Only Love Can Sustain

About

Only Love Can Sustain (released in Argentina as Solo el amor puede sustentar) is the third solo studio album and eleventh in the carrer of Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta, released in 1980. It was recorded in 1979 in the United States. It was the only one of his albums recorded in English, and the only one he didn't produce himself. It was part of a project to introduce Spinetta to the American market, which ultimately failed. It contains both original songs and covers and is characterized by high production values ​​and a pop-jazz style. It is Spinetta's most controversial work, and he himself publicly stated that he was not satisfied with the result. Despite this, the album has been reevaluated over time, especially after his death in 2012. The album was produced thanks to the efforts of tennis player Guillermo Vilas, a personal friend at the time and godfather to his son Dante, who managed to interest Columbia Records (CBS) in undertaking a five-year project aimed at introducing Spinetta to the American market, which ultimately did not come to fruition. CBS invested $100,000, a substantial sum at the time, so that Spinetta could have top-tier musicians and technicians and an orchestra of nearly 100 members. Some of the session musicians who played on the album included Paulinho Da Costa, Alex Acuña, Terry Bozzio, and Abraham Laboriel, as well as arranger Torrie Zito (1933-2005), who had worked with John Lennon and Frank Zappa. To give an idea of ​​the level of financial investment in the project, Spinetta often recounted how the record company provided him with a limousine from the moment he arrived at the airport. With that level of production, Spinetta's possibilities for personal decision-making and execution were considerably reduced, and the album took on the characteristics of an industrial production, in which Spinetta's personal stamp was diluted. Luis Alberto had brought demos recorded from Argentina with his own songs and the participation of a young Lito Vitale and Gustavo Bazterrica, but the company only included a guitar solo by Bazterrica on "Something Beautiful." Spinetta was required to sing without the melodic alterations that characterized his style. The album includes compositions by other artists, among which "Omens of Love" by Gino Vanelli stands out, contributing the composer's pop-jazz sound. The album also contains a poem by Guillermo Vilas set to music by Spinetta: "Children of the Bells." Spinetta stated that he was not satisfied with the result and ended up terminating the contract.

via Last.fm