''The Best Is Yet to Come'' is the eighteenth

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 Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released on 26 February 2021 through earMUSIC. It is Tyler's fourth album with producer David Mackay, with whom she recorded her previous album '' Between the Earth and the Stars'' (2019) and her earliest albums '' The World Starts Tonight'' (1977) and '' Natural Force'' (1978). The album was supported by three singles and a 38-date tour of Europe, delayed until late 2023 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' became Tyler's first physical album release in the United States since ''

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 ...

'' in 1996. The album peaked at no. 9 on the UK Independent Albums chart.

Background and conception

On 4 March 2020, Tyler told Gold Radio that she had completed a new album. The album was originally set for release in March 2020, but it was pushed back due to the

. Footage of songwriter Steve Womack performing a portion of his song "When the Lights Go Down" was published on Tyler's website on 14 April. Tyler then began posting samples of some of the tracks on her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page. The artwork and track listing was revealed on 10 December 2020, along with a three-track preview uploaded to Tyler's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. Tyler began releasing weekly samples of individual tracks on her

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and Instagram pages on 27 December 2020.

Music and lyrics

''The Best Is Yet to Come'' adopts the sound of 80s

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

. Tyler told ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' she felt "When the Lights Go Down" had a similar sound to the music of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. The album contains four cover songs; "Somebody's Hero" by C.B. Green, "I'm Only Guilty (Of Loving You)" previously recorded by

Chick Willis Robert Lee "Chick" Willis (September 24, 1934 – December 7, 2013) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed and recorded from the 1950s to the 2000s. Biography He was born in Cabaniss, Monroe County, Georgia, the cousin of Ch ...

and Tab Benoit, " I'm Not in Love" by

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

, and " Catch the Wind" by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

. The latter two songs had originally been intended as bonus tracks on Tyler's previous album, '' Between the Earth and the Stars''. "Stronger Than a Man" was first performed by

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

on '' The Kate'', recorded in October 2018 and broadcast on 31 May 2019. "Stuck to My Guns" features Ecuadorian musician

Leo Rojas Juan Leonardo Santillia Rojas (born October 18, 1984) is an Ecuadorian musician. He won the fifth season of the television show ''Das Supertalent'', the German version of ''Britain's Got Talent''. Biography Rojas came from his home country t ...

panpipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

. Tyler met Rojas at the Vatican's ''Concerto di Natale'' in December 2019, where both had been invited to perform in the presence of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. Rojas later teased a collaboration with Tyler in an Instagram post. On 8 March 2021, Tyler published a video on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

explaining her reasons for recording "Stronger Than a Man" to mark

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

. She stated: "There's a line in that song that stood out to me. It says 'A woman's place is anywhere a woman wants to stand'. It took be back to some times in my earlier career that I'd be the only girl on the whole festival bill." The video was posted as part of the #WeAreHere campaign, raising awareness of female representation in the music industry. Her post was featured on TikTok's UK Music Hub.

Promotion

Singles

"When the Lights Go Down" was released as the first single on 18 December 2020. The lyric video was premiered by ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' the day before. "The Best Is Yet to Come" was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 8 January 2020, as the album's second single. "Dreams Are Not Enough" received a worldwide release as the album's third single on 26 February 2021, accompanied by a lyric video.

Tour

On 15 December 2020, Tyler announced that she would embark on a European tour to commemorate her 70th birthday and the release of ''The Best Is Yet to Come''. The tour was set to begin on 17 February 2022 at the

Mitsubishi Electric Halle The Mitsubishi Electric Halle (formerly Philips Halle) is an indoor arena located in Düsseldorf, Germany. It opened in 1971 and has a capacity of 7,500 people. It was originally named after Dutch electronics conglomerate Philips. It was rename ...

in Düsseldorf, Germany, and conclude on 29 April 2022 at the Kongress am Park in Augsburg, Germany, with a total of 38 dates in venues throughout Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. However, only three dates in Cottbus, Halle and Berlin took place as scheduled. The rest of the tour was postponed to late 2023 due to complications related to the

Critical reception

''Retro Pop'' magazine named ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' as Tyler's best album since '' Hide Your Heart'' (1988), noting that Tyler sounds "rested, strong and raring to go". In a review of the single, ''Retro Pop'' described the title track as "a slice of 80's new wave perfection", featuring "pulsing synths and a harmony laden sing-a-long chorus that proves irresistible". Markos Papadatos of ''Digital Journal'' stated that Tyler "proves that she is like a fine wine, where her harking and heavenly voice only gets better with age and experience", describing the album as "eclectic". In ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'', Beverley Rouse described ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' as "an enjoyable listen", and commended Tyler for "bringing something different" with her cover of " I'm Not in Love" by

. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' critic Fiona Shepherd called the album "a patchy playlist of covers and originals", but noted "I’m Only Guilty (Of Loving You)" as a strong moment. '' Onet Muzyka'' critic Bartosz Sąder noted that ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' is "not as expressive" as Tyler's previous albums, but that her "hoarse vocal fits perfectly into the style of the 80s-inspired songs". Writing for the Finnish newspaper ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'', Mervi Vuorela opined that Tyler would have achieved better results with

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

songs instead of

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

* Bonnie Tyler – lead vocals * David Mackay – production , percussion , backing vocals , strings , drum programming , bass programming , extra keys , keyboards , percussion FX , piano * Richard Cottle – keyboards , organ , saxophone , drum programming , percussion FX * Steve Womack – backing vocals, guitars * Josh Renton – backing vocals , guitars * Daz Shields – drums , backing vocals * Neil Lockwood – backing vocals * Kevin Dunne – acoustic guitar , bass * Miriam Stockley – backing vocals * Miriam Grey – backing vocals *

Laurence Cottle Laurence Cottle (born 16 December 1961) is a Welsh bass guitarist and composer. Career His solo recordings have been mostly in jazz and jazz fusion. He was a member of the fusion quartet The Fents and appeared on their second album, ''The Ot ...

– bass * Bob Jenkins – drums *

Geoff Whitehorn Geoffrey Charles Whitehorn (born 29 August 1951, London, England) is a guitarist and singer-songwriter, who has played as a member of If, Crawler and Procol Harum. History In August 1973, Whitehorn joined the pioneering British jazz-rock ba ...

– guitars * Ian Stuart Lynn – piano * Ray Russell – guitars *

– pan pipes * John Parr – guitar

Technical

* David Mackay – recording, mixing * Rod Houison – recording * Silvio D'Anza – recording * Jerry Stevenson – mastering

Design

* Fulaleo – cover illustration * Jenny Seiler – additional artwork * Tina Korhonen – photography

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Is Yet to Come 2021 albums Bonnie Tyler albums