In 2001, after the release of Face up, Lisa Stansfield and the Major BMG Arista, her label since the beginning, come to the divorce: the BMG will put on the market on 2003 a greatest hits entitled Biography and a box set containing all the studio albums published so far and many extras entitled The complete collection.
So Lisa’s career is at a turning point: the first step is reaching an agreement with ZTT, the small label of the great producer Trevor Horn, who worked for many famous international artists such as Seal; but the real news is that Horn will produce the new album and not Ian Devaney (who will anyhow work on the recordings and lyrics of some tracks), together with his trusty friend Richard Darbyshire who will contribute musically to some tracks, as usual. The particular result is a more pop/rock-oriented album compared with her previous soul/R&B works; maybe Lisa feels the need of a change after the release of Face up (quite a commercial failure) and she is stimulated by Horn to try some new genres because of her versatile voice. The album’s title is The moment and is released in the UK on September 2004 (worldwide on 2005), despite low sales, it contains some music treats.
The first song is Easier, wrote by Fiona Renshaw, it’s a classy romantic ballad with beautiful guitars and strings. Track N°2 is Treat me like a woman written by the famous American songwriter Kara Dioguardi, it’s the first single and reaches good positions only in Austria (#36) and Germany (#43), it doesn’t even reach the charts throughout Europe and UK in spite of an attractive video. It is a catchy, rocky-song with an interesting combination between acoustic and heavy electric guitars. The next track is When love breaks down, a cover of a Prefab Sprout’s song contained in Steve Mc Queen album (1985), one of their most important success: we can say that Lisa’s version has a better quality and her performance is deeper than the original one.
Track N°4 is another cover, Say it to me now a rock song by The Frames, taken from their album Fitzcarraldo (1995): good lyrics and true rock interpretation. Track N°5 is the first song of this album written by Stansfield-Devaney-Darbyshire trio: He touches me is a pop song with a strong soul element, fine chorus and well-sung romantic lyrics: it is the fourth and last single but it doesn’t reach any position in the charts. SThe following track is Lay your hand on me written by Thom Hardwell and Ian Morrow, beautiful and romantic lyrics, piano and strings base, Lisa’s voice gives the thrills, without any doubt this is one of the treat of this album and one of the most beautiful song interpreted by the British artist. Trevor Horn joins the trio to write the title track The moment, it’s a rhythmic and airy song with a first-rate final characterized by a string crescendo and Lisa’s virtuosity. Track N°8 is If I hadn’t got you, a cover of a Chris Braide’s song (an English songwriter) from his album Life in A minor key (1997): this is a well-arranged pop song, released as the third single; it reaches the Top 50 charts only in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, in the U.K. and Italy it reaches no positions. The video is very simple showing Lisa singing in the recording studio.
Stansfield-Devaney-Darbyshire trio composes also the 9th song, Take my heart, another great track of the album, between soul and gospel traditions, characterized by Lisa’s astonishing performance, probably the most difficult song she has ever sung. Track N°10, Love without a name, is a romantic ballad with strings and interesting lyric, always written by Stansfield-Devaney-Darbyshire trio. Takes a woman to know is the song that closes the album, a cover of German girl band No Angel's song, from their album Pure (2003): this is maybe the less interesting track of the album, but Stansfield makes it special thanks to her interpretation.
The moment is a commercial failure, ZTT label does not promote it at all because it is more involved in the production of Trevor Horn’s tribute album, “deus ex machina” of ZTT label. In the U.K. it reaches the 57th position (the only Lisa’s work not in the English top 40), the 16th in Germany, the 15th in Austria, the 22nd in Switzerland, the 39th in Italy and in the U.S.A. it doesn’t reach any charts. In the end ZTT makes a mistake not investing on Lisa Stansfield’s record, her album is certainly good and it would have deserved more attention, but the label, focusing on Horn, spoils Lisa’s entire work. It’s not a coincidence that the ex-vocalist of Blue Zone cancel her contract with ZTT, probably hurt by the negative and egocentric behavior of Trevor Horn
In March 2006, ZTT label re-releases the CD in a deluxe edition entitled The moment gold edition with gold cover, including 2 bonus tracks (If I hadn’t got you remixes) and an enhanced CD-ROM section with extra contents such as: Treat me like a woman and If I hadn’t got you videos, a small photo-gallery and desktop material. In 2015 ZTT records releases The Moment album again, this time in Expanded Reissue version. Despite the elegant packaging, the CD doesn’t contain anything special, Horn’s little label publishes only an upgraded tracklist with alternative versions of If I hadn't got you, When love breaks down, The moment and Say it to me now. The only “unrealesed song” is Don’t explain taken from Live at Ronnie Scott’s in London (2013).
Singles extracted from album
|
|
|
|
|
|
Easier/Treat me like a woman*
|
Treat me like a woman
|
If I hadn't got you
|
He touches me
|
*Only for UK
Videoclips
- Treat me like a woman
- If I hadn't got you
For more information on the history of videoclips visit the appropriate section.
