From People Weekly (July 10, 1995)

THINK WITH YOUR HEART
Debbie Gibson

Gibson's pleasant misfortune in the late 80's was to prosper as a musically talented teenager. Praise -- and there was much of it -- for her 1987 debut album, _Out of the Blue_, came with the risk faced by every teen success: that critics would turn against her as a grown-up. When her career indeed stalled in subsequent years with less successful albums, she wisely headed for the musical stage, playing Eponine on Broadway in "Les Miserables" (1991) and starring as Sandy in the London production of "Grease!" (1993).

Less wisely, Gibson, now 24, returned to the studio to record her fourth album. A voice this unremarkable needs inspired production and strong songs, but gets neither here. (Gibson composed 11 of the album's dozen tunes.) The exception is that proven winner, Carole King and Gerry Goffin's plaintive "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." Otherwise, we have producer Gibson laying on strings ("For Better or Worse") to suggest big emotions, songwriter Gibson showing no spark, and singer Gibson adopting that peculiar singer-songwriter accent, in which "for" becomes "fo" and "Happy" becomes "happ-eh." When she tries her hand at rock and roll ("Don't You Want Me Now"), it's of the deadened, show-tune variety. Gibson should have heeded the advice of another song on this album: "Can't Do It Alone." (SBK)

From the Washington Post (July 12, 1995)

With such engagingly synthetic late-'80s hits as "Shake Your Love" and "Foolish Beat," Long Island teenager [not any more] Debbie Gibson announced herself as the post-disco heir to the Brill Building pop once crafted by such songwriters and producers as Carole King, Gerry Goffin, and Shadow Morton. It soon turned out, however, that Gibson wanted to be Barbra Streisand, not Little Eva. Her grown-up easy-listening ambitions were disastrous for her career, which may explain why Gibson (now almost 25) is again cultivating a cute-teen look on the front ofher new "Think With Your Heart" (SBK/EMI).

That cover, however, is as misleading as the album's cover of Goffin/King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" is revealing. Her enervated version of the song trades its original vitality for prissy backing vocals and fussy strings, submerging the melody in Broadway shtick. "Don't you want me now?/Now that I'm trying ont to try so hard," she asks on "Dontcha Want Me Now?," one of the album's rare up-tempo songs, but singer/songwriter/producer is still trying much too hard.

"Perfect love exists/I've seen it for myself," sings Gibson in "Two Young Kids," which she dedicates to her golden-anniversary grandparents, and her quest for romantic perfection leads her to cliche and melodrama. "There are plenty of fish in the sea," she explains earnestly in "For Better or Worse," a smarmy matrimonial hymn whose sentiments range from the feeble ("And if harm's way found you/You know I'd be there/To wrap my love around you/To let you know I care") to the morbid ("And when the angels came down/I'd say don't you dare/You know not what you do/May God take me first").

"Music makes lovers of all ofus," Gibson suggests in "Dancin' in My Mind," but her notions of love are idealized and airless. Though "Heart" specializes in treacly ballads, it's just as absurd when Gibson tries to vamp: "You looked a mess/Cause my little black dress/Stopped you on a dime," she mock-growls in "Dontcha Want Me Now?" Most hilarious is "Too Fancy," a wannabe show tune in such lines as, "Don't want 'em finely tuned/Cause quirky men are cool/The Concorde's caviar/Ain't like Balducci's food." That's Gibson in a nutshell: using an upscale Manhattan grocery as a symbol of commonplace pleasures while peddling adolescent romantic cliches more at home at a Long Island 7-Eleven.

From Entertainment Weekly (July 21, 1995)

DEBBIE GIBSON Think With Your Heart (SBK/EMI) Following a turn in Les Misarables and a stint in Atlantic City, the former pop princess takes her latest shot at musical adulthood as an AOR balladeer. But except for the big-band stomper "Don't You Want Me Now" and the cabaret cutie "Too Fancy," her new tunes could only make her a superstar at Hallmark. D

From Newsday (July 23, 1995)

DEBBIE GIBSON
'Think With Your Heart'
(SBK/EMI)

Back in the late '80s, teenager Debbie Gibson was a true phenomenon, writing and performing such bubblegum hits as "Only in My Dreams" and "Out of the Blue." Now, reckoning she's beyond fluff, the 24-year-old Debbie Gibson seeks the Merrick native middle ground attempts an album of highfalutin' romantic ballads. While Gibson remains a skilled tunesmith, these sentimental epics lack the chirpy (albeit juvenile) charm that made her a chart-topper; grand tunes like "Let's Run Away" and "For Better or Worse" seem more formulaic than heartfelt. Only "Two Young Kids," a tender meditation on eternal love, transcends cookie-cutter predictability.

In pursuing a more sophisticated sound, Gibson exposes her vocal limitations. This capable, but not overpowering, singer simply can't pass for a schmaltzy diva. By contrast, the uptempto "Dontcha Want Me Now?" is a breath of fresh air, because Gibson's not trying to prove her maturity. Next time, she needs to find a middle ground between the desire to seem adult and her knack for lightweight pop. Obviously, growing up is hard to do.

From METRO: Santa Clara Valley's Weekly Newspaper (August 3, 1995)

Debbie Gibson/Think With Your Heart/EMI

On a recent appearance on Live! With Regis and Kathy Lee, Debbie Gibson described herself as a "traditional pop singer." If the definition of "traditional" pop music is the glitzy, substance-free fluff one might hear on Star Search, then Gibson's statement is certainly accurate. In fact, her latest endeavor, Think With Your Heart, is the epitome of traditional pop. A majority of Gibson's self-penned songs are love ballads with a lullaby tempo and an abundance of pretty piano and heart-wrenching vocals. Heavy orchestration and backup vocals mask the lack of depth, creating perfect elevator/supermarket music. Granted, Gibson has above-average vocal ability and is quite capable of composing pleasant, hummable melodies. "Too Fancy" is a clever, upbeat jazz tune with a lighthearted tone. "Can't Do It Alone," however, is a Richard Marx copy(why?!), while "Think With Your Heart" encourages listeners to live in a state of delusion: "Think with your heart ... Be as in love as you think you are." Sadly, Debbie Gibson was more exciting when she was donning black felt hats and plugging "Electric Youth" perfume.

From Billboard (August 12, 1995)

Debbie Gibson
Think With Your Heart
PRODUCER: Deborah Gibson
SBK/EMI 33374

In her continuing efforts to establish herself as a credible, adult contemporary artist, onetime teen star Debbie Gibson delivers an album of well-written, passionately performed piano ballads and pop tunes. Despite the absence of a sure-fire smash, much of the material here stands a good shot of obtaining AC and Top 40 airplay, including string-adorned ballads "For Better Or Worse," "Didn't Have The Heart," and "Dancin' In My Mind," and cover of Carole King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" Gibson also shows she has rock chops, burning it up on "Dontcha Want Me Now?"

From TEENS (September 21, 1995)

THINK WITH YOUR HEART
Debbie Gibson
EMI
*** + half

It's hard to believe that Debbie Gibson has been around for almost a whole decade already, especially on the evidence of this new album. With the element of youth still soundly present in her vocal chords, Gibson returns to the fray with a whole new set of songs collectively gathered under this album that is a throwback to her ballad-toting days of old. In place of the puerile puppy-pop of before is a more mature delivery and sensitive lyrics that represent Gibson's reinvented musical direction. Songs like 'For Better Or Worse' and 'Think With Your Heart' are characteristic of the material in general on the album, brimming with loads of honest and heartfelt emotion.

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