It's near impossible to rate any of Dusty's back catalogue below three stars because anything she manipulated with that incredible voice became gold. In her native country Britain, five years of hit single after hit single (1964-1969) had well and truly established Dusty as an icon. However, after an ill-fated move to Los Angeles in the early seventies her career began back-peddling at a rapid rate of knots. It was not until the intervention of then-hot duo the Pet Shop Boys in 1988 that she would reclaim mainstream popularity, but her attempts in the late seventies (of which 'It Begins Again' is an artefact) were admirable if not particularly successful.

It's interesting to note that this release marked the first time a photograph of Dusty had appeared on a studio album of hers for almost a decade. Her self-loathing and bouts of depression are well documented in other resources, but all things considered it's obvious Dusty threw herself into this 1978 comeback - albeit an airbrushing effort that would even make Beyonce gawk. Along with the flattering photography, the rest of 'It Begins Again' reeked of professionalism. The credits read like a 'who's who' of soft rock / easy listening music from the seventies: writing credits include Barry Manilow, Nona Hendryx (of Labelle), Lesley Gore, the Motown hitmakers Holland/Dozier/Holland, whilst the production responsibilites went to Roy Thomas Baker who had recently workd with Queen. Even the most stubborn critic would have to agree this was a pretty impressive line-up.

The album yields a handful of highlights good enough to rival Dusty's seemingly infallable sixties catalogue. Her reading of the Peter Allen / Carole Bayer Sager co-write 'I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love' rises above the cliche of the lyric to become unambiguously poignant, whilst 'Hollywood Movie Girls' is an all-too-knowing look at the less glamorous reality of Hollywood. 'Turn Me Around' melds a capable vocal from Dusty with a memorable hook and 'Love Me By Name' is classic 'theatre de Dusty' a la her sixties recordings, but as always it is Dusty's more experimental selections which prove most satisfying. 'Sandra', the sweeping melodrama about a depressed housewife who drinks her sorrows away and eventually commits suicide, becomes a stunning piece of work with Dusty's vulnerable and soaring vocals respectively capturing the character's desperation and yearning. The fact that lyrically it runs close parallels with her private life a few years earlier doesn't exactly hurt the integrity of the performance, either. The final cut (despite being hideously out of place musically) is a futuristic Latin-disco tune (!) called 'That's The Kind Of Love I Got For You', with Dusty's treated vocal writhing in pure ecstasy over the infectious melody. Bizarre, but that was increasingly becoming Dusty's specialty.

The entire album is technically superb and every cut is an enjoyable one, however I can't help but feel that Roy Thomas Baker's suffocating production hinders the project rather than enhancing it. That said, no level of production can hide the strength of Dusty's performances here. Nona Hendryx's 'Checkmate' is a rocking track with a curious lyric whilst the Motown-influenced cuts 'A Love Like Yours' (a baffling first single choice) and 'I Found Love With You' become are inoffensive but joyful efforts. On the upside, the overall feel of the production manages to offset the fact that 'It Begins Again' is quite schizophrenic; starting with midtempo pop moving to soft rock to balladry to Motown to disco, the record could be quite disjointed but Baker's 'sound' manages to ground it.

The album didn't perform as well as had been expected and as such never reached the status of a 'classic' Dusty record. This is a shame, because 'It Begins Again' is a solid effort - one of the best post-sixties releases - ultimately worth hearing for some incredible vocals (by now Dust had completely mastered the breathy subtlety which would characterise her work around this period) and some truly excellent songs.

[The CD reissue adds the attraction 12" remix of 'That's The Kind Of Love I Got For You', but I wonder why Mercury didn't add some of the other recordings from this period such as 'Let Me Love You Once Before You Go', 'I Am Your Child' and 'Give Me The Night'?]

