The perfect album for a day at the beach, Rea's eighth album takes the listener from the water's edge of the title song to the sunny fields of the French countryside in "Giverny." The upbeat reggae feel of "Lucky Day" works particularly well, but it is "On the Beach" that's the standout track.
Rea seems to think so, too, as he's recorded it numerous times.
The version here, though, is the most evocative, a little slower and more meditative than others.
The lyrics, as in many of his songs, deal with remembrance and old love.
"Little Blonde Plaits," "Hello Friend," and "It's All Gone" are other examples of this theme that appear on the album.
While his later release, The Road to Hell, shows the darker side of Rea's worldview, On the Beach is an excellent introduction to his brighter, more optimistic songwriting.
The last three songs are bonus tracks that were not on the original LP release, "Bless Them All" being a smooth, fluid instrumental.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On the BeachChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Little Blonde PlaitsChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | GivernyChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 05:38 | 12 MB | 32 MB |
| 4 | Lucky DayChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Just Passing ThroughChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 6 | It's All GoneChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 07:27 | 17 MB | 47 MB |
| 7 | Hello FriendChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | Two RoadsChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | Light of HopeChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Auf Immer und EwigChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | FreewayChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | Bless Them AllChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 02:27 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 13 | Crack That MouldChris Rea | Chris Rea | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 59 mins | 136 MB | |||||
| 59 mins | 353 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Ahwai | Guitar |
| 2 | Robert Ahwry | Guitar |
| 3 | Martin Ditcham | Percussion |
| 4 | Stuart Ealses | Engineer |
| 5 | Kevin Leach | Keyboards |
| 6 | Dave Mattacks | Drums |
| 7 | Max Middleton | Fender Rhodes, Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer |
| 8 | Eoghan O'Neill | Bass |
| 9 | Adrian Rea | Drums |
| 10 | Chris Rea | Composer, Fretless Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Slide Guitar, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |