From Billboard (November 17, 1990)

DEBBIE GIBSON
_Anything Is Possible_

PRODUCERS: Deborah Gibson, Jellybean, Lamont Dozier, Fred Zarr
Atlantic 82167

Clocking in at more than 70 minutes long, grown-up teen queen's latest is a 16-song whirlwind that's evenly divided between dance-oriented "NRG" tunes and slow "Mood Swings." Of course, much will be made about Gibson's more adult image and vocal style. What deserves more attention, however, is something that has always been found in her work : a true gift for crafting memorable pop songs. Title cut bows as the first single, and should entice play not only at radio, but also in the arena where she first thrived : the clubs. Next logical singles: "One Step Ahead", a fine funk jam, and the romantic ballad "One Hand, One Heart."

From The Record (December 3, 1990)

DEBBIE GIBSON - Anything Is Possible - Atlantic CD-82167 (Warner)

Pop diva Gibson works in a conservative pop style and she's certainly a gifted artist/songwriter/producer. On her third album, she continues to sing about the juvenile themes of last year's _Electric Youth_, but this new set, co-produced by Gibson with Lamont Dozier, Jellybean, and Fred Zarr has considerably more depth. Title track lead-off single is a no-nonsense CHR delight and will likely be followed by _Another Brick Falls_ or _It Must've Been My Boy_. the (sic) uptempo dance tracks are the album's highlights; Gibson is on less solid footing with the numerous ballads. Unnecessary are the 100+ liner credit thanks and personal messages, although the inside cheesecake photo will likely make some male fans' hearts beat a bit faster. (Rating: **** of *****)

From the Los Angeles Times (December 9, 1990)

Debbie Gibson, "Anything Is Possible"
Rating: ** of *****

"Maturity is something you can't just declare - you have to earn it the hard way. With her third album, Debbie Gibson tries to establish herself as more than just a teen-popster, but her callowness shows.

"The theme running through this redundant, overproduced, 72 minute sprawl is that life isn't all that easy, so to make it you've got to be a focused, independent, self-sufficient go-getter. Gibson's exhortations turn into grating, cliche-ridden harping that remains abstract and never engages the thorny issues of actual living. It doesn't help that her vocal phrasing is given to exaggerated, breathy heaving, apparently to convey sweaty effort on the dance numbers that make up the album's first half, and to signal a diva's ardor on the love ballads that dominate the second.

"Gibson does display a good knack with a melodic hook and a credible mastery of contemporary pop craft. When she combines those qualities with some sass and spunk on the deliciously catty, unabashedly adolescent "It Must've Been My Boy," the results are vibrant. Too often, though, Gibson uses her craftsmanship to dress up thin lyrics in overly elaborate garb.

From The Chicago Tribune (December 13, 1990)

Debbie Gibson: Anything Is Possible (Atlantic)
Rating: *** of **** Reviewed by Jan DeKnock, Music Editor.

"With her first two albums, Gibson established that she was a promising teen perfomer with a precocious ability to write appealing pop melodies. Now all of 20, Gibson is back with "Anything Is Possible," an ambitious, 16-song set that again demonstrates her deft touch with songwriting and production. Although her voice is still a bit too chirpy to sustain interest on its own, Gibson has enough studio smarts to make the dynamics of the song more important than her vocals. And there are plenty of songs on this LP, which leads off with an entire side of dance/funk and flips to a lineup of Gibson's signature ballads (including the gem "One Hand, One Heart"). Among the winners: "One Step Ahead," a sizzling collaboration with club mixmaster Jellybean; the gospel-tinged "Deep Down"; and the current hit "Anything Is Possible," one of several cuts co-produced with Motown legend Lamont Dozier.

From Entertainment Weekly (December 21, 1990)

Youthful N-R-G
By Gina Arnold

GIVEN HER HISTORY as a quick study, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Debbie Gibson's third record, _ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE_ (Atlantic;CD ,T), is a more polished work than her vibrant debut, _Out of the Blue_, or her brasher follow-up, _Electric Youth_. What she's lost in raw teen energy she's gained in musical assurance, and a little bit of help from Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier (who collaborated on hits for, among others, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, and Marvin Gaye) sure hasn't hurt. Gibson doesn't seem to have been influenced much by big-selling modern rock bands like U2, Bon Jovi, or the Cure; nor is she a big R&B fan, like her rival/ peer Tiffany. But she does draw on sources that are nearer to the hearts of her generation than to those of her avowed musical heroes, Elton John and Billy Joel. She has a full command of synth-driven, forget-yourself- on-the-dance-floor idiom, for instance, and in a couple of numbers even dips into a white-bread form of New Kids-like rap.

