A Woman and a Man is the sixth studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released in the United Kingdom on September 23, 1996 by Chrysalis Records (then part of the EMI Group, like Carlisle's former label Virgin Records). The album contains songs written by Rick Nowels, Maria Vidal, Ellen Shipley, Charlotte Caffey, Neil Finn and Roxette co-founder Per Gessle who also produced one of the tracks.
It was released in the United States in 1997 (see 1997 in music) on the Ark 21 Records label. There was special DTS (surround sound) version released with a slightly different track listing compared to the original; it was only ten tracks long and did not include "Listen to Love", "Love Doesn't Live Here" and "Always Breaking My Heart" but instead had covers of the songs "Jealous Guy" by John Lennon and "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" by Shel Silverstein.
Reception
Critical reception
The album received mixed reviews. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album four stars out of five saying it is a "mature collection of adult pop, with cool keyboards and subtle arrangements that often make the record sound like background music". However, he also noted that "Carlisle has rarely been in better voice".[1] Entertainment Weekly's Steven Mirkin gave the album C- saying that "Carlisle has neither the voice nor personality to overcome her album's cold, emotionally sterile core."[2]
Commercial reception
The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #12. It outsold Carlisle's previous album, Real, and was certified Gold by BPI for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album revived Carlisle's career in the singles chart – producing three top-twenty hits (two of them top-ten). It was released in the U.S. but failed to chart on the Billboard 200 album chart with a total sales of 17,000 copies.[3]
The album charted on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on November 11, 1996 at #31 with only one single released to radio at the time. It only spent ten weeks in the top one hundred making the album her last charting album on the charts. It was Carlisle's last album to chart in Austria, peaking at #36 and stayed in the charts for two weeks. It was Carlisle's lowest charting album in Sweden, peaking at #44 and only spending one week in the charts. In Italy, the album peaked at #35.
The singles had some success in various countries. "In Too Deep" was the first song released from the album and became a top ten hit in the UK and a top twenty in Australia. "Always Breaking My Heart" was the second song released from the album, written and produced by Per Gessle of Roxette, which was also a top ten hit in the UK. "Love in the Key of C" the third song released, became Carlisle's tenth top twenty UK hit. "California" was the fourth single released and was Carlisle's final UK Top 40 hit before retiring.
Track listing
1. |
"In Too Deep" | Rick Nowels |
4:05 |
2. |
"California" | Rick Nowels, Billy Steinberg, María Vidal |
2:59 |
3. |
"A Woman And A Man" | Robbie Seidman, María Vidal |
5:12 |
4. |
"Remember September" | Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley |
4:32 |
5. |
"Listen To Love" | Christopher García, John Ingoldby, Ralph McCarthy |
4:09 |
6. |
"Always Breaking My Heart" | Per Gessle |
3:12 |
7. |
"Love Doesn't Live Here" | Per Gessle |
4:09 |
8. |
"He Goes On" | Neil Finn |
3:13 |
9. |
"Kneel At Your Feet" | Charlotte Caffey, Tom Caffey, Belinda Carlisle |
4:18 |
10. |
"Love in the Key of C" | Rick Nowels |
3:50 |
11. |
"My Heart Goes Out to You" | Anders Bagge, Rick Nowels, Allen Rich |
3:35 |
American DTS (Surround Sound) version
(The regular American version had the same track listing
as the UK version)
1. |
"In Too Deep" | Rick Nowels |
4:08 |
2. |
"California" | Rick Nowels, Billy Steinberg, María Vidal |
2:56 |
3. |
"A Woman And A Man" | Robbie Seidman, María Vidal |
5:10 |
4. |
"Jealous Guy" | John Lennon |
4:07 |
5. |
"Remember September" | Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley |
4:21 |
6. |
"He Goes On" | Neil Finn |
3:12 |
7. |
"Kneel At Your Feet" | Charlotte Caffey, Tom Caffey, Belinda Carlisle |
4:25 |
8. |
"Love in the Key of C" | Rick Nowels |
3:59 |
9. |
"My Heart Goes Out to You" | Anders Bagge, Rick Nowels, Allen Rich |
3:24 |
10. |
"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" | Shel Silverstein |
3:50 |
Charts and certifications
Peak positions
Chart (1996) |
Peak Position |
Australian Albums Chart[4] |
31 |
Austrian Albums Chart[4] |
36 |
Italian Albums Chart[5] |
35 |
Japanese Albums Chart[6] |
34 |
Swedish Albums Chart[4] |
44 |
UK Albums Chart[7] |
12 |
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Sales and certifications
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Release history
Personnel
|
- Rory Kaplan – piano, keyboards (tracks 1 and 2), drum programming
- Brian Lapin – assistant engineer, mixing
- Louis Metoyer – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, guitar
- Clarence Ofwerman – keyboards, programming, producer
- Ellen Shipley – background vocals (track 1)
- David Tickle – producer, engineer, mixing
- Maria Vidal – background vocals (track 1)
- Ellen Von Unwerth – photography
- Brian Wilson – background vocals (track 2)
- Randy Wine – engineer, mixing
- Steve Wren – drums (tracks 1 and 2)
- Red Young – organ
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References
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Studio albums | |
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Compilations | |
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Singles | |
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Related articles | |
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- Book:Belinda Carlisle
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