''Free Spirit'' is the eleventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by Welsh singer

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

, released in Europe on 3 October 1995, by

EastWest Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

and in the United States on 26 March 1996 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Tyler recorded the album with numerous producers, and it was her first album release in the UK and the US since '' Hide Your Heart'' (1988). The album saw only moderate success in a small number of European countries, peaking highest in Norway at No. 22. Four singles were released in support of the album, with " Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)" narrowly missing the UK Top 40.

Background and recording

In the early 1990s, Tyler released three albums through

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label based in Berlin, Germany founded in 1962. History In the early 1960s, brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel, grandchildren of Will Meisel, who was th ...

. With

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous G ...

as her primary collaborator, these albums were primarily aimed at the European market. ''Free Spirit'' would become Tyler's first album release in the UK and the US since 1988. Tyler signed to

in 1994. ''Free Spirit'' features collaborations with an array of producers, including

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...

, Andy Hill,

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

Christopher Neil Christopher Neil (born 1948) is a British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. Neil has produced records for A-ha, Amazulu, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Cher, Dollar, Edyta Górniak, Gerry Rafferty, Jennifer Rush, José Carreras, Le ...

and

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

. The tracks were recorded in a number of studios, most notably at

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

, Bahamas, and

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History In 1969, songwriter Jerry Ragavoy opened a recording studio in New York City and named it ''The Hit Factory.'' On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, ...

, New York. The album reunited Tyler with Steinman to record cover versions of "

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is a power ballad performed by the American musician Meat Loaf. It is a track off his 1977 album '' Bat Out of Hell'', written by Jim Steinman. It spent 23 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 11, and ea ...

" and " Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)". Tyler described the latter as her "follow-up to "

Total Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

, thirteen years too late". The track features operatic vocals provided by Tyler's mother, Elsie Hopkins. Tyler stated, "I had a tape of her singing as my nephew played the piano. Steinman got to hear this, and he was so impressed that he decided to sample her voice and use it on the track". Tyler's cover of "

Bridge over Troubled Water ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'' is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for ''The Graduate'', Art Garfunkel took an acting ...

" by

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

features an uncredited guest vocal by

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album ''Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz album), Let Love Rule'' (1989) was characterized by a blend of Rock music, rock ...

, who could not be named due to contractual limitations imposed by his label

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. "Make It Right Tonight" originally appeared on Gary Chapman's album ''The Light Inside'' (1994).

Release and promotion

''Free Spirit'' was first released in Europe on 3 October 1995 through EastWest Records. In the following year, the album was re-issued in Germany with a cover of "Limelight" by

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

replacing the remix of "Sexual Device". Tyler's version of "Limelight" was included on a compilation album titled ''Atlanta '96 – The Sound of Winners'', released by EastWest in support of the German team competing at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. ''Free Spirit'' was released in the United States on 26 March 1996 through

. Tyler embarked on a 22-date tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in support of the album, beginning in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

on 1 April and concluding in Hof on 11 May 1996. In September 2021, ''Free Spirit'' was reissued as part of a three-disc box set titled ''The East West Years 1995–1998'' through Cherry Pop.

Singles

Four singles were released from ''Free Spirit''. " Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)" was released as the album's lead single in October 1995, and on 8 January 1996 in the United Kingdom. It peaked at No. 12 and No. 17 on the Dutch

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

and Top 100 singles charts respectively, and No. 45 in the UK. In an interview with '' Night & Day'' magazine, Tyler expressed her frustration about East West's promotional strategy. "I was gutted about Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)"because I made it with Jim Steinman ..but it wasn't in the shops. People wanted to buy it, but I don't think they pressed enough copies because all the copies they pressed sold out." " You're the One" was chosen as the follow-up single, charting at No. 99 in Germany. "

" was released in Europe and the United States, but failed to chart in both territories. The European release was on a

maxi CD A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music Single (music), single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side and B-side, A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken f ...

with radio edits, while Atlantic issued a 12" vinyl featuring one radio edit and four remixes by house DJ

Ralphi Rosario Ralphi Rosario is an American house musician and founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group Hot Mix 5. Biography When Hot Mix 5 was formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX (now WVAZ), Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still in ...

