18th April, 2024
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We Are The World - USA For Africa - Various Artists

Every time I hear this song We are the World, I think of the 80s. I have heard this song a couple of times down the years, on my turntable, radio and also on CD. We Are The World is timeless. It’s truly a great song. Just this one song has so much meaning, that I am not sure if I needed the additional tracks. It's been a long time since this album was released, but the great music lives forever and ever with so many great musicians joining for a noble cause.

The album title song is surely the highlight of the album. And due to this cause, the world poured their hearts out and gave willingly to a cause. Starving people were fed, while entertainment community stood and tried to make a real difference in people's lives.  1985’s Live Aid concert in the UK sprang from the seeds planted by England's Band Aid single, Do They Know it's Christmas?, which actually lit the spark for all noble causes thereafter, USA for Africa (United Support for Africa) in the US of A being born.

We Are the World is the opener on Side One and it’s really cool to pick out the voices of the different stars, each contributing their mite in a listed order of appearance. Every artist sounds so good, the lyrics with a message give you so much meaning to what they are all fighting for.  We move along with other tracks like If the Only for the Moment Girl (Steve Perry), the Pointer Sisters with Just A Little Closer and ending with the Boss – Bruce Springsteen with Trapped that is pretty good.

Side Two opens with Canada adding to the playlist with Tears Are Not Enough by a group of artists known as the Northern Lights that features Bryan Adams, Corey Hart, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and others.  You might like it for its similarity to We Are The World. The rest of the album contains numerous other tracks by from his Royal Purpleness Prince with 4 The Tears in Your Eyes, Good For Nothing (Chicago) to Total Control (Tina Turner), country singer Kenny Rogers with A Little More Love, ending with the rocky Trouble in Paradise (Huey Lewis and the News).

USA for Africa was formed not to create just a single, but an entire album to sell and donate the proceeds to end African hunger. The gatefold album has some great snapshots of the recording of the title song We Are the World with a short note on the cause they are fighting for.

This album should be in everyone's music lovers collection. This LP record released on Indian lable Polydor gives the full sound and music to fill your soul.

Release: 23rd April 1985

Duration: 41.37

Label: Columbia / CBS Records / Polydor (in India)

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira


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