_Anything Is Possible_ doesn't have a single as infectiously Madonna- esque as Gibson's 1987 hit "Shake Your Love." But the high-energy title cut (or "hi N-R-G," as Gibson enthusiastically labels it in the lyric sheet) and the equally positive "Another Brick Falls" come close, while the buoyant "One Step Ahead," with its chorus of "Don't calm down/bring the energy up," is made to order for aerobics classes nationwide.

Still, Gibson's talents are far more imitative than innovative. And since her musical inspirations are the least challenging pop tunesmiths, the result is music that has more conviction---Gibson is nothing if not earnest---than depth; Gibson believes implicitly in the power of positive thinking. But beyond a bouncy injunction against "negative N-R-G" and advice like "when life really kicks/learn to catch those falling bricks!" her opinions aren't earthshaking. That's especially true on the ballads--- all lassoed together on what she calls "the mood swing" half of the album---where lyrics like "the only police are in your mind" and "I put all the bad things like money far lower on the list than pride" come off as preachy. Clearly Gibson means well; her advice just isn't very meaningful. But if she gets a little more emotional experience, a little more insight about life and how to live it---and a slightly bigger record collection--- anything really may be possible.

From Island-Ear (December 24, 1990)

Rhythm Tracks
The holiday music shopping onslaught is upon us, and the divas are out in force, with new albums from Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Debbie Gibson in the racks waiting for you, and all three appear to be chart topping material... Speaking of mature, that seems to be the new direction for Debbie Gibson on her Anything is Possible album, which has an uptempo "NRG^" side and a "Mood Swings" ballad side, a bit much actually, since most tracks in one tempo can tend to be a bit grating. {She should have mixed the two types of songs together.} The first single "Anything is Possible", has proven to be an instant smash, and the team-up of Gibson and Motown veteran Lamont Dozier has resulted in some classics-to-be. At the very least, Gibson seems to be making the public transition to maturity more gracefully in the public eye than Tiffany.

From Expressen (January 4, 1991)

DEBBIE GIBSON
"Anything is possible" (MCA). Rating: * of *****

Somewhere between "Electric Youth" and "Anything..." innocence, freshness and big-eyed curiosity got lost. "Anything..." reeks of desperate follow-up, long, sweaty studio hours, without pleasure, with the dollar-whip lashing over her back. Unfortunately it seems like New Kids On The Block have taken over Debbie's role as teen-phenomenon entirely. Tragic.

From VOX (February 1991)

DEBBIE GIBSON
Anything Is Possible
(East West)

Absolutely incredible. In the space of a few years Ms Gibson has written, performed and produced innumerable hit records, all of them sounding like '70 disco-rehashes ... and no one seems to have noticed. Progress is not a word which springs to mind in this case.

Tracks merge in and out of one another. It's your worst soap opera, nightmare on vinyl - predictable, worryingly, addictive ... yet thankfully also disposable. You have to admire a person who can juggle rap, pop and soul into a kind of harmony which despite all good intentions, your feet irritatingly tap along.

If this is your cup of herbal tea then you'll be happy - here are 16 more Gibson-goodies to jig along with at the next disco. If you prefer a stronger beverage then you'll be cursing not only this album but also all those bands which Debbie inspired, the manufactured bands that the music biz tries to convince us are Mancunian youth in full flower.

It is doubtful whether this will convert the non-committed ... anything is not always possible. (3)

From CD Review (May 1991)

"I love Debbie Gibson's gift for writing pop songs. Here she expands her synth-pop style with new collaborators and a more mature sound. It's a definite departure for Gibson, so I decided to ask my cousin Sue, a diehard fan, for her impression of the album. Surprisingly, she had mixed feelings at first. But with each listen the disc became more enjoyable for her. I concurred."

"A major problem though, is the sequencing. Dividing the 16 songs into ballad and dance sections doesn't work. A more varied mix would give each of them a better environment and make the disc more accessible."

"Otherwise, Gibson's sense of melody and vocal prowess keep getting stronger. Her work with legendary songwriter Lamont Dozier is excellent, especially the title cut. Production is also noteworthy. For someone so young, Gibson's talent is unquestionable."

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