Randy Newman – Trouble In Paradise

Trouble in Paradise (Expanded) offers a compelling revisit to Randy Newman’s sharpest and most ironic work. This expanded edition not only remasters the original 1983 album—featuring tracks like “I Love L.A.,” “The Blues,” and “Same Girl”—but also enriches the listening experience with a trove of demos and live recordings from Paris, 1982, spanning classics like “Short People” and “Sail Away.” The collection underscores Newman’s knack for character-driven songwriting, blending polished ‘80s production with incisive storytelling—a blend of accessible melodies and biting undercurrents.

The expanded release deepens appreciation for the album’s layered themes: glamorous facades that crack to reveal cynicism, unreliable narrators on both sides of privilege, irony-laden anthems masking darker truths. From the tongue-in-cheek exuberance of “I Love L.A.” to the haunting tenderness of “Same Girl” and “Real Emotional Girl,” the added demos and live performances shed fresh light on Newman's creative process and the album’s enduring emotional resonance.

Reviews

"Newman inhabits his characters so completely that he makes us uneasy, wondering how much self-identification he has invested in their creation. His work achieves its power by that very confusion." – The New York Times

"Newman still has not the least desire to play it safe: he is still tossing up the great American contradictions—the seductiveness of racism and the paranoia of sex—like a circus performer juggling machetes, with the same appalling, exhilarating effect." – The Globe and Mail

"Most of the songs defy humming... A couple are essentially free verse set to music." – Miami Herald

"The polished sound of the album makes it his most commercial effort, yet he has kept his humor and wit alive." – The Christian Science Monitor