''This Is the World'' is the second and final studio album by

River City People River City People were a folk rock quartet formed in Liverpool, England, in 1986, by vocalist Siobhan Maher, guitarist Tim Speed, his drummer brother Paul Speed, and bassist Dave Snell. Siobhan, Tim and Dave had all been with Liverpool Band " ...

, released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in 1991. It reached No. 56 in the UK and spawned two singles, "Special Way" (UK No. 44) and "Standing in the Need of Love" (UK No. 36).

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote, "Suppose

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

had been

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 ...

and assuming she was in Dublin at the time, might something like this have been the result? As a follow-up to their successful ebutalbum, River City People offer ''This Is the World'', and quite clearly a couple of years on the road have given them a new confidence and sharper edge. This album sounds like the work of a band who are enjoying the process of discovering just how good they are." ''

Hi-Fi News & Record Review ''Hi-Fi News & Record Review'' is a British monthly magazine, published by AV Tech Media Ltd, which reviews audiophile-oriented sound-reproduction and recording equipment, and includes information on new products and developments in audio. It i ...

'' commented, "The band's second release shows more bite than the far lighter debut, but it's no less melodic. Some suggestions that the band, especially the sterling vocalist, fell in love with the first Texas LP, but otherwise it's the kind of music which should make the band the darlings of the late night campus radio audience." Sally Margaret Joy of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' felt the album was "pretty boring". She noted Maher's "strong, sensual voice" but felt the album was overproduced in "true Corporate Rock fashion" with "over-cooked arrangements". She praised the track "Hurt You" for how it "swoons and sulks with a sheet-rumpling kind of elegance" and added, "More of this, and the River City People could merit some excessive admiration. But not yet."

Track listing

Personnel

River City People *

Siobhan Maher Siobhan Maher Kennedy (born 11 January 1964) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the lead vocalist of the Liverpool-based band River City People during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band released two albums, '' Say Something Good'' ...

- vocals * Tim Speed - guitars, vocals * David Snell - bass * Paul Speed - drums, percussion Production * David Nicholas - producer (tracks 1-5, 7, 9-11), mixing (tracks 3-11), engineer (tracks 1-4, 7, 9), assistant engineer (tracks 10-11) * River City People - producers (tracks 1-5, 7, 9-11) *

Marius de Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedford ...

, Steve Sidelnyk - producers (track 6), additional production (track 2) * Steve Ferrera - producer (track 8) *

Chris Sheldon Chris Sheldon (born 25 September 1962) is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pix ...

- mixing (tracks 1-2) * Richard Chappell - engineer (tracks 2, 5), assistant engineer (tracks 1-4, 7) * Ronni O'Keefe - engineer (tracks 5, 10-11) * David Chappell - engineer (track 6) * Nick Davis - mixing (track 8) *

Bob Kraushaar Bob Kraushaar is an English pop music record producer specializing in mixing. Kraushaar has mixed and produced commercially successful songs and albums for numerous British and international artists. His first industry appointment was as runner for ...

- engineer (track 8) * Klaus Kummer - assistant engineer (track 8) Other * Normal Service - art direction, design, styling * David Scheinmann - photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Albums produced by Marius de Vries EMI Records albums