''Wings'' is the fifteenth studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released in France on 14 April 2005 by Stick Music, and on 22 May 2006 in the UK under the title ''Celebrate''. The album was produced by Jean Lahcène, under the pseudonym John Stage, at Studio Pasteur in Paris. Two of the tracks were written and produced by Stuart Emerson, with

Lorraine Crosby Lorraine Crosby (born 27 November 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the female vocalist on Meat Loaf's 1993 hit single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". Her debut album, '' Mrs Loud'', was released in 2008. Ear ...

providing guest vocals on "I'll Stand by You". ''Wings'' features two re-recordings of Tyler's hits " Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "

It's a Heartache "'It's a Heartache'" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. Written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, and co-produced with David Mackay, the single was released in November 1977 through RCA Records. The song topped the charts in Australia ...

", and Tyler is credited as the co-lyricist of several of the album's tracks. "Louise" was released as the album's only single in 2006. ''Wings'' spent two weeks in the French Albums Chart, with a peak placing at no. 133.

Background, recording and release

In January 2004, Tyler was number one in France with her bilingual song " Si demain... (Turn Around)", which boosted sales of her then-current studio album '' Simply Believe.'' Still working in France, Tyler went on to collaborate with French producer Jean Lahcene to put together another album. ''Wings'' was released on 14 April 2005, and would be her last album for eight years before the release of '' Rocks and Honey''. Tyler co-wrote nine of the tracks for ''Wings''; this was the first time in Tyler's career that she had been directly involved in the composition of her songs. The album was recorded at the Pasteur Studio in Paris, France, and "All I Need Is Love" and "I'll Stand By You" were recorded at Stuart Emerson's studio in the UK. ''Wings'' features two tracks written by Stuart Emerson, one of which was a duet with his partner and Tyler's friend,

. Emerson also contributed to Tyler's 1995 album ''

Free Spirit Free Spirit or Free Spirits may refer to: Media * ''Free Spirit'' (TV series), a 1989–90 American fantasy sitcom * ''Free Spirit'' (film), a 1951 Argentine drama film * ”Free Spirit” (''The Outer Limits''), a 2001 episode in the 1995 ser ...

'' and 2004 album '' Simply Believe''. Two of the tracks, "Louise" and "Celebrate" are also featured on the album in French. ''Wings'' was released in Norway on 3 June 2005. Tyler visited the headquarters of ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

to perform two acoustic versions of "Louise" and "Wings" in a live broadcast on their website. ''Wings'' was released in the United Kingdom under the title ''Celebrate'' in 2006. The UK version omitted the French versions of the two singles. Other releases including live performances of songs from ''Wings'' include the DVD ''

Bonnie on Tour ''Bonnie on Tour'' is a live DVD by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released in 2006 by Stick Music. The DVD contains footage of Tyler performing at La Cigale in Paris, France, at the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival in Poland, and at an ...

'' (2006), the live CD ''

Bonnie Tyler Live ''Bonnie Tyler Live'' (also known as ''Live''Live
by Bonnie Tyler on

In November 2019, Tyler re-recorded "Streets of Stone" with producer David Mackay in support of the World’s Big Sleep Out, a charity event supporting the homeless. The lyrics were edited by the organiser, Phil Sprey, and the track was released in December 2019. On 15 May 2020, Tyler released a remix of "I'll Stand by You", retitled as “Through Thick and Thin (I’ll Stand by You)”, with

as a charity single in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. It reached no. 64 on the UK Downloads Chart.

Critical reception

The album received a mixed review from Tomas Mureika of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. He described the album as "safe," and added that it "serves as a herald that Tyler should be re-teaming with a producer of Jim Steinman's caliber to bring out the best in her inimitable voice." After pointing out that the album did have some high points, he concluded that the album was, however, forgettable. When released in the UK as ''Celebrate'', Elly Roberts (of Glasswerk Magazine) praised the album. She said: "The voice, as unique as you’ll find by a female singer, is as coarse as ever. Her band is as hot as anything on the scene (the lead guitarist is outstanding), with superb production at every level." Talking about the track "Run Run Run", she described it as a "typical chart friendly affair, full of wailing guitar solos, and a catchy chorus that would grace any party dancefloor", and predicted that the track could possibly become her next anthem.

Promotion

Singles

The album's only single "Louise" was released after ''Celebrate'' on 12 June 2006. Tyler recorded a music video for this single in a shipwreck on the coast of Tunisia, which was released on the

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

Television and touring

The BBC produced an episode of ''On Show'' about Bonnie Tyler entitled "In One Voice". The episode is a short documentary about Tyler's career, and was published a few months ahead of the release of ''Wings''. Tyler performed several of the album tracks at

La Cigale La Cigale (; English: ''The Cicada'') is a theatre located at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The theatre is part of a complex connected to the Le Trabendo concert venue and the Boule Noir ...

in Paris on her birthday on 8 June 2005. The concert was filmed and released as part of a DVD entitled ''Bonnie on Tour'', and also on a live CD called ''Bonnie Tyler Live'', both released in 2006. She also performed some of the tracks at the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival. Tyler had two touring bands between 2004 and 2006; her regular band that she first formed in the 1990s, and a French band that toured ''Wings'' with her.

Track listing

Note

* Pseudonym for Jean Lahcène

Charts

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic: *

Producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

- John Stage *

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

- Lionel Ducos *

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

- Stuart Emerson, Saint James II, John Stage * Programming - Fred Andrews, Stuart Emerson, Fab, Saint James II, John Stage *

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

- Ducs, Bertrand Levet, John Stage, Robert Sullivan *

Artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

- Pop at Work *International coordination - Karen Drotar *

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

- Fred Andrews, Didier Collet, Stuart Emerson, Saint James II, Laurent Meliz, John Stage *

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

- Tom Box, Stuart Emerson *

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

- Stuart Emerson, Jannick Top *

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

- Stuart Emerson, Sebastien Heurtault, Eric "Zycki" Stezycki *

Bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

- Loïc Taillebrest *

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

ist -

Backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

- Lorraine Crosby, Karen Drotar, Stuart Emerson, F. Godebout, D. Goury, Serge Haouzi, Laura Lahcene, Fanny Llado, J.J. Sombrun, John Stage

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wings (Bonnie Tyler Album) 2005 albums Bonnie Tyler albums