Howard Jones - Hide And Seek (WEA)

So many artists seem to do two fast ones and then a slowy. This is a big, soft, slow, slushy ballad that sounds incredibly like Barry Manilow at times. I don't like this as much as his uptempo stuff but it's still up to his usual standard. I would think a chart cert. (Limahl, Smash Hits, February 16, 1984)

The strength of the new solo stars like Paul Young and Howard Jones is that they're not over-keen to impress. "Hide And Seek" builds ever so slowly from a few gentle drumbeats and synth doodlings into a stately and controlled masterpiece which harks back to Japan's "Ghosts". No.1 in a month. (Martin Townsend, No 1, February 18, 1984)