This is Dusty Springfield's fantastic 1978 comeback album. After a 4 year hiatus from solo work, Dusty came back with a vengeance with this wonderfully eclectic (if a tad overproduced) album. The opening song, "Turn Me Around" will stop you cold..especially the first 10 seconds of the track. The emotional intesity of "Checkmate" (a funky mid-tempo written by Nona Hendryx from Labelle), the subdued sadness of Barry Manilow's "Sandra" and the funky disco beat of "That's The Kind of Love I've Got For You" all come together on one album. Nobody else could have carried off such a wide range of styles in one album but Dusty. And carry it off she does, with a lovely voice, obviously not as strong as it was in its late 60s/early 70s hey day, but in exchange, with a knowing knew found maturity that really sparkles.

Roy Thomas Baker (famous for producing lots of Queen's work) goes a bit overboard when trying to reign in the White Queen of Soul. Lots of double-tracking of her voice (which sounds quite good actually in places...) and arrangements are a bit too busy and occasionally hinder what is perhaps the most beautiful voice in 20th century pop music.

Overall, an excellent album that has criminally not been available on CD until now.

A must for Dusty Springfield fans and a pleasure for those who enjoy good pop singing with an eclectic stylistic mix.

My favorite track is "I Found Love With You". While probably considered a throw away by many, I find it sweet, to the point, and just so wonderful. Dusty sounds so happy to be there.

After the sessions for the ill-fated album LONGING were regretfully abandoned in 1974, Dusty Springfield withdrew almost completely from music, severing her contract with ABC/Dunhill and disappearing from the public eye. Aside from one-off background work for Anne Murray and Elton John, Dusty spent the next 3 years battling personal issues. In 1977, she signed with United Artists Records and returned to the studio. The single-only "Let Me Love You Once Before You Go" was released to test the waters. Several months later, Dusty returned with IT BEGINS AGAIN, her first new release in 5 years.

This is not the Dusty springfield of yore. On IBA, Dusty works hard to project a new, modern image: confident, mature, classy with a feminist edge. This image reveals itself both in the photos for the album (a sophisticated Dusty in soft focus) and in the grooves. In a somewhat unusual pairing between Dusty and fellow Brit producer Roy Thomas Baker (at the time best known for his work with Queen), IBA offers an interesting assortment of songs, some harking back to her 1960's heyday, others with surprisingly contemporary sound and subject matter.

The album opens with Chi Coltrane's "Turn Me Around", which Dusty originally recorded for the aforementioned LONGING album. This is an updated arrangement, with a surprising amount of gloss and sheen. The change in Dusty's voice is also somewhat startling- she seems lighter...more delicate, more intimate. The contrast is actually very appealing, and "Turn Me Around" sets the tone for the album nicely.

Next up is Nona Hendryx's "Checkmate", a funky little song with Dusty giving a dynamic vocal. The production would've benefited from more of a rock sound- at times it borders on country, especially in the opening. Still a fun song, with a killer climax toward the end.

Much of the album is firmly rooted in MOR (which, deride it if you must, was perhaps most prevalent commercial sound of the period, outside of disco), and the oft-covered Carole Bayer Sager/Peter Allen tune "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" most certainly falls under this category. Fortunately, Dusty's positively radiant take on the song conquers a somewhat busy arrangement (with an annoyingly noisy sax solo in the middle?). the fact that UA chose NOT to release this as a single is frustrating, especially considering Rita Coolidge scored a Top 40 hit barely a year later with a decidedly similar take.

She returns to her Motown-loving roots with a cover of Martha and the Vandellas' HDH classic "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" (another song originally intended for inclusion on LONGING). It's perfectly fine, and fun, but here's one instance where Baker's production detracts- it's so glossy that it drains any grit from the song, despite Dusty's rough and ready vocal, which also recalls her 60's prime.

The modern, feminist slant of the album now comes to the fore with the next two songs- first, Lesley Gore's "Love Me By Name", a surprisingly honest lament of the emptiness of one-night-stands. The song moves at snail's pace, but Dusty dreamy vocal makes it engaging. That track is followed by Barry Manilow's moody "Sandra", with Dusty delivering a standout performance. Manilow's tale of a borderline housewife alternating her mundane activities with alcohol and attempted suicide can be overwrought and maudlin in lesser hands, but Dusty makes the pain immediate and real. When she insists she loves her family in the chorus, but then cries out about not having the chance "to be me, for myself...", you BELIEVE her. Dusty's done her job. It's an album highlight.

