Love Is Always Seventeen

One thought that really comes to mind with David Gates is that he's a man of quality over quantity. After a LONG hiatus from his musical career, Gates returned in the latter half of 1994 with "Love Is Always Seventeen", his first album since 1981. Granted, neither of Gates' previous two albums--1979's "Falling In Love Again" and 1981's "Take Me Now"--even reached the top 200 on the US album chart, so you could say that his popularity had reached a low, but without a doubt he still had a devoted fanbase and probably could have mounted a commercial comeback had he really wanted to. However, it seems that he felt the time was right for a break from the music business--perhaps he wasn't keen on following trends in pop music in order to lift his commercial fortunes, perhaps he was concerned about tarnishing his reputation, or maybe he just felt he had "said all he had to say" for the time being and wanted to explore a different path in his life.With "Love Is Always Seventeen", Gates stays true to himself once again, and the result is a very welcome return indeed. Of the 11 tracks on the CD, 3 songs--"I Will Wait For You", "No Secrets In A Small Town, and "I Can't Find The Words To Say Goodbye--were written by David Gates and Billy Dean. 7 songs were written solely by Gates, and his incredible ear for melody clearly remains intact, plus his vocals are superb. As you'd expect from Gates, lots of ballads are here... The contemplative "Heart, It's All Over" is heartbreakingly beautiful (even with the intentional grammatical error on the second verse) and has a gut-wrenching bridge. The sighing title track is about an undying hope of finding true love eventually--it's profoundly moving. "Save This Dance For Me" and "I Can't Find The Words To Say Goodbye" aren't as strong, but they're still soothing ballads that feature Gates' smooth, warm vocals and tasteful, restrained production. There are a couple of fantastic, haunting mid-tempo pop-rockers--the superbly-harmonized "In The Air Tonight"-ish "I Don't Want To Share Your Love"; and "Avenue Of Love", with cutting, incisive lyrics which incorporate sly humor including an amusing chorus hook. The yearning "Dear World" and the relatively gritty "No Secrets In A Small Town" are solidly enjoyable tracks as well. The everyman-tribute "Ordinary Man" is the one track that Gates didn't write or co-write, and it's rather sugary, but it's no big disaster. Gates ends the album with the James Taylor tribute "Thankin' You Sweet Baby James"--the incorporation of a bunch of titles of Taylor songs in the lyrics is kind of eyeroll-inducing--but at the same time, it's a wonderfully melodic song with an affectionately Taylor-styled arrangement.It's really satisfying to see David Gates, one of the great geniuses in music history, so in touch with his strengths and in such fine form on this album--no fan should hesistate to get a copy of this.

When I play David Gates for other people, they often say, "He's that guy from Bread who wrote the saddest love songs I ever heard.", citing Diary (reading her diary thinking its about you, reading on to find out its about some other guy) and others.Mr. Gates continued to refine and polish his wordcraft to a read art. Not to knock the Oklahoma Surfer of his youth, once he mastered the formula for writing hits, it seems more of his sense of feelings came through and these songs can really touch you.I Can't Find the Words To Say Goodbye is tough to listen to without singing along, and people who hear me singing it ask what it is and who wrote it. You can't do better than that, Mr. Gates. Thanks.Heart, It's All Over is another one like Diary and the Title track is, too - There's that passionate heart looking for someone to share the world with. Cool.As long as he writes songs I will want to hear them. He's more country, looks to be comfortable there out of the pop scene and I can't even imagine himself being autotuned and over engineered. Too much talent for one guy to have...

I love this cd! Great songs! David Gates is a talent so unique and pure! Love the sound of his voice! I wanted to thank the seller HowlinJack for writing me a note on the invoice! Very thoughtful! Thank you Jack for the great quality of the cd! I will buy from you again! All the best... Pam

David has done it again. An album that comes from the heart. He has given the world so, so much music through the years. He is also the last living member of the group Bread. If I could meet and have lunch with one person in this world, it would be him. He has influenced my own life for several decades with his musical style. If I could successfully write music, it would be written as he has done it! May God continue to bless him with more music, and a long life. He has been so good for this country.

I can't believe how good this CD is after all of these years. It seems that the older some of these artists get, the better their music gets. I believe this is probably the best collection of songs David Gates has ever recorded and it's even better than his Bread years, I believe. One could only hope that he will release a new CD soon and we can hear his voice and talent once more. I ordered this CD after not hearing it for several years from a friend who had it and am greatly pleased by the songwriting and singing and the good recording. I'm hoping for another one soon.

Very good David Gates with a little country twist.I f like Bread and David Gates I definitely recommend this...

Bought this CD used. No scratches or skips. CD container was broken.

David Gates still has that beautiful "Bread" voice after all these years(even though the CD is from about 20 years ago) and the songs are wonderfully written and sung! Many of these songs are ones that he could have sang with his old band years before! Great album by one of the best singer/songwriters ever!

A very polished album. Sounded like the David Gates of old but with a now cracking voice. His other two noteworthy albums were his debut album "First" and the one that follwed. His other albums were perhaps not so good but this latest edition is like a ressurection of the great singer and songwriter he was and still is. Enjoyed every track and didn't have to pick out the nice tracks with a toothcombe like one has to do on later albums of many artists who have churned out lots of albums. This sounded like a debut album.Peter Phillips.

A good album by a damn good songwriter.

Typical David Gates. Catchy melodies, heart breaking lyrics, sung in an understated way.Shame he hasn't released much more than this.

Bought for my partner who has a large collection by David Gates - some of these songs not heard before so greatly enjoyed and often played.

Gates back to his best! Title track superb and "Ordinary Man" stand out.