Discography: Gil Ofarim

Okay, here's another new feature I've dreamed up, which I call "Discography". Rather than a simple list, as the word "discography" might imply, it's basically a summarized career overview (with what non-musical biographical data I might have) of a favorite artist of mine. We'll see how many of these I can come up with from time to time, before I run out of the artists that no one has heard of before. Enjoy!

DISCOGRAPHY: GIL OFARIM

Very few people outside of the United Sates know who Gil Ofarim is. A few more might recognize the family name: his parents, Esther and Abi Ofarim, were made famous (probably more elsewhere than here) by their popular '70s song "Cinderella Rockafella". Gil Ofarim was born with musical blood, but first rose to fame in his surrogate-home country of Germany as a model, in a "photo love story" published in a teen magazine. Soon after, he cut his music teeth on an album full of appropriately catchy, sugar-coated teen pop songs.

Predictably, his debut album, "Here I Am" (BMG Germany/1998), recorded under the singular name Gil, was a hit. However, showing that he was more than just a pretty face with pop-star dreams, he co-wrote a handful of the album's songs. It wasn't particularly remarkable pop, by any means, but the songs were fun, and a decent start for a young teenage musician. For a little insurance in the "crossover popularity" department, The Moffatts (one of my all-time favorite groups, who you'll surely see in a future "Discography") lend a helping hand on the sweet ballad, and first single, "If You Only Knew". Other popular singles included "Round 'n' Round (It Goes)" and "Never Giving Up Now". Some of my personal favorites are the guilty pleasure "Bang Bang Bang", and the slightly more sophisticated "Am I Crazy?" and "For Heaven's Sake".

Getting what was certainly very little rest between recording his first album and setting off on his tour, Gil followed up at the turn of the millennium with "The Album" (BMG Germany/2000). What this album lacked in instant catchiness it made up for in its slightly more grown-up lyrics and arrangements. The album's singles included "Walking Down The Line" (a self-propelled mid-tempo tune), "It's Your Love" (a nicely done cover of the popular country ballad), and "Out Of My Bed (Still In My Head)" (an excellent, high-octane love song). My personal favorite is "Stop", a great up-tempo number with crunching guitars and an unusual meter in the chorus.

Perhaps the audience's response to "The Album" was a bit disappointing, as Gil released his "Best Of" (BMG Germany/2001) a year later. It was clear that the release of a greatest hits album after only two studio albums signaled the end of his recording contract with BMG. It's too bad that they couldn't hear his potential as a recording artist just beginning to surface ... I sure could, fromthe three brand-new songs included on his "Best of": the spicy, Latin-flavored "Live Your Dreams" (so what if it was cashing in on the Ricky Martin/Enrique Iglesias craze?), and the breezy ballads "Do You Believe Me" and "I Can't Help Falling" (the latter of which was co-written by Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough). Also softening the blow of Gil's "farewell" was the inclusion (at least on the Asian edition that I got) of a Video CD of all of Gil's music videos.

However, it wasn't quite time to bid Gil a fond farewell just yet. He would be back two years later, although this time using his full name, Gil Ofarim, and with a significantly harder-edged rock sound. Gil had grown up, and wanted everyone to know it ... indeed, the album title, "On My Own" (NeoTone/2003), implied that he didn't need the help of slick professional songwriters (he wrote or co-wrote every song on the album himself) or producers (he also co-produced the disc). His first single, "The Reason", was the most "pop-like" song on the album, but was still a departure from his previous kid-friendly persona. Other good songs on the album include the anthem for independence "My Way" (no, definitely not the Frank Sinatra tune!), the heavy-hitting guitar cruncher "Already There", and the somber "Why?", inspired by the events of September 11, 2001 -- during which Gil was, in fact, on board a trans-Atlantic airliner bound for the U.S., which of course had to be diverted to Canada.

I had thought that the story of Gil Ofarim had ended with that album, but I found out several months ago that he was now the frontman of a German rock band called Zoo Army. My timing was perfect: a two-disc "limited edition" of their debut album, "507" (RNM/2006), had just been released, so it didn't take me long to find it on eBay. Joined by two other musicians as well as his younger brother Tal Ofarim, Gil has progressed even further into a no-holds-barred rock sound. The guitars (both rhythm and bass) are heavier, the beats more furious, and the lyrics more sophisticated.

I'm not a fan of heavy metal (which Zoo Army's sound could be classified as), but there's something about Gil's sandpaper-like voice (and I mean that in a good way) that draws me to the music nonetheless. It's probably more sentimental than anything else, having enjoyed his near-saccharine pop tunes for years. But it's good for me to have a bit of variety in my CD collection, and it's also nice to watch Gil Ofarim's career evolve through the years. So, whatever he comes up with next, I'll probably be buying it too.