Talk about 180's- from attempted suicide to the happy-go-lucky swing of "I Found Love With You", a bubbly tune that recalls Natalie Cole's "This Will Be". Dusty delivers another surprising vocal- she's sung in falsetto before (and would after), but on here she manages to spend so much time in the absolute rafters of her upper register you nearly forget the word "husky" has ever been used to describe her voice. After that bit of fun, we get another cautionary tale with a hint of feminism in "Hollywood Movie Girls", which Dusty again resuces from schmaltzville with her tender vocal. And while the song is touching and clever at times, it ultimately comes off as somewhat contrived.

Then comes a shock of a closer- Baker persuaded Dusty to record this cover of the little-known Rita Jean Bodine release, "That's the Kind of Love I've Got For You". While it's obvious Baker tried to add a little diversity to this by turning up the guitars, taking down the violins and adding vocal distortion to Dusty's voice, it ultimately is what it is- a straight-ahead jump into disco. Dusty delivers a wild, rowdy vocal and lets out some trademark wails at certain points. Atypical of the album, perhaps...but a memorable closer, all the same. The song was effectively remixed for the clubs by Tom Moulton (who DID turn down the guitars, turned up the violins and cleared out the lead vocal)- the 12" was popular with DJ's, and the song went Top 40 on the US Dance chart (one of Dusty's few substantial chart showings at the time).

Ultimately, IT BEGINS AGAIN flopped, charting only briefly in the UK and missing the Billboard 200 in the US altogether. "A Love Like Yours", fun as it may be, was probably not an appropriate leadoff single in Dusty's homeland. And shockingly, UA didnt release ANY official singles from the album in the US (which almost doomed it to failure), opting instead to release the humdrum "Give Me the Night", from the UA film CORVETTE SUMMER.

However, to revisit IBA these days is to witness an artist searching for redemption and integrity, on a fascinating journey of discovery. Yes, it's dated. Yes, Baker's production is sometimes too polished or too busy. And yes, not every song is a home run. But the album holds up very well as a unique, cohesive artistic statement. And in it's best moments, IT BEGINS AGAIN will remind you of why Dusty Springfield is so revered as one of the greatest female vocalists of the 2nd half of the 20th Century.

This is Dusty's 1978 album IT BEGINS AGAIN, aptly titled since this was her first album since CAMEO. She endured a lot of personal problems in between albums but this album was her return to music. The album received a wide variety of promotion yet did not do much to help the album. However it is a stunning collection of songs, with beautiful vocals all around from Dusty. The album opens with "Turn Me Around" which had been previously recorded for her album LONGING in 1974, which was never released. One of my favorites is the breezy "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love" ready for radio, but never released, its a wonderful track. Her cover of Martha & the Vandellas' "A Love Like Yours" is subpar but still enjoyable. She turns in an excellent rendition of Barry Manilow's "Sandra", about a woman who is an alcoholic housewife, very tragic and beautiful song. Some other highlights include Nona Hendrix's "Checkmate", her foray into disco on "That's The Kind of Love I Got For You", the MOR "Hollywood Movie Girls", and the upbeat "I Found Love With You". The album overall suffers slightly from sounding too polished, but its an album that you should not miss in Dusty's catalog.

This 1978 lp was a welcome return to the then absent voice of Dusty.The mid to late 70's were a bit of a black-out for the popular British blue eyed soul singer.

The songs here sound radio ready,although the times did not embrace the Diva and her return.Little was made of this return lp at the time.

For some reason my favorite cut is "I'd rather leave while I'm in love",a Peter Allen composition.She handles the song with a haunting resonance. Dusty is in fine mature form,but this CD was later trumped by her 80-90's output with White Heat, and Reputation albums.

Still there is a longing and edge to the voice that makes Dusty a singer's singer."Hollywood movie girls" is another song that is wistful and moving. Even though it seems silly-I like the maudlin romantic songs .Dusty has a personal whispering intimacy that gets to me.Barry Manilow's

Sandra is a touch too maudlin-too obvious for the nuance-laden Miss Springfield's deft instrument. Still this album should be heard by all her fans.