Chris de Burgh – Power Of Ten (1992)

FrontCover1.jpgChris de Burgh signed his first contract with A&M Records in 1974, and supported Supertramp on their Crime of the Century tour, building himself a small fan base. His début album, Far Beyond These Castle Walls, was a folk-tinged stab at fantasy in the tradition of the Moody Blues. It failed to chart upon its release in late 1974. A few months later, he released a single called “Turning Round” from the album, released outside the UK and Ireland as “Flying”. It failed to make an impression in the UK, but it stayed on top of the Brazilian charts for 17 weeks. This became a familiar pattern for the singer/songwriter, as every one of his 1970s albums failed to chart in the UK or US while they racked up big sales in continental European and South American countries. In 1981, he had his first UK chart entry with Best Moves, a collection culled from his early albums. It set the stage for 1982’s Rupert Hine produced The Getaway, which reached number 30 in the UK charts and number 43 in the US, thanks to the eerie single “Don’t Pay the Ferryman”. Chris de Burgh’s follow-up album, Man on the Line, also performed well, charting at 69 in the US and 11 in the UK.

ChrisDeBurgh01

Chris de Burgh had an across-the-board success with the ballad “The Lady in Red” in late 1986; the single became a number one hit in the UK (number three in America) and its accompanying album, Into the Light, reached number two in the UK (number 25 in the U.S.). That Christmas season, a re-release of de Burgh’s 1976 Christmas song “A Spaceman Came Travelling” became a Top 40 hit in the UK. Flying Colours, his follow-up to Into the Light, entered the British charts at number one upon its 1988 release, yet it failed to make the American charts. De Burgh never hit the US charts again and his commercial fortunes began to slide slightly in Britain in the early 1990s, yet he retained a following around the world. This is mainly due to inactivity of his previous recording label A&M Records UK division in the U.S

Power of Ten is the tenth studio album by the rock artist Chris de Burgh (produced by Rupert Hine). It was released in 1992 on A&M Records.

“Separate Tables” was also recorded as an English duet as well as an English/German duet with Vicky Leandros and released on her album “Jetzt”. (by wikipedia)

Booklet02A

Standout tracks include “Brother John”, “Where We Will be Going”, and “The Connemara Coast.” There was a good video of Making The Perfect Man shown on MTV. This album would peak at number 6 but would lack the durability of previous successes. (comment from the official Chris de Burgh website)

But … even when this album was not really sucessful, it´s another example for the songwriting abilities of Chris de Burgh …

Depending on who you ask, Chris de Burgh either specializes in pretentious, bombastic art rock disguised as pop or is a master of penning soaring and majestic compositions. (Greg Prato)

Logo

 

Personnel:
Chris de Burgh (vocals, guitar on 02., 08. + 09.)’
John Giblin (bass)
Rupert Hine (keyboards)
Danny McBride (leadguitar)
Geoff Richardson (guitar, viola)
Tim Sanders (saxophone)
Jamie West-Oram (guitar)
Michael Witzel (drums, percussion)
+
background vocals:
Miriam Stockley – Linda Taylor
+
The Chieftains on 07.)

Booklet04A.jpg

Tracklist:
01. Where We Will Be Going 4.30
02. By My Side 4.25
03. Heart Of Darkness 4.55
04. In Your Eyes 4.40
05. Separate Tables 3.38
06. Talk To Me 3.50
07. The Connemara Coast 3.46
08. Brother John 4.55
09. Shine On 5.00
10. A Celebration 3.50
11. She Means Everything To Me 3.20
12. Making The Perfect Man 5.16
+
13. Separate Tables (with Vicky Leandros – english version) 3.47
14. Separate Tables (with Vicky Leandros – german-english version) 3.46

All songs was written by Chris de Burgh

CD1.jpg

*
**

VickyLeandrosVicky Leandros