A genre-bender of the highest order, Branigan could tackle any song that came her way, acomplishing it with class and a sense of history. Had she been born two decades earlier, she could have been a Brill Building superstar (her version of Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" is graceful and haunting). But as such, the 80s gave her room to spread her wings and raise her voice.
Branigan seems out of place in the world of contemporary popular music, built on the foundation of (or reaction against) explicitness. Her career was never tied to any specific image or incarnation, instead focusing on the songs. It's hard to imagine, given the destructive influence of Mariah Carey and other balladivas of that ilk who have dispatched melody altogether for ostentatiously arpeggiated melisma, that there were times when pop ballads could simply be sung. The obvious demonstration for this is "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You," a huge hit from 1983's Brangian 2 album. Written by (and the first big break for) Michael Bolton (but even Bob Dylan has written with Bolton, so let's not hold it against the late Ms. B.), Branigan's version is passionate and nuanced, understanding the value of dynamics over vocal pyrotechnics (an understanding completely absent from Bolton's later recording of the song he wrote). A similar contrast is made between Cher's "I Found Someone" (again written by Bolton) and Branigan's own version, recorded two years prior.
You will find, looking back over her body of work, an eye and ear for successful collaboration, from future queen of MOR ballads Diane Warren and the aforementioned Bolton to Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force's producer/mixer/collaborator John Robie (on the delirious 12" version of "The Lucky One") and British pop/Hi-NRG architects Stock Aitken Waterman (for "Shattered Glass" and "Whatever I Do," both off 1987's Touch album). Impeccable choices for covers also proliferate in the grooves of her records, from Alphaville's "Forever Young" (on the now out-of-print Hold Me album, from 1985) and "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" to her Latin-disco freakout on "Turn The Beat Around" and her distinctive take on The Who's "Squeeze Box."
The ingenious aspect of her biggest 80s successes involved taking international hits, then commissioning new English lyrics for them. Thus Italy's hits became "Gloria" and "Self Control," France gave us "Solitaire," and "Satisfaction" and "Deep In The Dark" originated as German-language smashes. Because of the global pop marketplace, Laura's versions of these songs would often become hits in their land of origin again, in part thanks to her respectful and passionate performance as well as the tight production from Jack White (no, not that one, the German one). Of all those previously mentioned, "Deep in the Dark" is the oddest, both because it is not as easy to track down as the others and because most people know After the Fire's english-language version of "Der Kommisar" as well as the also late also great Falco's original version.
