One of the main complaints about Winwood is how pliable a character he has seemingly been, somehow surviving and even thriving through plenty of years of bands where other colleagues quickly burn out. His second solo album heralded yet another resurgence, with consistently strong material backed by a curious blend of burgeoning technology and traditional sounds. The obvious centerpiece is the lead-off track (and hit single) "While You See A Chance", and the general positive mood carries through the entire record through a series of deep grooves and ballads. Definitely one of Winwood's stronger records.

Reasonably similar to Peter Gabriel's debut in that both had emerged from long spells with their former groups with solo releases that were more in line with contemporary tastes, while retaining flashes of earlier, freer explorations. But unlike Gabriel, Winwood's debut went completely under the radar, with no hit singles (unlike Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill"). It's simply a competent, well-crafted set of soul-tinged soft-pop music that is going to please fans and leave doubters unconvinced.

I remember this when it premiered because the pilot episode ran the same night the Pats upset the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1985 playoffs! It was a weird fit in the TV landscape then, and one can only watch with amusement now - or disgust, depending on your point of view - at Hal Linden blindly herding around this bumbling cast of characters for close to two hours. Or should I say miscast - Linden included.

The only redeeming quality of Sandman is "The Flying Saucer Song" which is just a mish-mash of Nilsson imitating different voices. Otherwise, a serious candidate for most boring Nilsson record. "Here's Why I Did Not Go To Work Today" is a new, painful low.

Essentially, this album came out of the morass that was the infamous "Lost Weekend" period which saw John Lennon and a host of other famous rock stars descend upon Los Angeles, and make drunken fools out of themselves. Nilsson, because of his close Beatles association, was lucky (or unlucky) to be right in the thick of it - in fact, by many accounts he was either Lennon's wing man, or competition. So much that, he damaged his vocal cords during the recording sessions! This would seem to preclude a terrible listening experience, but despite the setback it's a solid record, even if it is far from his Nilsson Schmilsson peak of 3 years ago. An equal amount of covers vs. self-penned originals is what you will find - somewhat reminiscent of Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album which was released around the same time.