The Hungry Years

AMG Review of The Hungry Years

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Since Sedaka's Back was a hit, Neil Sedaka and co-producer Graham Gouldman saw no reason to mess with success on its follow-up, The Hungry Years. The record is essentially Sedaka's Still Back, complete with the same adult contemporary/MOR material and slick production that marked its predecessor. It also suffers from uneven material, but it's distinguished by a slow rearrangement of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Bad Blood," a duet with Elton John. The remainder of the album is pleasant but undistinguished soft rock from the mid-'70s. (Varese Sarabande's 1998 reissue of The Hungry Years contained four bonus tracks.)