This was julia's first album in 1988 and she hit it big with a song off the album called 'Woman of the 80's'. This was a bit of a polemic against hard nosed career women. Sung in a sarcastic manner she has since claimed that people took its lyrics at face value and tarred her with such a brush afterwards.

That song is one of the more brash lively songs on the album and one of my least favourites. This album then is divided into two moods; one is this faster brasher sort with typical 80's programmed percussion; the other is a slower more romantic and jazzy style which I much prefer.

Luckily most of the album is taken up by these slower love songs and ballads.

The albums kicks off with 'Happy ever after' which is simply gorgeous. Julia's voice is beautiful and the instrumentation here is far more subtle as she sings against the regime in South Africa.

'Few too many' is another gorgeous piano led ballad showing Julia off to her best.

There are plenty more examples on the album of this soft laid back instrumentation, smokey and club like, backing up Fordham, the chanteuse burning a torch for those in love and who have lost in love.

'Invisible war', again slow, beautiful and rather sad.

'My lover's keeper' sounds like an attempt at being Alison Moyet with a backing hasreher and more false that Vince Clarke. So let's skip that one, why don't we?

Side 1 ends with Cocooned for which we're back to that jazz club.

Side 2 starts off with a duet with John O'Kane. This song a mixture between her two styles tends not to get the skip treatment from me.

But 'Woman of the 80's' definitely does.

'The other woman' again reminds me of Alison Moyet but without Vince Clarke and ther's some nice saxophone and deep percussion here.

'Behind sclosed doors' would have been a lovely way to end off teh album but it doesn't Instead we're trated to the truly awful .Unconditional Love' instead.

So out of ten tracks we have a bout 7 that are not jarring. But those seven are divine. I love her voice and arrangments. She has a nice turn of phrase placing herself and the listener in different situations relating to relationships. These were all honed in her next albums. But this is an auspicious debut.

When I first got her records years ago I was always impressed by the sound. Clear and impressive and yet a beautiful velvety sound. Looking at the sleevenotes now it comes as little surprise to see that tis record was mastered by Robert Ludwig.