album rating: ★★★★☆
a) Genre
Pop rock / New wave / Synth-pop. Tonight I'm Yours is Rod Stewart's eleventh studio album and represents his most deliberate engagement with the new wave and early synth-pop sounds that were dominating the early 1980s music landscape. The title track and 'Young Turks' make prominent use of synthesisers, drum machines, sequencers, and the gated-reverb drum sound popularised by Phil Collins, placing them squarely within the new wave-influenced pop-rock of the period. The album also contains covers of classic rock and roll ('Tear It Up' by Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio), adult contemporary ('How Long' by Ace, co-written by Paul Carrack), and a Bob Dylan song ('Just Like a Woman'), alongside original ballads and rockers.
b) Release
Original US release: Warner Bros. Records (6 November 1981; catalogue BSK 3602), vinyl LP. Original UK release: Riva Records (catalogue RVLP 14), a label set up by Stewart's management in 1975; this was the final Rod Stewart album issued through Riva, as the 1983 follow-up Body Wishes appeared on Warner Bros. in the UK as well. A German WEA pressing (WEA Records, catalogue WX 12) is documented with the notation that it includes details of 'Le Grand Tour Of America And Canada Nov. 81 - Feb. 1982' on the inner sleeve. Phonographic rights on all pressings: Side A & B (p) 1981 WEA Records; (c) 1981 Riva Records. Tony Brock, who plays drums on eight of the ten tracks, is credited 'courtesy of Chrysalis Records'. Paulinho De Costa (percussion) is credited 'courtesy of Pablo Records'. Mastered at Precision Lacquer. Sleeve notes: 'Album co-ordinated by our own Malcolm Cullimore.' Subsequent CD reissue appeared as Warner Bros. catalogue 7599-23602-2; a remastered CD was incorporated into The Definitive Rod Stewart (2008) compilation, which applied 24-bit digital remastering.
c) Production
Produced by Rod Stewart, Jim Cregan, and Kevin Savigar. Stewart's longstanding creative partner Jim Cregan (guitarist, born 9 March 1946, Dorset, England) co-produced the album and played guitar throughout; he had been a key member of Stewart's live and studio band since the mid-1970s. Kevin Savigar (keyboardist) co-produced and played keyboards on all tracks. Carmine Appice (drums, born 15 December 1946, Staten Island, New York) co-wrote and played drums on 'Young Turks' and one other track before departing mid-sessions; he had previously co-written 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' with Stewart and Duane Hitchings. Tony Brock (drums, born 28 March 1954, Poole, Dorset) played on the remaining eight tracks. Duane Hitchings (keyboards) contributed to select cuts. Bassist Jay Davis replaced the longtime Phil Chen for this album. Paulinho Da Costa (percussion) contributed to select tracks. Backing vocalists on key tracks included Cregan, Appice, and Brock. The album was recorded and mixed at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, over approximately four months in 1981. Mixing engineer: not individually credited; mixed at The Record Plant. Mobile recording unit credits: 'Thanks to Chris and the gang and Mark, Scott, and Gary from Record Plant mobile.'
d) Recording
Recorded and mixed at The Record Plant, 1032 North Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood (Los Angeles), California, USA. Recording sessions took place over approximately four months in spring and summer 1981. Mastered at Precision Lacquer, Los Angeles. The album is an original studio recording. The 'Never Give Up on a Dream' track is dedicated to Canadian athlete Terry Fox, who ran 3,339 miles with a prosthetic leg in his Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research; Fox died of cancer in 1981, the year the album was released.
e) Reception
Tonight I'm Yours was a significant commercial success, though its critical reception was mixed. In the UK the album reached number 8 on the Albums Chart, spending 20 weeks on the chart; in the US it peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Three singles charted: 'Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me)' reached number 8 in the UK and number 20 in the US (number 2 in Canada); 'Young Turks' reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 (spending 19 weeks on the chart), number 11 in the UK, and number 1 in Canada and the Netherlands. 'How Long' reached number 49 in the US. MTV, launched in August 1981, placed several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation, boosting the album's profile. Contemporary critical reception was sharply divided: a Rate Your Music reviewer called it 'an absolute trainwreck', while another found it 'a solid if safe collection of songs' with 'great guitar work on the two big singles'. Goldmine described it as 'a transitional album' that 'embraced new wave' and offered 'a delicious feast of synth-pop classics'. Rate Your Music rates it approximately 811th-best album of 1981. Guitarist Steve Cropper, who worked with Stewart around this period, stated that he ranked alongside Otis Redding as one of 'the finest singers with whom he had ever worked.'
Rod Stewart
Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945, Highgate, London, England) is a British rock singer and songwriter, one of the bestselling music artists of all time with estimated worldwide sales exceeding 250 million records. He was raised in Archway, north London. He initially pursued a career as a professional footballer before turning to music. He sang with Long John Baldry and Steampacket in the mid-1960s, then joined Shotgun Express before becoming the vocalist for the Jeff Beck Group, with whom he recorded Truth (1968) and Beck-Ola (1969). He joined the Faces in 1969, simultaneously launching a solo career on Mercury Records; the tension between his solo success and his band membership became a defining feature of his early career. His Mercury albums — An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (1969), Gasoline Alley (1970), Every Picture Tells a Story (1971), and Never a Dull Moment (1972) — established him as a major recording artist and are widely regarded as his finest work. 'Maggie May' (1971) became his first UK and US number one single. After moving to Warner Bros. Records in 1975 he achieved even greater commercial success with 'Sailing' (UK number 1), 'Tonight's the Night' (US number 1), 'You're in My Heart', 'Hot Legs', and 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' (a worldwide number 1 in 1978). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a solo artist and in 2012 as a member of the Faces. He was knighted in 2016 for services to music and charity. He has had 10 number-one albums and 31 top-ten singles in the UK. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
This text was generated by Claude (Anthropic). It may contain errors or inaccuracies.