Victim of Love
| Victim of Love | |||||
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| Studio album by Elton John | |||||
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Publication |
October 13, 1979 |
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| Label (s) |
MCA (US / Canada) Rocket (UK) |
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Format (s) |
LP, 8-track, cassette, CD |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
35:45 |
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Studio (s) |
Musicland Studios , Munich, Germany |
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Victim of Love (Eng. "Victim of Love") is the thirteenth studio album by the British singer and composer Elton John .
By the end of the 1970s, the disco wave in Europe had already passed its zenith and John's only album in this genre was therefore too late. From both a commercial and a critical perspective, its success was limited.
background
For various reasons, Victim of Love could not be called a typical Elton John album.
With a running time of just under 36 minutes, it is the shortest album of his career to date. He did not compose a single title of this publication and did not play any of the instruments. It was the first album without his previous band members, which was only to be repeated when he worked with Leon Russel for the album The Union in 2015. Besides the album A Single Man , it is the only one without lyrics by Bernie Taupin . Apart from an appearance on the Australian television series Countdown , John hardly supported the sales of the album; he did not go on tour and never played any of the titles in his stage appearances. His only contribution to the recording was his singing.
John was not completely satisfied with the result of the three-song EP Mama Can't Buy You Love , which he had produced together with Phillysound loner Thom Bell . When Pete Bellotte , best known from his collaboration with Donna Summer, approached John as producer for the recording of a disco album, he accepted the offer, but attached the condition that his contribution should be limited to the singing. Each of the seven recordings has a comparatively high instrumental portion, left little impression even on Elton John enthusiasts and achieved the least success of all John's albums.
reception
Johnny B. Goode is said to be too slow to dance on, and the entire album as a whole as lacking in ideas. Only two of the tracks, Victim of Love and Thunder in the Night , can please the melody. The style here is anonymous, without any climax, without interesting instrumental breaks or anything like that. It seems like John and Bellotte just wanted to get the product out as soon as possible.
Track list
LP
page 1
- Johnny B. Goode ( Chuck Berry ) - 8:06
- Warm Love in a Cold World (Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll) - 4:30 (3:22 on older pressings)
- Born Bad (Pete Bellotte, Geoff Bastow) - 5:16 (6:20 on older pressings)
Page 2
- Thunder in the Night (Pete Bellotte, Michael Hofmann) - 4:40
- Spotlight (Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll) - 4:24
- Street Bogie (Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll) - 3:56
- Victim of Love (Pete Bellotte, Sylvester Levay, Jerry Rix) - 4:52 (5:02 on older pressings)
B sides
| title | A side |
|---|---|
| "Strangers" | "Victim of Love" 7 "(US / UK) |
occupation
- Elton John - vocals, backing vocals
- Michael McDonald - backing vocals on "Victim of Love"
- Keith Forsey - drums
- Todd Canedy - drums
- Patrick Simmons - backing vocals on "Victim of Love"
- Thor Baldursson - keyboards, arrangements
- Tim Cansfield - rhythm guitar
- Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
- Roy Davies - keyboards
- Steve Lukather - guitar solo on "Warm Love in a Cold World"
- Marcus Miller - bass guitar
- Lenny Pickett - saxophone on "Victim of Love"
- Julia Tillman Waters - backing vocals
- Craig Snyder - guitar
- Stephanie Spruill - backing vocals
- Maxine Willard Waters - backing vocals
production
- Producer: Pete Bellotte
- Sound engineer: Peter Luedmann
- Assistant to the sound engineer: Hans Menzel and Carolyn Tapp
- Technician: Roman Olearczuk
- Remastering: Brian Gardner, Allen Zentz Mastering (Hollywood)
- Contractor: Trevor Veitch
- Production coordination: Jerry Simpson
- Project coordination: Joe Black
- Photographs: David P. Bailey
- Design: Jubliee Graphics