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Victim of Love (Elton John album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[2]
Robert Christgau(C-)[3]

Victim of Love, released in 1979, is the thirteenth official album release for Elton John. It is a disco album, released shortly after the peak of disco's popularity. It was not critically or commercially well-received, and is Elton John's third lowest charting album to date in the US, after 1986's Leather Jackets and 1985's Ice on Fire.

The title track of the album, however, was moderately successful as a single. It reached No. 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 46 in Canada.

Background

It is the shortest album of Elton John's career at under 36 minutes.

It is atypical of John's recording career in several respects. John neither wrote the songs nor played pianos or keyboards on it; he only provided vocals. It was his first album without any of his original band members, which would not happen again until his 2010 collaboration with Leon Russell, The Union. Along with A Single Man, it is also one of only two studio albums as of 2012 without lyricist Bernie Taupin. Apart from an appearance on the Australian television series Countdown, (he is also a comedy regular on the show during the 1980s), Elton did little promotion for the album. There was no tour to promote Victim of Love, and none of its songs have ever been played live by Elton.[4] It is also the only studio album in Elton's discography to not have any songs of the album performed on stage.

The only B-side released on a single, "Strangers", appeared as a bonus track on his previous album, A Single Man, as it was recorded during those sessions.

When the album was released as a CD in the 1980s, the track breaks were incorrect. The first 45 seconds of "Spotlight" is part of the previous track, and similar errors occur in other tracks as well. The album was reissued in a digitally remastered format in 2003, with these issues corrected, and with improved sound and instrumental setup.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) – 8:06
  2. "Warm Love in a Cold World" (Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll) – 4:30 (3:22 on older pressings)
  3. "Born Bad" (Bellotte, Geoff Bastow) – 5:16 (6:20 on older pressings)

Side two

  1. "Thunder in the Night" (Bellotte, Michael Hofmann) – 4:40
  2. "Spotlight" (Bellotte, Wisnet, Moll) – 4:24
  3. "Street Boogie" (Bellotte, Wisnet, Moll) – 3:56
  4. "Victim of Love" (Bellotte, Sylvester Levay, Jerry Rix) – 4:52 (5:02 on older pressings)

B-sides

Song Format
"Strangers" "Victim of Love" 7" (US/UK)

Personnel

  • Elton John – lead and backing vocals
  • Thor Baldursson – keyboards, arrangements
  • Todd Canedy – drums
  • Tim Cansfield – rhythm guitar
  • Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
  • Roy Davies – keyboards
  • Keith Forsey – drums
  • Steve Lukather – guitar solo on "Warm Love in a Cold World"
  • Michael McDonald – background vocals on "Victim of Love"
  • Marcus Miller – bass
  • Lenny Pickett – saxophone on "Johnny B. Goode"
  • Patrick Simmons – background vocals on "Victim of Love"
  • Craig Snyder – lead guitar
  • Stephanie Spruill – background vocals
  • Julia Tillman Waters – background vocals
  • Maxine Willard Waters – background vocals

Production

  • Produced by Pete Bellotte
  • Engineer and Mixdown – Peter Luedmann
  • Assistant Engineers – Hans Menzel and Carolyn Tapp
  • Technical Engineer – Roman Olearczuk
  • Recorded at Musicland, Munich and Rusk Sound Studios, Hollywood.
  • Mastered by Brian Gardner at Allen Zentz Mastering (Hollywood).
  • Contractor – Trevor Veitch
  • Production Coordination – Jerry Simpson
  • Project Coordination – Joe Black
  • Photography – David P. Bailey
  • Design – Jubilee Graphics

Chart positions

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[5] 20
Canadian Albums (RPM100 Albums)[6] 28
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[7] 44
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[8] 18
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 41
US Billboard 200[10] 35

References

  1. ^ Victim of Love at AllMusic
  2. ^ [1] Archived 15 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "CG: elton john". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  4. ^ Elton John setlists by album
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 32, No. 10, December 01 1979". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Charts.nz – Elton John – Victim of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Elton John – Victim of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Victim of Love - Elton John - Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 September 2013.

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