Word of Mouth (Mike + The Mechanics album)

For other uses, see Word of mouth (disambiguation).

Untitled

Word of Mouth is the third album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1991. There was some overlap with the marketing of the album and the making of Genesis's We Can't Dance, with Mike Rutherford being committed to both. As such, there was no tour for Word of Mouth.

The album did not chart as well as Living Years, charting at No.11 in the UK, while the lead single "Word of Mouth" got to No.13 in the UK and No.78 in the US. The follow-up singles "A Time and a Place" and "Everybody Gets a Second Chance" both became minor hits in the UK, peaking at No.58 and No.56, respectively.

The song "Get Up" was used in the 1993 film, Rookie of the Year.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

AllMusic suggested that the album was inferior to its predecessors, writing, "The new record led off with two killer pop songs...But within a few months of its release, Word of Mouth had already been banished to the discount racks and budget bins of nearly every record store in the English-speaking world."

Track listing

1. "Get Up" (Mike Rutherford, Paul Carrack) – 4:23
2. "Word of Mouth" (Rutherford, Christopher Neil) – 3:55
3. "A Time and Place" (Rutherford, B. A. Robertson) – 4:52
4. "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 4:37
5. "The Way You Look at Me" (Rutherford, Carrack) – 5:09
6. "Everybody Gets a Second Chance" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 3:57
7. "Stop Baby" (Rutherford, Neil) – 3:54
8. "My Crime of Passion" (Rutherford, Carrack, Adrian Lee) – 4:56
9. "Let's Pretend It Didn't Happen" (Rutherford, Robertson) – 5:35
10. "Before (The Next Heartache Falls)" (Rutherford, Carrack) – 6:38

Personnel

• Mike Rutherford – guitar, bass
• Paul Carrack – vocals (lead: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10), keyboards
• Paul Young – vocals (lead: 2, 4, 7, 9)
• Peter Van Hooke – drums
• Adrian Lee – keyboards

Additional personnel

• Tim Renwick – guitar
• Ian Wherry – keyboards
• Steve Piggot – keyboards
• Martin Ditcham – percussion
• Pino Palladino – bass
• Phil Todd – sax
• London Community Gospel Choir – choir on 10
• Kitson Hall Audience – crowd on 2

Production

• Tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10 – Produced by Christopher Neil, Mike Rutherford and Russ Titelman
• Track 2 – Produced by Mike Rutherford
• Tracks 4, 6, 7 – Produced by Christopher Neil & Mike Rutherford
• Engineer: Rob Eaton and Mike Punczek on Track 2
• Assistant Engineers: Mark Robinson, Jeremy Wheatley, Shaun De Feo
• Recorded at: The Farm technical assistants Geoff Callingham, Mike Bowen Olympic Studios, London, except Track 2 at Living Years tour, US 1989
• Equipment: Dale Newman, Steve Jones, Angela Jewel
• Mastered by: Ted Jensen, Sterling Sound
• Cover: Icon, photography by Mike Owen