Cruel Inventions
| Cruel Inventions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 28, 1991 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 36:19 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | T Bone Burnett | |||
| Sam Phillips chronology | ||||
| ||||
Cruel Inventions is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Sam Phillips.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [1] |
| Chicago Tribune | [2] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide |  [3] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[5] |
Cruel Inventions received mostly favorable reviews from critics. At Entertainment Weekly magazine, David Browne gave the album an A, writing that it "...is fraught with both beauty and tension, making it one of the year's most beguiling records."[5] Browne named it his sixth favorite album of 1991.[6]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Sam Phillips
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lying" | 3:52 |
| 2. | "Go Down" | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Cruel Inventions" | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Standing Still" | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Tripping Over Gravity" | 5:21 |
| 6. | "Now I Can't Find the Door" | 3:36 |
| 7. | "Private Storm" | 4:10 |
| 8. | "Raised on Promises" | 3:11 |
| 9. | "Hole in Time" | 3:19 |
| 10. | "Where the Colors Don't Go" | 3:02 |
Personnel
- Sam Phillips – vocals, guitar, Chamberlin
- T Bone Burnett – guitar, Chamberlin
- Elvis Costello – guitar
- Marc Ribot – guitar
- Van Dyke Parks – Chamberlain
- Jerry Scheff – bass
- Sandy Bull – oud
- Jim Goodwin – piano
- Alex Acuña – drums and percussion
- Michael Blair – drums and percussion
- Mickey Curry – drums and percussion
- Ralph Forbes – drums and percussion
- David Kemper – drums and percussion
- Scott Musick – drums and percussion
- The Sid Page Strings – string quartet
- Sid Page – violin
- Joel Derouin – violin
- John Acevedo – viola
- Larry Corbett – cello[7]
Production
- T Bone Burnett – producer
- Stacy Baird – recording engineer
- Rik Pekkonen – recording engineer
- Joe Schiff – recording engineer
- Tchad Blake – mixing
- Kevin Killen – mixing
- Max Garcia – assistant engineer
- Mark Guilbeault – assistant engineer
- Julie Last – assistant engineer
- Tom Nellen – assistant engineer
- Chris Niswander – assistant engineer
- Eric Rudd – assistant engineer
- Brian Soucy – assistant engineer
- Jeff Ward – assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering[7]
References
- ^ McCartney, Kelly. "Review: Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ Kot, Greg (27 June 1991). "Sam Phillips Cruel Inventions (Virgin)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Sam Phillips: Cruel Inventions". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
{{cite book}}: External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help) - ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The encyclopedia of popular music: Indexes. Oxford University Press. p. 522. ISBN 9780195313734.
- ^ a b Browne, David (31 May 1991). "Cruel Inventions (1991)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ "1991's best (and worst) music". Entertainment Weekly. 1991-12-27.
- ^ a b "Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 June 2019.