Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Having had a pretty dark childhood, Toni Childs, born in Orange, California, faced one of two options: a descent into violence, or a journey of self-discovery. Thankfully, she opted for the latter and an extraordinary talent was born. The voyage saw Childs live in London, for a while writing lyrics for a Nigerian band. Returning to L.A., she fronted Berlin before backing David + David on their 1986 masterpiece, Boomtown. Together with producer David Tickle, she began work on what became her debut, Union, which in turn took her to Paris and Swaziland during its production. Issued to critical acclaim in 1988, Union's nine tracks are nothing less than articulated craftsmanship, fusing drum programs, synth layers, ethnic percussion, dashes of guitar, and even cellos. Somehow, the overall sound was viable enough for radio, with "Don't Walk Away" becoming a minor hit in America and the U.K. But it was Australia that immediately picked on the sumptuous world-cum-mainstream music; the African rhythms translating well for an Oceanic audience. For her next album, Childs kept the ingredients almost identical. Even so, House of Hope fell short of the expectations set by Union. The best tracks are the first three: "I've Got to Go Now," "Next to You," and the title song, which ended up on the soundtrack for Thelma & Louise. As a predominately "album artist," Childs attracted many respected musicians with her big and tortured voice. In 1994, Peter Gabriel invited her to his Real World community in England, where much of The Woman's Boat was laid down. This work also included performances from Robert Fripp and Karl Wallinger. The Woman's Boat is a concept album based on the cycle of life; thus beginning with "WOMB" and ending with "DEATH." A fourth album was due in 1996 but has never materialized. After a 14-year wait, her next album, the aptly titled Keep the Faith, was released in 2008.

Kelvin Hayes, Allmusic.com

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Union's release in 1988 announced a bold, incendiary new voice in the singer/songwriter sweepstakes in Toni Childs. The well-traveled Childs, the short-term original lead singer for Berlin, draws upon the vast experiences of her life and delivers them with an urgency that is hypnotically compelling. It's all tied together by David Tickle's production and aided by first-rate backing by musicians including songwriting collaborator David Ricketts, drummer Rick Marotta and guitarist David Rhodes. The single "Don't Walk Away" kicks things off in high gear and Childs rarely looks back. Her take-no-prisoners vocal drives the funky, horn-driven track, which is backed by the gospel swell of the background vocalists. Although the rest of the album is a little more sedate, Childs never loses the urgent edge to her dusky voice. "Stop Your Fussin'" is sung to a restless lover over a Caribbean rhythm and "Hush" has a playful bounce to it. Elsewhere, "Zimbabwae" is a parable detailing African strife complete with chanting background vocals and "Dreamer" provides her with a bed of keyboards that shimmer like stars. The twice Grammy-nominated Union received universal critical acclaim and is riveting right through the moody poetry of the final track, "Where's the Ocean."

Review by Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Toni Childs followed up her critically acclaimed Union in 1991 with House of Hope. Once again, Childs wrote the bulk of the album with David Rickets (David and David) with whim she co-produced the album. Despite those facts, and despite the return of guitarist David Rhodes and drummer Rick Marotta, House of Hope fails to match the impressive standards of Childs' debut.

Childs treads much of the same ground as on Union, both lyrically and musically, but too much of House of Hope feels incomplete. What the record lacks, however, is almost made up for on the tracks that do work beginning with the lead-off "I've Got to Go Now," a tale of a woman leaving an abusive relationship. Childs dramatic vocals imbue the protagonist with willful, albeit fragile, resolve and a spirit that is moving. "Heaven's Gate" is a lovely ballad resembling a lullaby (which chronicles a widow's longing to be reunited with her husband) over a graceful soundtrack of piano and acoustic guitar. And on "The Dead Are Dancing," Los Lobos' David Hidalgo adds guitar and accordion to the ode to the disappeared dissidents of Chile.

Review by Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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After the less successful critical and commercial fortunes of her second record, House of Hope, Toni Childs jumped labels from A&M to Geffen for her third release, The Woman's Boat, in 1994. She also enlisted a new producer in David Botrill, with whom Childs shares production credits. Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, The Woman's Boat features an impressive array of musicians including David Rhodes, Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn. The album itself is an ambitious song-cycle exploring the female perspectives from the heartbeats of the opening track "Womb" through the ten-minute confessional epic "Death," which closes the record. In between, there's the sonic rush of "Welcome to the World," which gracefully juxtaposes a mother's expression of fear and optimism to her unborn child, and the ominous tone of "Predator" expressing the darker side of human nature. The music edges Childs deeper into world music territory with its exotic instrumentation and rhythms. The Woman's Boat is a rich, complex and, occasionally, meandering work that, while failing to return Childs to mainstream success, does reward the listener.

Review by Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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Keep the Faith is at once a reunion and a continuance, a record that finds Toni Childs re-teaming with David Ricketts – the producer who helmed her 1988 breakthrough Union – and finalizing material she wrote in the '90s. Given this long backstory, along with its staggered release schedule – it initially appeared independently and in Australia before showing up in the U.S. on a subsidiary of Savoy in 2009 – it's appropriate that Keep the Faith feels out of time, not belonging to its era, but certainly not an exercise in nostalgia, either. To a certain extent, that's always been true of Childs, whose multi-cultural, neo-hippie persona certainly felt like a throwback to the early '70s even when it fit comfortably next to Peter Gabriel's worldbeat explorations of the late '80s, but Keep the Faith is especially and pleasingly out of phase, touching on all these phases, sounding leaner yet fuller than her last album, 1994's The Woman's Boat. The long 14-year gap between records does mean that the songs on Keep the Faith are precisely observed and carefully written, not fussy but finished, and Ricketts helps them sound realized, turning Keep the Faith not into a comeback but a restatement of purpose.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

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Toni Childs - Albums Collection 1988-2008 (4CD)

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