Born Again (Randy Newman album)
| Born Again | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1979 | |||
| Studio | Warner Brothers Recording Studios (North Hollywood) A&M Studios (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Rock, avant-pop[1] | |||
| Length | 35:19 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros., Reprise | |||
| Producer | Lenny Waronker, Russ Titelman | |||
| Randy Newman chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[3] |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavorable)[4] |
Born Again is the sixth studio album by American musician Randy Newman. The album was released in August 1979, to little sales and relatively poor reviews, which surprised Newman. Newman went on to say that Born Again was the strangest album that he had ever done.[5] The album cover features Randy Newman in a business office, wearing face makeup (an obvious parody of Kiss), with dollar signs painted over his eyes, appearing to poke fun at the commercialization of rock music.
Release
Newman expected the album to be a hit. Instead, the album sold relatively poorly, with worse reviews than its predecessor.[6] Stephen Holden, writing for Rolling Stone, criticized the album for its "snide" and "nihilistic" tone.[7] Prior to its release, Newman called Born Again "a larger insult"[2] than his 1977 hit single "Short People," but following the record's disappointing reception, he later reflected, "The mistake I made was that to do this, people have to know who you are in the first place."[8] "It's a weird album full of peculiar songs like the one about an ELO fan getting everything wrong. It's very idiosyncratic, with small subjects. If it had been a hit to follow it might have been different but I have always written the same way."[6] Ironically, Jeff Lynne would later be among the producers of Land of Dreams.
Track listing
All tracks written and arranged by Randy Newman.
- "It's Money That I Love" – 3:38
- "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band" – 2:53
- "Pretty Boy" – 4:00
- "Mr. Sheep" – 3:53
- "Ghosts" – 2:28
- "They Just Got Married" – 2:51
- "Spies" – 3:55
- "The Girls in My Life (Part One)" – 2:36
- "Half a Man" – 3:38
- "William Brown" – 1:50
- "Pants" – 3:06
Charts
| Chart (1979) | Position |
|---|---|
| United States (Billboard 200) | 41 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 65 |
Personnel
- Randy Newman – vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes
- Waddy Wachtel, Buzz Feiten – guitar
- Chuck Findley, Tom Scott – horns
- Victor Feldman – piano, Fender Rhodes, drums, percussion
- Michael Boddicker – synthesizer
- David Shields, Willie Weeks – bass guitar
- Andy Newmark – drums
- Lenny Castro, Carlos Vega – percussion
- Stephen Bishop – background vocals
- Valerie Carter – background vocals
- Arno Lucas – background vocals
- Technical
- Tom Knox – engineer
- Lee Herschberg – mixing
- Mike Salisbury – art direction, cover design
- Mark Feldman – cover photography
References
- ^ Grimstad, Paul. "What is Avant-Pop?". Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ a b Born Again at AllMusic
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: N". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Rolling Stone
- ^ "How Randy Newman Confounded Expectations With 'Born Again'".
- ^ a b Martin Chilton. "www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/randy-newman-talks-music/". The Telegraph.
- ^ "Born Again". Rolling Stone. 1979-10-04. Archived from the original on 2019-08-26.
- ^ Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman (Media notes).
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 216. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
