Runaway Horses (album)

Untitled

Runaway Horses is the third studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released in the United States on October 17 1989 (see 1989 in music) by MCA Records. The album featured songs written by Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley, Charlotte Caffey and a song co-written by Carlisle herself, making Runaway Horses the second solo album that had her songwriting included since "Gotta Get to You" from her debut solo album "Belinda"[2]. The album saw also the collaboration of ex BeatlesGeorge Harrison and Bryan Adams. The album debuted outside the top twenty on the U.S. Billboard 200, and sales fell considerably short of those of Carlisle's previous album, Heaven on Earth (1987).

Reception and chart performance

Allmusic reviewed the album as not being as strong as Heaven on Earth but is still generally likeable and appealing, being stated that the album is her most polished and slicker album to date. The album made its debut on the Billboard 200 on October 21, 1989 at the lower ends chart but on the second week it jumped past the top one hundred to number fifty-five. After seven weeks of slowly moving up the charts it charted at its peak position in the U.S. at number thirty-seven, a lower position than her two first albums. The album then slowly fell down the charts from then on making no rises and spent a total of twenty-five weeks in the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by RIAA. Runaway Horses was Carlisle's last album to chart in the U.S. then became the first indication that the success of her solo career would be found in the Europe and Australia, not the U.S..

The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart on October 30, 1989 at number four, the highest debut for Carlisle on the albums chart. It spent two more weeks in the top ten then fell down the chart slowly and after twenty-one weeks it fell out of the top seventy-five. It made three re-entries but it wasn't until the third entry that it jumped back into the charts at number sixty-six, a year and two months after its release. After five weeks in being in the charts again it broke the top ten and stayed in there for three weeks only managing to get to number six. The album spent a total of thirty-nine weeks in the charts and being certified platinum by BPI.

The album was also a success in Australia peaking at number six, accrediting double platinum and becoming the twenty-fourth highest selling album for 1990.

The singles released from Runaway Horses were successful in most music markets, the album giving Carlisle four more top ten singles. "Leave a Light On" was the first song released from the album and became a top ten hit around the world including the UK where it hit number four accrediting silver, Australia where it hit number five and Canada where it hit number six. The song missed the top ten in the United States in December 1989 peaking at number eleven. "La Luna" was the second song released from the album and became a top forty hit in Australia and the UK, also becoming her third top ten in Switzerland. "Runaway Horses" (the title track) was the third song released, but was not as successful as the other singles, only managing to reach number forty in the UK. "Summer Rain" was the fourth song released and became a top ten hit in Australia, but the song only charted in the top thirty in the UK and U.S. "Vision of You" was the fifth song released and became the lowest charting single on the album only peaking at number forty-one in the UK. In 1993 US Singer Jennifer Rush made a cover of Vision of you both in English and Spanish. The sixth and final song released from the album was "(We Want) the Same Thing", becoming Carlisle's fifth top ten single in the UK. For its single release, We Want the Same Thing was totally remixed from a Country flavoured track to a massive Pop hit.

Track listing

#	Title	Producer(s)	Time
1.	Leave a Light On	Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley	4:33
2.	Runaway Horses	Nowels, Shipley	4:42
3.	Vision of You	Nowels, Shipley	4:40
4.	Summer Rain	Robbie Seidman, Maria Vidal	5:25
5.	La Luna	Nowels, Shipley	4:43
6.	(We Want) the Same Thing	Nowels, Shipley	4:03
7.	Deep Deep Ocean	Tom Kelly, Amy Sky, Billy Steinberg)	4:05
8.	Valentine	David Munday, Sandy Stewart	5:03
9.	Whatever It Takes	Nowels, Shipley	4:47
10.	Shades of Michaelangelo	Charlotte Caffey, Carlisle	5:52

• Limited collector's edition

11. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" (live)

12. "Circle in the Sand" (beach party mix)

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	6
Japan Oricon Albums Chart	14
Sweden Albums Chart	4
Switzerland Albums Chart	12
UK Albums Chart	4
Canadian Album Chart	38
U.S. Billboard 200	37
Chart (1990)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart	13
Germany Albums Chart	24

Chart	Certification	Sales
Australia ARIA	2× platinum	140,000+
Switzerland IFPI	Gold	25,000+
SwedenIFPI	Platinum	40,000+
UK BPI	Platinum	300,000+
Canada CRIA	Platinum	100,000+
U.S. RIAA	Gold	500,000+

Singles

The following singles were released from the album, with the highest charting positions listed.

#	Title	Date	Australia	Canada	Italy	United Kingdom	United States
1.	"Leave a Light On"	1989	5	6	4	4	11
2.	"La Luna"	1989	21	-	21	38	-
3.	"Summer Rain"	1990	6	22	25	23	30
4.	"Runaway Horses"	1990	44	-	-	40	-
5.	"Vision of You"	1990	84	74	-	41	-
6.	"(We Want) the Same Thing"	1990	-	-	-	6	-
7.	"Vision of You"	1991	-	-	-	71	-

Personnel

• Kenny Aronoff — drums
• Bekka Bramlett — background vocals
• Paul Buckmaster — conductor, string arrangements
• Luis Conte — percussion, bongos, shaker, native American drums
• N'Dea Davenport — background vocals
• Donna De Lory — background vocals
• Marc DeSisto — mixing
• Lawrence Ethan — assistant engineer
• Robert Feist — engineer
• Lori Fumar — assistant engineer
• Laura Harding — background vocals, production coordination
• George Harrison — twelve string guitar, slide guitar, 6-string bass
• Jimmie Haskell — accordion
• X.Y. Jones — electric guitar
• Charles Judge — piano, keyboard
• David Leonard — engineer
• Steve MacMillan — engineer, mixing
• Steve Marcantonio — engineer
• Stephen Marcussen — mastering

• Dave Meegan — engineer
• Norman Moore — art direction, design
• David Munday — bass, guitar, keyboard, drum programming
• Rick Nowels — acoustic guitar, guitar, arranger, electric guitar, keyboard, producer, spanish guitar
• Sid Page — violin
• John Pierce — bass
• Rudy Richman — drums
• Herb Ritts — photography
• Ellen Shipley — background vocals
• Ben Shultz — acoustic guitar, guitar, twelve string guitar
• Sandy Stewart — piano
• Scott Symington — assistant engineer
• Carmen Twillie — background vocals
• Maria Vidal — background vocals
• Randy Wine — assistant engineer
• Shelly Yakus — mixing
• Monalisa Young — background vocals
• Bryan Adams — background vocal on "Whatever It Takes"
• Steve Lukather — guitar on "(We Want) The Same Thing"