"Love in the Natural Way" is the fifth and final single from '' Close'', the best-selling album by

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

. Issued in the UK and Germany in early 1989 on 7", 12" and CD-single (the latter two also containing an extended version of the track), it did not match the success of the other singles from that album the previous year. This was Wilde's final release of the 1980s, the decade in which she had become the biggest selling British female soloist.

Critical reception

Tony Parsons left rough negative review on a single for ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' by saying that "all those songs written with her dad and brother oozing shallow emotion". Reviewers of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' expressed similar opinion: "It's simply a priggish plea for honesty set to the customary saccharin blather" and summarised that the song addressed "for those of us who still care enough to dream".

Chart performance

References

{{authority control Kim Wilde songs 1989 songs Songs written by Marty Wilde Songs written by Ricky Wilde Songs written by Kim Wilde Pop ballads