. "Limelight" became the fourth and final single from the album, peaking at No. 76 in Germany. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" was reissued as a digital single on 29 October 2021.

Critical reception

''Free Spirit'' was met with numerous negative reviews following its release in the United States. Writing for ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

'', Rich Eichhorn described the album as a "dated-sounding hodge-podge of pop, country and disco". Mark Marymont of the ''

Springfield News-Leader The ''Springfield News-Leader'' is the predominant newspaper for the city of Springfield, Missouri, and covers the Ozarks. The ''News-Leader'' has a daily circulation of 32,363 and a Sunday circulation of 51,402 as of September 2013. Sunday si ...

'' noted "Nothing to Do with Love" and "You're the One" as the album's strongest moments, but described "Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)" as "perhaps the most over-produced track of the year". In another negative review, Larry Printz of ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' opined that the use of multiple producers and musical styles "smacks of desperation", describing the album as "mediocre drivel". In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic Jose F. Promis noted that "Several songs on this album rate about average, but there are several shining moments which should have brought this set, from such an engaging singer, much more attention than the minimal it received". In a review of ''The East West Years'' box set for ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'',

John Earls John Earls (born 25 August 1972) is an English music and sports journalist. He has been a regular contributor to music magazines such as the ''NME'', ''Record Collector'', ''Classic Pop'', and ''Planet Sound'', which he edited from 2001 until its ...

described ''Free Spirit'' as "a sprawling mess where songs were left to drift far past their natural running time," opining that the album's producers "didn't seem to know what to do with such a gifted singer".

Commercial performance

''Free Spirit''’s chart performance was fleeting. Despite being Tyler’s first album release in the United Kingdom and the United States since 1988, it failed to chart in either territory. The album fared best in Norway, entering at No. 22 and spending a total of three weeks in the Top 40. ''Free Spirit'' charted for only two weeks in both Switzerland and Austria, peaking at No. 39 and No. 43 respectively.

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

– lead vocals *

Simon Franglen Simon Franglen is an English composer of classical and film music. He is also a record producer and former musician. His credits include four of the list of top grossing films and six of the list of best-selling albums of all time. His film w ...

– Synclavier programming (1, 2, 6), arrangements (1, 2) *

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

– keyboards (3, 13), programming (3, 13), arrangements (3, 13) * Andy Hill – keyboards (4, 10), guitars (4, 10), bass (4, 10), arrangements (4, 10) * Steve Pigott – keyboards (5, 7),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(5), bass (7), drum programming (7), keyboard programming (12), strings programming (12) *

– keyboards (6), arrangements (6) * Stuart Emerson – keyboards (8, 9, 11, 14), guitars (8, 9, 11, 14), bass (8, 9, 11, 14), drums (8, 9, 11, 14), backing vocals (8, 9, 11, 14), arrangements (8, 9, 11, 14) * Simon Brooks – acoustic piano (11) * Paul Millns – electric piano (12) * Michael Thompson – guitars (1, 2, 6) * Eddie Martinez – guitars (3, 13) * Alan Darby – guitars (4, 10) *

Clem Clempson David "Clem" Clempson (born 5 September 1949) is an English rock guitarist who has played in a number of bands, including Colosseum and Humble Pie. Career Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the power trio, Bakerloo (originally T ...

– guitars (5, 7) * Chucho Merchán – bass (5) * Jimmy Bralower – drum programming (3, 13) *

Graham Broad Graham Broad (born 10 March 1957) is an English drummer who has been playing professionally since the age of fifteen, after attending the Royal College of Music in 1970. He is a former pupil of drumming educator Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Phi ...

