album rating: ★★★★☆
Genre: Soft rock / power pop / baroque pop / singer-songwriter. Eric Carmen's self-titled debut solo album, released in November 1975 on Arista Records, marks the transition from his role as leader of the Cleveland power-pop group the Raspberries to a new identity as a solo balladeer and orchestral pop craftsman. Carmen wrote virtually all the songs on the album, with several built around classical themes: 'All by Myself' incorporates the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor; 'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again' draws on Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2; 'Last Night' quotes Chopin's Étude Op. 10 No. 3. The album balances these lushly orchestrated ballads with more upbeat rock-pop tracks such as 'Sunrise' and 'That's Rock 'n Roll', the latter a song that Carmen wrote but that became a bigger hit for Shaun Cassidy. Carmen played a large amount of the album himself, including piano, synthesizer, guitar and harpsichord, alongside his regular touring musicians.
Label: Arista Records (USA), released 1 November 1975.
Producer: Jimmy Ienner (who had also produced the Raspberries' albums).
Recording studio: Not individually specified in publicly available sources; recorded in the USA.
Critical reception: Contemporary reviews were mixed. Ben Edmonds in Rolling Stone praised the album's mature songwriting and the emotional power of 'All by Myself', while Robert Christgau in the Village Voice assigned a C+ and critiqued the over-dramatisation of the material. Stereo Review found the album lacking the rock energy of the Raspberries. In retrospect, assessments have been more enthusiastic, with the album now seen as a skilful and distinctive debut that created 'a striking orchestral-pop amalgam' in both its two major ballads.
Commercial success: Eric Carmen peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 — Carmen's highest solo chart position — and was certified gold by the RIAA. The single 'All by Myself' reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976 and became one of the most covered songs of the decade, recorded by Frank Sinatra and subsequently the basis for Celine Dion's 1996 hit of the same title. 'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again' reached number 11 on the Hot 100. 'Sunrise' was a further top 40 hit.
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