breakup. "Minstrel Gigolo" is the six minute finale to the album and is the perfect wrap-up song. In this song Cross takes us the journey of being a star in the music industry. Since this was a debut album, Cross probably wasn't writing from experience but rather taking a peek into the future. "Minstrel Gigolo" is probably the second best track on the collection.

Besides "Ride Like the Wind", there are two other popular songs on this album. "Sailing" won a Grammy for song of the year and is one of those songs in which the songwriter is able to create a "visual" from the music. No doubt, Cross paints the perfect picture of a relaxing day at sea. I think Cross knew he was painting a picture as he references "the canvas can do miracles". The other well known song is "Never Be the Same" - this song has a catchy pop beat to it. It's a nice song, but compared to the other 8 tracks it might be the weakest of songs on the collection.

This CD has a nice set of liner notes. All of the lyrics to the 9 songs contained in the collection are included. In addition, all production and musician credits are done on a song by song basis. There are some real good songs included especially from a songwriting and musicianship standpoint, but the one drawback is that this album sometimes wears thin on me pretty quickly. In other words, after I sporadically play this CD for a day or so, it kind of develops that overplayed feeling. This isn't a knock of the quality of the work of this album, but more a statement of reality. A final note - even without the guest vocalists, this album still has a lot of merit. This album still has a lot to offer and there probably is something for everyone on this collection.

Christopher Cross had a relatively brief but spectacular career in the early 80's, and his debut stands as his most successful CD. It yielded a classic #1 adult contemporary ballad - "Sailing" (which was later remade by 'n sync!), which is a truly beautiful song. The other big hit (#2 for 4 weeks) was "Ride Like the Wind," which is more uptempo, but still mellow. A couple of other songs also made the Top 20 - "Never Be the Same" and "Say You'll Be Mine." The CD is very poppy and flows so well together. I originally bought the cassette when I was 12-years-old, and I replaced it on CD a few years ago. Highly recommended. This CD will appeal most to fans of mellow pop music, but it really is just great music.

Christopher Cross self-titled album that came out in the late 1970's would earn him four Grammies including Best New Artist, and Best Album.

Cross indeed deserved those awards. The album is great to listen from beginning to end. Even some of his cuts that didn't get airplay are great to listen to including "I Really Don't Know Anymore" which one of two cuts that feature Michael McDonald on backing vocals. The other one that features McDonald was the upbeat "Ride Like the Wind" which was dedicated to Little Feat founder Lowell George who passed away in 1979. Another great piece that was not heard on the radio was "The Light Is On" which sounds like something from Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider which makes you wonder if he heard his music, since Vollenweider first record was not released internationally.

His best song on the record with no doubt is "Sailing" which would win Cross two Grammies for Best Record and Best Song.

Sadly Cross would never enjoy the success that others in the Adult Pop fold would have including Elton John, Phil Collins, Gloria Etefan, and Celine Dion. However Christopher Cross is still recording and performing to this day, and still makes good pop music, even if it's heard by a few. If want to check up on him visit his website at christophercross.com

Be sure to check his self-titled record. It's all how his career in music got started.

This self-titled debut album from Christopher Cross came out at the tail end of 1979, & it does sound like a '70s record, but what's striking is how it manages to strike an uncanny balance between '70s soft rock & '80s adult contemporary, despite the fact that the '80s hadn't even dawned when this came out (although they nearly had--this came out in the period between Christmas & New Year's in 1979). For instance, "Never Be the Same" has a twinkly keyboard sound that strongly brings to mind Elton John's 1989 tune "Sacrifice", making it easy to see how casual fans would mistake this for a much later recording. Although there are certainly synthesizers on here, they're really not that prominent at all. Instead, the record's sound is dominated by lots of warm Fender Rhodes electric piano, acoustic piano, crisp drumming, jazzy guitar solos, etc (in other words, a "70s sound", if you will). It's the kind of record that stereo salesmen love to use when demonstrating the abilities of their equipment, & for good reason--the record puts to use the advancements that had been made in recording technology up to that time, yet without any of the '80s synth-mania that was a few years or so down the road.

The result is a brightly-polished, warm-sounding album, phenomenally produced by Michael Omartian who, not so coincidentally, had previously worked with Steely Dan (a definitive band for audiophiles). Check out the wondefully rich-sounding piano chords on "Minstrel Gigolo" for a perfect example. This CD release, though not an "original recording remastered" disc, still sounds great & does the album justice. Performance-wise, the album is also absolutely first-rate, with such legendary session musicians as Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, Victor Feldman, Jim Horn, & Chuck Findley, all of whom also played for Steely Dan. Even future guitar god Eric Johnson plays the solo guitar on "Minstrel Gigolo". All that said, this ain't your run-of-the-mill "adult contemporary" record by a long shot. One could argue that all the big names such as Michael McDonald, Don Henley, & Nicolette Larson (who all contribute vocals) were merely an attempt to give the album some "credentials" (with Cross being an "unknown"), but the thing is, the guests were sincere & clearly into the material, & they contribute positively to the record. The difference is night and day versus having Nickelback guest with Santana, or the Rolling Stones snapping up Dave Matthews for a cameo--now THAT's crass.

As for Cross himself, his crystal clear tenor vocals were sincere & convincing, & he was also a first-rate guitarist in his own right (he played the excellent, extended solo on the fade of "Ride Like the Wind"). He also wrote every song on here himself, & there isn't a weak song on the entire album--in fact, the album is almost uniformly blissful, with extremely little to complain about whatsoever. Some of the songwriting is minimalistic, but effectively so, as on the minor-keyed, propulsive Lowell George-dedicated "Ride Like The Wind", with its simple, repetitive looping piano part & a somewhat minimal verse melody, or "Spinning" which is so invitingly melodic & lush-sounding that its lack of lyrics ends up not being a problem (although Valerie Carter, whose vocals are prominently featured on the track, does get typically carried away). Matching the immaculate production values with Cross' winningly sentimental, tuneful songwriting, the album stacks up gem after gem, whether it's the affecting, mellow ballads "Sailing", "Minstrel Gigolo", & "The Light Is On"; the fun, feel-good pop-rocker "Say You'll Be Mine"; or songs that combine those two elements such as the wonderfully dramatic and uplifting "Poor Shirley" which puts Cross' Beach Boys/ Brian Wilson influence on full display, and has cathartic high notes from Cross towards the end.

This is truly a landmark classic album that very much serves as a benchmark for what adult contemporary music should sound like (as opposed to what it SHOULDN'T sound like). One of my personal favorite albums of all time.

At the time of this recording, the unphotogenic Cross was bearded and overweight -- hence the appearance of his flamingo logo on the cover, and not a single photo of the artist to be found.

But the music itself is glorious, and brings back memories of a wonderful holiday on the West Coast in 1980. In a way, this album is the FM-friendly face of Steely Dan. Many of the Dan's most illustrious session musicians appear on this debut, among them Michael McDonald, Larry Carlton, Chuck Findley and Vic Feldman. And the whole album is produced by Michael Omartian -- he of the gorgeous Bosendorfer piano sound on KATY LIED. This sound is brought back for the album's stand-out single, 'Ride Like the Wind'.

But the music is more pop than Steely Dan's. It was in many ways the natural successor to Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS. If a US household owned one of those albums, then it usually owned the other too.

Cross never really took off over here, in the UK. But that was entirely our loss. This is a one-off classic.