''The Sea of Love'' is the second album by the Northern Irish rock band

The Adventures The Adventures were a Northern Irish rock/pop band, formed in Belfast in 1984 who had a number of hits during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band moved to London where they signed to Chrysalis Records and released their first single in 1984. ...

, released in May 1988. Entirely written by band member Pat Gribben, the album was produced by Pete Smith and Garry Bell. ''The Sea of Love'' featured the single "

Broken Land "Broken Land" is a song by Northern Irish band the Adventures, released in 1988 as the first single from their second album ''The Sea of Love''. It was their biggest hit in the UK, spending 10 weeks on the chart, and was also a big hit in Ireland, ...

", their only Top 40 hit in the UK, and also their only chart entry in the United States.

Overview

Released on

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

under a new contract, the album was their most successful, peaking at #30 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and staying on the chart for 10 weeks. It was certified Silver (for 60,000 copies sold) by the BPI in May 1989. The album also reached #144 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, their only album to chart there. ''The Sea of Love'' US Chart details/ref> Singles released from the album were "

", "

Drowning in the Sea of Love "Drowning in the Sea of Love" is a 1971 song recorded by Joe Simon for Spring Records. It was the title track of his seventh LP, and was the first release from the album. The song was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Chart performance Th ...

" and "One Step from Heaven", charting at 20, 44 and 82 respectively in the UK,Official UK Charts - The Adventures
27 September 2015 while the first two charted within the top 20 in Ireland. "Broken Land" charted at No. 95 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, their only charting single in the US. Reviews of the album were favourable with

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 ...

retrospectively rating the album four out of five stars, crediting the "optimistic" sound of what is a "feel-good album". Also of mention was lead singer Terry Sharpe's vocals as well as the backing vocals and harmonies, while Pat Gribben is said to be "a gifted guitarist" and "musicianship is top notch". In a contemporary review the ''

Miami News ''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the '' Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...

'' also made mention of the strong harmonies saying that it contained "a symphony of gorgeous voices". It rates highly the opening two tracks, likening the latter to

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

and

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst ...

, while the band hardens its sound on side two with songs such as "Hold Me Now" and "When Your Heart Was Young". They concluded that "the album vibrates with freshness and unadulterated finesse".Miami News, April 28 1988
/ref> ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' magazine commented favourably on the album saying that it was an improvement on their debut. Track "The Trip to Bountiful" was based on the film of the same name.

Track listing

All songs written by Pat Gribben.Album sleeve notes Side one #"

" #"

" #"You Don't Have to Cry Anymore" #"The Trip to Bountiful (When the Rain Comes Down)" Side two #"Heaven Knows Which Way" #"Hold Me Now" #"The Sound of Summer" #"When Your Heart was Young" #"One Step from Heaven" Bonus tracks on 2017 reissue: # "Broken Land" (Acoustic Version) 5:19 # "Don't Stand on Me" (B-Side) 4:45 # "Stay Away" (B-Side) 4:37 # "The Curragh of Kildare" (B-Side) (Traditional) 2:50 # "Drowning in the Sea of Love" (Single Version) 4:26 # "One Step from Heaven" (Extended Remix) 5:05 # "

Instant Karma! "Instant Karma!" (also titled "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)") is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions ...

" (John Lennon) 3:08 # "Broken Land" (Single Version) 4:07

Personnel

*Terry Sharpe - Lead vocals *Pat Gribben - Guitar, piano, steel guitar, vocals *Tony Ayre - Bass *Gerard "Spud" Murphy - Percussion, vocals *Paul Crowder - Drums, vocals *Eileen Gribben - Vocals *Andy Findon - Tin whistle *Paul Fishman - Keyboards, keyboard programming and orchestration *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

- Keyboards, piano, synthesizer *Roland Vaughan Kerridge - Electronic percussion *

Richard Niles Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist. Biography Early years Niles was born May 28, 1951, in Hollywood. He is the son of Tony Romano, a composer, singer, and guitarist who writ ...

- String arrangements *Andrew Pask - Bass *

Peter-John Vettese Peter-John Vettese (born 15 August 1956 in Scotland), also known as Peter Vettese, is a Scottish keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Vettese is perhaps best known for being the keyboardist for progressive rock band Jethro Tul ...

- Keyboards *Bob White - Uilleann pipes *John Whitehead - Keyboards *David Field - Backing vocals * Brian Kennedy - Backing vocals *

Katie Kissoon Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). Ea ...

- Backing vocals *Stevie Lange - Backing vocals *McCarthy Sisters - Backing vocals *Peter Smith - Backing vocals *

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style gained in ...

- Backing vocals *Billy Vanderpuye - Backing vocals *Rafe McKenna - Engineer *Dietmar Schillinger - Engineer *Jim Scott - Mixing engineer *

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

- Management *Tony Mascolo - Photography *

Keith Breeden Keith Breeden RP (born 25 March 1956) is a graphic designer and portraitist. He is a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Early life Keith attended St. Wilfred's Primary in Northwich from 1962 to 1967 before attending St Ambrose Col ...

- Paintings

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea of Love, The 1988 albums The Adventures albums Elektra Records albums