Bringin' on the Heartbreak

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"Bringin' on the Heartbreak"
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" cover
Single by Def Leppard
from the album High 'n' Dry
Released November 13, 1981 (U.S. — original)
1984 (remix)
Format Vinyl single
Recorded Battery Studios, North London; 1981
Genre Hard rock
Length 4:34
Label Mercury
Writer(s) Steve Clark, Pete Willis, Joe Elliott
Producer(s) Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Chart positions
  • Did not chart (U.S. — 1981)
  • #61 (U.S. — 1984)
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Let It Go"
(1981)
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak"
(1981)
"Photograph"
(1983)

"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" is a song originally recorded by British heavy metal band Def Leppard and written by three of its members (Steve Clark, Pete Willis, and Joe Elliott). A power ballad, it was covered by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey.

Contents

[edit] Def Leppard version

Def Leppard recorded the song for their second album High 'n' Dry. Its working title had been "A Certain Heartache", and the track (along with the others on the album) was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Lange said he thought the band was intending to make the song's verse "jangley" and "a kind of 'Stairway to Heaven' thing; Steve [Clark] likes that long wrangled guitar jangle". Cliff Bernstein, the manager of Def Leppard and an A&R representative for Mercury Records, later said that Peter Willis was embarrassed to play the song for him because it was a ballad. Bernstein originally thought it only had potential to be a hit single if it was recorded by an artist such as Bonnie Tyler.

High 'n' Dry was released in the U.S. in summer 1981. Though its lead single "Let It Go" had become a minor top forty hit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart, the album itself had not been commercially successful. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" was commercially released in the U.S. on November 13 (see 1981 in music), with "Me and My Wine" (a non-album track) and "You Got Me Runnin'" included as B-sides. It did not appear on the U.S. charts, but its music video was picked up by the recently-launched television channel MTV and received heavy rotation. The popularity of the video and the exposure the band received caused a resurgence in sales of High 'n' Dry, which went on to sell over two million copies. The video was directed by Doug Smith, and is a live recording of Def Leppard performing the song at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, England on July 22, 1981. It was originally filmed (along with clips for "Let It Go" and "High 'n' Dry") as part of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert television series on the U.S. network ABC.

High 'n' Dry was re-issued in May 1984 with two new tracks, one of which was a synthesizer-heavy remix of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak". Featuring Phil Collen on guitar, the remix was released as a single with a newly-filmed video (see 1984 in music) and peaked at sixty-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The original version of the song is considered one of Def Leppard's signature power ballads, and was later included on two of their compilation albums: Vault: Def Leppard's Greatest Hits (1995) and Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005). A critic for All Music Guide has characterised the song as an "unabashedly dramatic rock ballad".

[edit] Mariah Carey version

"Bringin' on the Heartbreak"
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" cover
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Charmbracelet
B-side(s) "Miss You"
Released 2003
Format Airplay only (U.S.)
Genre Pop/Rock
Length 4:30
Label Island/Def Jam
Producer(s) Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson
Chart positions
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"I Know What You Want"
(2003)
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak"
(2003)
"U Make Me Wanna"
(2004)

Mariah Carey co-produced her cover of the song with Randy Jackson for her twelfth album Charmbracelet (2002). Carey (who cites the original song as one of her favorites whilst growing up) said that she first came up with the idea of covering it while listening to Def Leppard's album Vault during the album photo shoot for Charmbracelet: "I just put on the music and started listening to it, and I said, 'You know what? I could do this my own way'". It is one of Carey's few songs with a heavy rock influence, and was released as the album's third single in 2003 (see 2003 in music).

Like "Boy (I Need You)", the album's second single, "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" failed to make the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 or Billboard's Hot 100 Bubbling Under Singles chart. It received little airplay on most radio formats, including Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary stations that placed emphasis on songs with a soft rock sound. It reached the top thirty in Switzerland, but peaked outside of the top forty in Austria. When asked about Carey's cover version, Joe Elliot told the Las Vegas Sun: "I think she's done a very good job. It's faithful to the arrangement, but not done like a rock song. Some astonishing vocal gymnastics toward the end that make Minnie Riperton sound like Tom Waits". A number of reviews were positive,[1] with Rolling Stone describing the song as "the catchiest cut [on Charmbracelet]...a fascinatingly overblown orchestral remake". Phil Collen praised Carey's cover as a "genuine version of our song"[2] and defended it from Def Leppard's more critical fans: "The fans really get it wrong sometimes. She's on our side and it's an honour she's done it. Really, that's the only way we're getting played".[3]

The single's video is based on the 1979 film The Rose, which features a rock star (played by Bette Midler) who struggles to find happiness as she goes from her rough "rock and roll" lifestyle to her final high profile concert. The video was shot in Los Angeles, California on March 8, 2003 by director Sanaa Hamri, and features cameo appearances by Randy Jackson, Dave Navarro (a guitarist on the track), Evan Marriott (as a helicopter pilot/bodyguard) and Guess? model Damon Willis. Junior Vasquez, Mike Rizzo and Ruanne created club remixes of the song, which saw a wider release on promotional singles than commercial singles and became popular in dance clubs around the world.


The Remixes

Album Version 4:34
Call out hook 0:12
AC Version 4:22
Acoustic Version 4:09
Deep Influence Anthem 11:33
Deep Influence Dub
Deep Influence Radio Mix 4:30
Global Soul A Cappella 4:09
Global Soul Club Mix 7:41
Global Soul Dub 7:32
Global Soul Mix-Show 6:39
Global Soul Radio Edit 4:26
Junior Vasquez Club Mix 7:13
Junior Vasquez Extended Mix 9:47
Junior Vasquez Radio Mix 3:56
Live Version * 4:49
Mainstream AC Version 4:13
Mainstream Alternate Version 4:10
Mainstream Version 4:17
Mainstream Edit 4:10
RJ JanMan Mix 4:12
Ruanne Emenes Roasted Coffee Dub 6:13
Ruanne Emenes Vocal Capture Mix 8:47

  • as listed on cd-single |source: www.mcarchives.com

[edit] Credits

Def Leppard version

Mariah Carey version

[edit] Charts

[edit] Def Leppard version

Chart (1984) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 61

1 Remix.

[edit] Mariah Carey version

A scene from the music video for Mariah Carey's version of the song.
Enlarge
A scene from the music video for Mariah Carey's version of the song.
Chart (2003) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 5
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 23
Austria Top 75 Singles 55[4]
Switzerland Top 100 Singles 28[5]

1 Remixes.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114174,00.html#4
  2. ^ Quoted from The Montreal Gazette, August 2003, http://www.mariahdaily.com/aug03.html .
  3. ^ Quoted from Canada Online, Sept 2004, http://www.mariahdaily.com/sept03.html .
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]

[edit] References


Def Leppard
Joe Elliott | Vivian Campbell | Phil Collen | Rick Savage | Rick Allen
Steve Clark | Pete Willis | Tony Kenning | Frank Noon
Discography
Studio Albums: On Through The Night | High 'n' Dry | Pyromania | Hysteria | Adrenalize | Retro Active | