Debbie Gibson - Anything Is Possible (Anniversary Celebration)

Original release date: November 20th 1990
US Album Chart peak: #41
UK Album Chart peak: #69

Buy Anything Is Possible as part of The Studio Album Collection here (Amazon UK)
Read my #AnythingIsPossible30 singles project here
Read my other Debbie Gibson anniversary posts here

After two phenomenally successful albums (1987's Out Of The Blue and 1989's Electric Youth), there must have been an enormous amount of pressure on now-global sensation Debbie Gibson to follow that up with something that would move equal amount of numbers, appeal to her fans who had grown up with her and find it's space in a rapidly changing music marketplace. Debbie was also coming off a mammoth world tour that must have been as exhausting as it was exhilarating. Add to this that while recording the album she was approaching her twenties and it certainly was a time of transition in all senses of the word. Anything Is Possible was recorded throughout 1990 and was released as her third album on October 29th of that very year. It was an album that had roots in both OOTB and EY yet didn't fully replicate either. Instead it saw Debbie push herself into new musical frontiers (including having co-writes on her album for the very first time - though if you are going to work with anyone then you could do far worse than Motown legend Lamont Dozier) and boldly put the album's songs into two distinct sides (NRG UP and Mood Swings). Nowadays, most albums have 13-14 tracks, plus bonus tracks for different retailers, plus deluxe editions that can often push the tracklisting up to twenty songs. Back in 1990, however, it was a pretty gutsy move to ostensibly release a double album of songs with a cohesive thread running through side A and B. While it may not have paid off commercially (though, quite honestly, how "only" selling half a million albums is considered a failure is beyond me) by not reaching the giddy heights of her first two albums, it's a solid piece of work that I find myself returning to again and again. Here's why...

THE SINGLES:

The album was preceded by the title track, Anything Is Possible. It's interesting how this single expands on the themes from Electric Youth's positivity and optimism but moves into the realms of relationships and the eye opening power of love. When I say it was a more sophisticated pop sound from Debbie, that's certainly not to decry any of her previous work but just to demonstrate how how this album is a reflection of a maturing Debbie Gibson. A Lamont co-write, it's the story of what you can achieve when someone believes in you. Set to a jangly guitar riff and a dark, percolating beat, Debbie tapped into her lower register in the verses while exuding an alluring confidence in the chorus that was all too hard to resist. There are some genuinely brilliant backing vocals on this song that really do accentuate the message and add some texture to this compulsive number. It became her 9th top thirty hit on the Billboard 100, although criminally stalled just outside the top 50 in the UK. Talking of my native homeland, the single got a PWL remix in the UK (both in it's extended and radio versions) that added dramatic beats and house piano to appeal to the market there. I loved these versions because I felt it added to the intensity of the lyrics without losing any of the integrity of the narrative. The song came with a choreographed video that showed Debbie in perhaps her most provocative clothing and look yet - I seem to remember reading an interview where Debbie said she was a little uncomfortable with the imagery used in this campaign. That may well be true but if it's any consolation she looked sensational in the video. I always felt the rooftop/street scene was her taking the music beyond the castle walls of Electric Youth and getting on down with the people. It's actually everything I love about a pop video - dance routines and full on emoting of the lyrics. More recently I've thought that surely this was the (unspoken?) inspiration for Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory video (where she also liberally borrowed the sax break from Should've Been The One)! It was and still is a brilliant introduction to the album and certainly got my NRG UP in anticipation of what was to follow...

...which was the epic 7 minute ballad This (So-Called) Miracle. It's not a surprise that Atlantic records wanted a ballad out - Foolish Beat and Lost In Your Eyes were Debbie's two most successful singles so when AIP didn't make the top ten they probably decided to fall back on what they knew had worked before. It's full version is a magnificent piece of work that feels like the emotions of the music and lyrics are really allowed to breathe and flow, taking us through different melodies and elements to the song that makes the listener feel like they are right there on the journey with Debbie. In it's own way, it's like those behemoth Meatloaf songs that are like mini rock operas - or alternatively perhaps it was the precursor for Celine Dion's It's All Coming Back To Me Now. What you get is an absolute vocal tour de force from Debbie that still leaves the hairs on my neck standing up each time I hear it. She captures and portrays the bewilderment, hurt and sorrow felt at a break up with a devastating accuracy that's actually tangible in every nuanced note she sings. It's a shame, therefore (but understandable), that the song was edited down to just over 4 minutes for radio. Even back then radio balked at anything longer than 4 minutes so they were unlikely to play a 7 minute song regardless of how stunning it was. At least it kept the gospel infused backing vocals and my favourite high notes in the final moments of the song. A simpler concept video was released alongside the single which saw Debbie look almost festive in red as she sings through her pain at an empty wedding reception - perhaps the wedding reception that should have been hers. It's like the saddest episode of Ally McBeal that never aired.

Single number three emerged in the form of a second ballad, One Hand One Heart. My absolute favourite song from the album and actually one of my favourite Debbie Gibson songs of all time. A heartfelt ode of the simplicity of love, it's lyrics are reflected in the fact that it's just Debbie and a piano - which really allows her plaintive vocals to shine alongside that delicate piano score. How this didn't win a grammy for best vocal performance still bamboozles me to this day. Everything about this song is just so achingly beautiful - the resonant piano chords that proliferate the second verse, the mellifluous nature of the chorus, the shimmering elegance of the middle 8. Heavenly. There was a rather sensuous video (lots of swimming pool canoodling) and if you click on the song title you will see a mesmerising TV performance of the song from when Debbie was promoting the album in Japan (where Anything Is Possible quite rightly went top five).

One Step Ahead was single number four - promoted mainly in Japan and to the dance clubs in America, this second Lamont co-write was vigorously remixed to match the increasingly hip hop and r'n'b domination of radio at the time. I think I love this song as much for it's musical qualities as I do for the memory of my dad walking in while I was listening to it and saying (in his broad Birmingham accent) "Bloomin' 'eck, is that Debbie Gibson rapping? Well, I've heard everything now"! For indeed she does do a rapid fire spoken word-rap during the song (something she explores further on Shock Your Mama from Body Mind Soul) and it's both exhilarating and intoxicating. Equally as spiffy is the dance instrumental that underscores the remix (Cathy Dennis would've killed for this) and really highlights the go-get'em attitude of the lyrics in such a way that I felt empowered every time I heard it. Truth be told I still do :)

As time goes on, I can't remember whether it was wishful thinking or actual fact that one of my favourite ballads from the album was released as the fifth and final single. Sure is another wonderful moment from the album, and - much like Miracle though in a very different way - showcases Debbie as a performer of the songs she writes, not just a singer. She really does embody all the trepidation and doubt that can surround life's big relationship decisions in a very tentative yet relatable way on this song. For example when she sings "i only wanna be... all I wanna be... God, all I ask of you is to be sure" it's more powerful with an impact that is more effective than a hundred harlequin romance novels could ever wish to be. Say what you like but there is no denying that Debbie Gibson is an evocative and giving story teller and Sure is indelible proof of this.

(Note: In His Mind was definitely a fifth release from the album in Japan. I remember tracking down the Japanese 3" CD single to add to my ever-growing collection of releases from that territory (and they sure do look pretty today). When I first heard In His Mind, I thought it was such an evocative, haunting composition - the type of musings that we all get in the still of the night when there are only our deepest thoughts to occupy us. Of course it is more eloquent and melodic than many of us could hope to be, ensuring that the song was instantly meaningful and cathartic to anyone who had been through (or would go through) a similar experience. I always thought it felt like a spiritual sister song to her epic Electric Youth hit, No More Rhyme - perhaps the precursor to the realisations of that song. It also felt a little influenced by the Les Miserables song, On My Own (stylistically rather than lyrically); both are excellent reasons as to why I love it so much).

THE ALBUM TRACKS:

As previously mentioned, because the album clocks in at a whopping 16 tracks, there really is something for everyone here. The NRG UP side focuses on up-tempo dance songs while of course Mood Swings concentrates on a mix of elegiac and elevating ballads. The album kicks off with another of my favourite Debbie Gibson songs, Another Brick Falls. It's not just the fact that it features an amazing piano solo in the middle of the song (at a time when everyone was getting guest rappers to fill the instrumental sounds in the music); it's not just that Debbie sounds like a woman at the end of her tether, seeking for something to grasp onto (perhaps the next song and first single, Anything Is Possible was the response to that); it's that it's actually one of the musical theatre influenced songs Debbie had done to date. You can actually imagine this as a cast version, the opening number of a musical - similar to Downtown from Little Shop of Horrors (or, for that matter, a different Downtown from Priscilla Queen of the Desert). Perhaps Electric Youth the Musical missed a trick not including this in it's set list :) Now check out the live in Japan version for just how mind=blowing that piano solo is... Elsewhere, you'll find should've been (the one) a single Stand Your Ground, with it's thrillifying horn opening and funky beat that sounded like a lost Prince co-production. It's all about having the conviction of your beliefs and there have been times in my life when I've dug this song out and it's enabled me to have just that. I always secretly thought that Debbie and her dancer Buddy would have had a brilliant concept for a video for this song that would have been the eagerly anticipated sequel to Anything is Possible ;) Equally as potent was Deep Down - from the moment Debbie says "can you feel it", you absolutely can through that shuddering bass line and those buttery sax licks. I also have always loved that Debbie quite often favours songs that run for nearly five minutes yet never overstay their welcome. This is one of those songs where every one of the four minutes and fifty two seconds lets the lyrics and melody seep into your consciousness.

I always felt super smart inserting the phrase "Reverse Psychology" into my every day vernacular as the precocious sixteen year old I was when I first heard Debbie's song of the same name. I think it was the first time I'd heard the phrase so then used it constantly (causing my mum to wittily say one day "can you stop saying that. It works my nerves"; using a lyric of the song against me)! Years later, thanks to a random blog post I saw about this song, I reworked this as a new piano-pop song called Get On Back (To The Basics Of Love) because, like most Debbie songs, the piano arrangement is just so gosh darn fun to play with. There's a sense of self-satisfaction in It Must've Been My Boy, a playful romp that sounds like the type of thing Sandy from Grease would've sung once she'd gotten into (and probably out of) the cat suit. The organic nature of the instrumental makes it feel like there's a live band hidden inside your speakers, while Debbie really gets to strut her stuff vocally - just as she does on the inspirational side one closer Lead Them Home My Dreams (another song that clocks in at over five minutes but uses every second of time to maximum impact). If the goal of NRG UP was to get you on your feet whilst giving you food for thought on how to harness the good in the universe, then I say the mission was absolutely accomplished.

Flip your vinyl over (as you did back in the day) and you get a collection of ballads that, if Adele released any of them right now, she'd top charts around the world for a year. The sort of title track to this selection of tunes, Mood Swings, features a delightfully pretty melody as Debbie verbalises that even we have down moments in our lives but it's about picking yourself up and hoping for a better tomorrow. This theme of what can be accomplished even in the most difficult of circumstances continues with Try - which features two of my all time favourite lyrics ("Every clown must go home to his empty room"/"Even preachers must pray, even sales men buy"). In fact, the whole refrain of "why don't we try a little harder" is one that is equally as timely and meaningful today as it was 25 years. There was a radio show of Debbie performing AIP songs in Japan at an acoustic concert where she says Try was one of her mum's favourite songs (and rightly so). There was a different type of NRG on Negative Energy which saw Debbie play with a more George Michael influenced score, reminding me somewhat of Everything She Wants. I remember being delighted that she was taking more risks musically with this album to ensure that the ballads all sounded distinctly different. For example, Where Have You Been? is a searing examination of suspecting infidelity. This is a mature, accomplished song that, again, could be a roof-raising soliloquy in a Broadway musical. All in all, while history may not give it the due it deserves, it's an album that I treasure having in my collection - and one whose songs make my life a little better whenever I need them to. Can't ask for anything more special than that...

THE BONUS SONGS:

As Debbie's career progressed, there were more songs recorded in the era of each album. Some of these were released as b-sides or territory-only singles (and some of which have been gathered on her 2017 box set We Could Be Together). There were songs that she wrote for other people and duets with other popstars. I've collected most of them here, but do let me know if I have missed anything vital...

• Hip Hop - written by Debbie but recorded by Chris Cuevas there surely must be a demo version of this lying around somewhere?! It's a great pop-dance track that would slot neatly after the one-two punch of One Step Ahead and Stand Your Ground. Because it don't mean a thing without that swing. New Deb Swing!
• Without You - This was a Japanese only track that has a radiant vocal from Ms Gibson and celebrates that one person who calls you on your shizzle but sticks with you through thick and thin. There aren't enough songs dedicated to friendship. It's Debbie's Wind Beneath My Wings - and one that she often dedicates to her fans when singing it in concert.
• So Close To Forever - b-side to both US and UK single versions of Anything Is Possible. This was equally as strong as anything on the album; a devastating tale of how happiness is so often right within your grasp but can slip away like the melting of ice cream on a summer's day. Still breaks my heart everytime I listen to it.
• The Most Beautiful Love Song - this fan favourite continues to be beloved by Debheads across the globe. A song about how hard it is to write a love song? What's not to love about that? Later on, I would imagine Sandy from Grease singing this song as it's Debbie's Hopelessly Devoted To You (with a melody that's just as timeless and ethereal)!
• Someday - a duet with Chris Cuevas (and at this point, a rarity as a song Debbie hadn't actually written herself). It's an entirely pleasant and amiable duet with a nice blend of voices. Embarrassing confession - I really fancied Chris when I saw his album cover! I thought his leather glove was quite dangerous and edgy! Oh how easily pleased I was back then :D

Tracklisting (MyFizzyPop 2 Disc Homemade Version):
Disc one: Another Brick Falls / Anything Is Possible / Reverse Psychology / One Step Ahead / Stand Your Ground / Deep Down / It Must've Been My Boy / Lead Them Home My Dreams / Hip Hop (Demo) / Anything Is Possible (PWL 12" Mix) / One Step Ahead (Club Mix)
Disc two: One Hand One Heart / Sure / Negative Energy / Mood Swings / Try / In His Mind / Where Have You Been / This So Called Miracle / So Close To Forever / Most Beautiful Love Song / Someday (duet with Chris Cuevas) / Without You