''Moment of Truth'' is the début and sole solo album from American singer
Terri Nunn, who is best known as lead singer of the band
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. It was released in the US in 1991 and Europe in 1992. ''Moment of Truth'' was produced by and mixed by
Prince's Paisley Park Records producer
David Z., except for "Confession Time", which was produced by the British producer Steve Brown.
Background
Nunn recorded ''Moment of Truth'' following Berlin's split in 1987. It was recorded at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, while "Confession Time" was recorded at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles. The album was released in the United States in 1991, and Europe and Japan in 1992. The album was not a commercial success, nor was the single "Let Me Be the One", which was released in January 1992.
"89 Lines" was also released as a promotional single in the US.
Following this album, Nunn went on to gain the rights for the usage of Berlin's name after legal wranglings with the founding member of the group,
John Crawford. Nunn recreated Berlin, with a new line-up of musicians, in 1998.
In a late 1990s interview with ''Electrogarden'', Nunn explained that she had left Berlin to try new styles of sound and music. However, in a 1996 interview with ''
The Telegraph-Herald'', she dismissed the album and described it as "transitional".
Writing
The album's songs were written from 1988 to 1991 by various composers, with Nunn receiving writing credit for six of the eleven tracks. Speaking to the ''
Beaver County Times'' in 1992, Nunn said: "When I wrote this album, I'd planned to expose myself a lot more with my writing. All of the musicians I grew up idolizing and loving, that's what I loved about them -
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Grace Slick
Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...
,
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
. They exposed themselves and how they were growing through their music. That helped me as a person, as well as listening to the music and getting off on the oral high. It was a communication."
While promoting her album on ''
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
'', Nunn revealed the album was lyrically more personal to Nunn than the Berlin albums.
"Desire Me" is based on sexual desire. Nunn said of the song on ''CNBC'': "It came out of two weeks of being extremely horny. There wasn't anybody around at the time, I wasn't in a relationship, and so at least something came out of it."
"Once Upon a Time" is based on the suicide of Nunn's father, while "Diane" speaks of domestic abuse from husband to wife. In her interview with the ''Beaver County Times'', Nunn spoke of both tracks: "The hardest song was the song about Dad. That took me three years, just pulling it out, trying new things. I got to resolve a lot through the process. Wife abuse ("Diane") is a definite message to a friend. The truth helps write the song and the song helps bring the truth around."
The song "89 Lines" speaks of racism, with Nunn portraying a black male.
Release
''Moment of Truth'' was released in the US by
DGC Records and by
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
in Europe and Japan. In the US, the album was released on cassette and CD, while in Europe the album was only released on CD. In 1991, a special US CD promo sampler was released featuring a total of eight tracks. Four Berlin hit tracks were used: "Take My Breath Away", "No More Words", "Sex (I'm A...)" and "The Metro", along with four tracks from ''Moment of Truth'': "Let Me Be the One", "89 Lines", "Who's Gonna Take You Home Tonight" and "Fly by Night". A live version of "Confession Time" was later released on the 2000 live album ''Live: Sacred and Profane'' from Berlin.
Promotion
Nunn appeared on ''CNBC'' to perform "Let Me Be the One" on November 11, 1991.
Reception
Upon release, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' felt the album was a "seriously out-of-date and thinly produced package", adding: "Playing out homogenized vocal and lyrical moves well mined by Pat Benatar a decade or more ago, Nunn overreaches on such tracks as "Desire Me" and the title track."
[Billboard magazine - February 1, 1992 - Album Reviews - page 52] Brenda Herrmann of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' felt Nunn still had a "wonderful voice", but that the album's material was weak. She commented: "Songs like "Let Me Be the One" and "Who's Gonna Take You Home Tonight" are nearly indistinguishable from Heart hits like "Alone" or "Who Will You Run To". The "Moment of Truth" is that Nunn wants to make some bucks - even if it is in adult contemporary radio."
The ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' said "Singers are always leaving bands to pursue their own musical identities. But Terri Nunn apparently took the singular route of defecting from Berlin to pursue an identity crisis. On her solo debut, Nunn can't make up her mind whether to be the poor man's Johnette Napolitano, Pat Benatar, Ann Wilson or Debbie Harry. Nunn's songwriting is strictly of the generic-confessional variety, and the songs by outside writers are just as formulaic and pedestrian. The host of backing musicians provide a thoroughly unexceptional setting."
''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' commented: "This dull-as-dirt generic rock pancake fails to establish Nunn as anything but... the former singer of Berlin. In the little world of ''Moment of Truth'' — which more than anything sounds like late-'80s Pat Benatar outtakes — it is."
Pan-European magazine ''
Music & Media
''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...
'' commented: "This is powerful stuff from Nunn. Synthladen timeless power-wave reflects shades of the late '70s and early '80s. From the Tubeway Army synthsounds in "Confession Time" to "Once Upon a Time" with its Concrete Blonde-meets-Shakespeare's Sister-feel, Nunn finds the right melodic blend of hooks 'n heavies."
[Music & Media magazine - April 11, 1992 - New Releases: Albums - page 11] Alex Henderson 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 ...
said: "With Berlin having hit an artistic high note on 1986's ''Count Three and Pray'', it was most regrettable when the trio broke up. ''Moment of Truth'' made the breakup seem all the more regrettable. Nunn delivers a run-of-the-mill pop/rock offering that isn't terrible, but pales in comparison to her inspired performances on Berlin gems. Despite a few decent spots, including the rap/rock protest song "89 Lines" and the single "Let Me Be the One," the album really isn't worth the price of admission."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Terri Nunn - vocals
*
Karl Hyde - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 6-string bass, sitar, backing vocals
*
Tim Pierce - additional guitar (tracks 2, 5, 7-11)
*
David Z
David Z may refer to:
* David Z (producer)
David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince, a ...
- additional guitar (tracks 3, 5-6, 8, 10-11), sitar (tracks 2-4, 10), drums (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8-11), additional percussion and drums (tracks 3, 8), distorted bass (track 6), additional background vocals (track 7)
*
Tim Pierce - acoustic guitar (track 3)
* Andrew Flashman - piano, organ, keyboards
* Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (tracks 2-3, 5-7), additional background vocals (track 7), keyboards (track 8)
* Kenny Holman - saxophone (track 4)
*
Jason P. Delaire - saxophone (track 10)
* Bruce Kurnow - harmonica (track 2)
* Bob Griffin - bass (tracks 2-3, 6, 9, 11)
*
Levi Seacer, Jr.
Levi Seacer Jr. (born April 30, 1961) is an American musician. He was an early associate of Sheila E. when he was tapped by Prince to form a new touring band after the demise of The Revolution in 1986. Seacer became the band's bassist, as wel ...
- bass (track 4), guitar solo (track 5), additional background vocals (track 7), bass solo (track 8), additional guitar (track 10)
* Mark Leonard - bass (tracks 5, 7, 9), keyboards (track 5)
* Billy Ward - drums (tracks 3, 5, 7, 11), additional drums (track 10)
*
Randy Castillo
Randolpho Francisco Castillo (December 18, 1950 – March 26, 2002) was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002.
Ea ...
- drums (track 1)
* St. Paul Peterson - additional background vocals (tracks 2-3, 7), bass (tracks 8, 10), guitar (track 8)
* The Steeles - background vocals (tracks 5, 8)
* Patti Peterson - additional background vocals (track 7)
;Production
*
David Z
David Z may refer to:
* David Z (producer)
David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince, a ...
- producer (tracks 2-11), mixing, recording
* Steve Brown - producer (track 1)
* Tom Garneau - additional engineer
* Additional Engineer – Tom Garneau
*
Bernie Grundman - mastering
;Art and Design
* Larry Vigon - art direction
* Debra Shallman - album coordination
* Robin Sloane - creative director
* Brian Jackson, Larry Vigon - design
* Horst Stasny - photography
;Management
* Anita Camarata, Larry Mazer - management
* Bas Hartong - management (international representation)
References
{{Authority control
1991 debut albums
DGC Records albums
Mercury Records albums