– drums (4, 10) *

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis (born 10 June 1964) is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls ...

– drums (5, 7), percussion (12) *

– arrangements (3, 13) *

– arrangements (5, 11), backing vocals (7) * Gene Miller – backing vocals (1, 2) * David Morgan – backing vocals (1, 2) * Yvonne Williams – backing vocals (1, 2) *

Glen Burtnik Glen Burtnik (born Glenn Burtnick; April 8, 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, entertainer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a member of Styx from 1990-1991 and again from 1999-2003. Burtnik is originally from North Brunswick, New ...

– backing vocals (3) *

Kasim Sulton Kasim as a given name, a variant of Qasim. It may refer to: People known only by the given name Kasim *Kasım Pasha, Ottoman general and governor *Kasım of Karaman, the last bey of the Karaman Beylik, a Turkish principality in Anatolia *Şehza ...

– backing vocals (3) *

Eric Troyer Eric Lee Troyer (born 10 April 1949) is an American keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and occasional guitarist. Troyer was a founding member of ELO Part II, having been recruited by band leader Bev Bevan in 1988. He wrote a substantial quantity ...

– backing vocals (3) *

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

– backing vocals (4, 10) * Chris Thompson – backing vocals (4, 10) * Alan Carvell – backing vocals (5, 7) * Lorraine Crosby – backing vocals (8, 9, 11, 14) *

Tawatha Agee Tawatha Agee (born November 14, 1954) is an American vocalist and songwriter. Her voice has been described in ''The New York Times'' as an "acrobatic, gospel-charged soprano." She was the lead singer of funk and soul band Mtume; her soulful lead ...

– backing vocals (13) *

Robin Clark Robin Clark is an American vocalist known for her work as a vocalist on David Bowie's 1975 album ''Young Americans'' and Simple Minds' 1985 album ''Once Upon a Time''. Clark was born in New York. In 1967, when Clark was 17, she and future s ...

– backing vocals (13) * Curtis King – backing vocals (13) *

Fonzi Thornton Alfonso "Fonzi" Thornton is an American vocalist, songwriter, producer and vocal contractor. In a career spanning 40 years, Thornton has sung backing vocals for top artists across many genres of music. His vocal credits can be found on the re ...

– backing vocals (13)

Technical

* Humberto Gatica – engineer (1, 2, 6), mixing (1, 2, 6) * Felipe Elgueta – engineer (1, 2, 6) * Simon Franglen – engineer (1, 2) * Steven Rinkoff – engineer (3, 13) * Tony Phillips – mixing (3, 13) * Brian Tench – engineer (4, 10) * Giles Twigg – engineer (4, 10) * Stuart Emerson – engineer (8, 9, 11, 14), mixing (8, 9, 11, 14) * Dan Priest – engineer (9, 11, 14), mixing (9, 11, 14) * Oswald "Osie" Bowe – assistant engineer (1, 2, 6) * Duane Hibbard – assistant engineer (1, 2) * Ronnie Rivera – assistant engineer (1, 2) * James Saez – assistant engineer (1, 2) * Robbes Stieglitz – assistant engineer (1, 2) * Dan Gellert – additional engineer (3, 13) * Scott Austin – assistant engineer (3, 13) * Tony Black – assistant engineer (3, 13) * Kyle Bess – mix assistant (6) * Alejandro Rodriguez – mix assistant (6) * Doug Cook – second engineer (9, 11, 14) *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) (3, 13) * Don Ketteler – production coordination (3, 13) * Charles Vasoll – assistant to Jim Steinman (3, 13)

Design

* Mainartery – art direction and design * Paul Cox – cover photography * Dagmar Wildmann – live photography * Gillian Shephard – make-up * Pam Trigg – stylist

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Bonnie Tyler albums 1995 albums Albums produced by Jim Steinman Albums produced by Christopher Neil Albums produced by David Foster Atlantic Records albums