''Seven the Hard Way'' is the sixth studio album by American singer

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

, released on October 30, 1985, by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

. It debuted on the US ''Billboard'' 200 for the week of December 14 and peaked at number 26, spawning the singles " Invincible", "Sex as a Weapon", and "Le Bel Age". The album has been certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated single "Invincible" was produced by Mike Chapman and recorded for the soundtrack of the Matthew Robbins film ''

The Legend of Billie Jean ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' is a 1985 American drama film, directed by Matthew Robbins. It stars Helen Slater, Keith Gordon, Christian Slater, Dean Stockwell, Richard Bradford and Peter Coyote. Plot Billie Jean Davy, a teenager from Corpus ...

'', which, despite underperforming at the box office, became a cult classic to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

fans in general. The song became commercially successful and was included on the album, despite its musical style differing from Benatar's at that time and more reminiscent of her earlier efforts. Benatar often commented at her concerts before performing the song that it "is from one of the worst movies ever made." ''Seven the Hard Way'' was Benatar's last album to feature bassist Donnie Nossov, who along with drummer Myron Grombacher went on to play with

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

on her breakthrough album, '' Lita'' (1988), and on the supporting tour. Grombacher would return to Benatar's band for her follow-up album, ''

Wide Awake in Dreamland ''Wide Awake in Dreamland'' is the seventh studio album by American rock music, rock singer Pat Benatar, and her eighth album overall, released in 1988. After a string of successful albums, this was her last rock-oriented album of the 1980s, bef ...

'', released after the three-year hiatus that followed ''Seven the Hard Way''. In 1998,

BGO Records BGO Records (Beat Goes On) is a British record label specializing in classic rock, blues, jazz, and folk music. In 1965, Andy Gray opened Andys Records and set up a market stall in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Year by year he opened up more shops. ...

reissued ''Seven the Hard Way'' on CD with '' Tropico''.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Seven the Hard Way''.

Band members

– vocals *

Charlie Giordano Charles Giordano (born October 13, 1954) is an American keyboardist and accordionist. Giordano is known primarily for his work with Bruce Springsteen as a member of the E Street Band, replacing Danny Federici as the band's organist following the ...

– keyboards *

Neil Giraldo Neil Thomas Giraldo (born December 29, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for art ...

– guitars * Donnie Nossov – bass guitar * Myron Grombacher – drums

Additional musicians

Lenny Castro Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

– percussion * Uptown Horns – horns * Maxi Anderson, Rose Banks, Tuffy Cummings, Voncielle Faggett, Tommy Funderburk, Jean Johnson, Tom Kelly, Frank Linx, Phyllis St. James, Carmen Twillie and Táta Vega – backing vocals

Technical

* Neil Giraldo – producer *

Joe Chiccarelli Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

– associate producer, engineer , mixing * Mike Chapman – producer * William Wittman – engineer and mixing * Dave Hernandez, Daren Klein, George Tutko – additional engineering * Scott Church, Robert Corti, Marc DeSisto, Paul Ericksen, Steve Himelfarb, Gary Hollis, Richard McKernan, Charlie Paakkari, Brian Scheuble and Samii Taylor – assistant engineers * Scotty Bem and Jeff Chonis – production coordination * Michael Frondelli – mixing *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

(New York City, New York)

Artwork

* Moshe Brakha – photography * Larry Vigon – art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seven The Hard Way 1985 albums Albums produced by Joe Chiccarelli Albums produced by Mike Chapman Chrysalis Records albums Pat Benatar albums