''Paul Young'' is the seventh solo
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by English singer
Paul Young, released in May 1997 on
East West Records. This was Young's last album made up of original material, until his 2023 album, ''Behind the Lens''. It displays a stronger country influence than his previous albums and saw significantly more songwriting input from Young than on his previous albums, with eight of the twelve tracks being co-written by him. The album and lead single "I Wish You Love" both charted inside the UK top 40.
Critical reception
A ''
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'' 1997 review believed the album marked a significant departure from Young's previous albums. The album instrumentation was found to sound more akin to a
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...
album than the output Young was best known for. Despite saying the album potentially had "all the ingredients for a first-class disaster" the review rated the album as "good" and awarded it a score of 3 out of 5.
[ for preview to see full article]
Track listing
Personnel
*
Paul Young – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar,
sitar, tambourine
*
Simon Clark – keyboards (1, 3-12)
* Steve Piggott – keyboards (1, 3-12), synthesizers (3, 5, 6, 9, 12)
* Matt Irvine –
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
(1, 3, 7, 9, 11)
*
Ross Cullum – keyboards (2)
*
Jack Hues – programming (2), guitars (2), bass (2)
*
Robbie McIntosh – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
*
Jamie Moses
Jamie Moses (born 30 August 1955) is an English rock and pop singer and guitarist. He was formerly a member of The Brian May Band, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Mike & the Mechanics and Broken English.
Biography
The son of an American father (a ...
– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
* Melvin Duffy –
pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
(4, 8)
*
David Pilch – bass (1, 3-9, 12)
*
Chris Hughes – bass and drum programming (2)
* Steve Greetham – bass (10, 11), backing vocals
*
Pino Palladino – bass (11)
*
Curt Bisquera – drums, percussion
*
Greg Penny
Greg Penny (born October 12, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, musician, songwriter and artist best known for his work as a producer for Elton John and k.d. lang. He is currently the president of Flower ...
–
beat box (3), tambourine (6)
* Ben Georgiades – cymbals (5)
* Bob Loveday –
violin (2)
*
Skaila Kanga
Skaila Kanga (born in India) is a harpist and Professor Emerita of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After winning a Junior Exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music for piano, she switched to harp studies at age 17. She studied wit ...
–
Paraguayan harp
The Paraguayan harp is the national instrument of Paraguay, and similar instruments are used elsewhere in South America, particularly Venezuela.
It is a diatonic harp with 32, 36, 38 or 40, 42 or 46 strings, made from tropical wood, pine and c ...
(3, 7, 12)
*
Brendan Power –
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
(4)
* Frank Mead – saxophone (6)
* Nick Payn – saxophone (6)
* Nick Pentelow – saxophone (6)
*
Courtney Pine – saxophone (12)
* Martin Drover – trumpet (6, 7)
* Drew Barfield – backing vocals
* Steve Booker – backing vocals
* Boo Hewardine – backing vocals
*
Carol Kenyon
Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...
– backing vocals
Production
* Greg Penny – producer
* Paul Young – producer
* Chris Hughes – executive producer, mixing (2)
* Andy Strange – recording, mixing (7, 9, 12)
*
Bob Clearmountain – mixing (1, 3-6, 8, 10, 11
* Ross Cullum – mixing (2)
* Tony Cousins – mastering
* Martin Granville-Twig – mastering
* Norman Watson – photography
Charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Paul Young albums
1997 albums
East West Records albums
Albums produced by Greg Penny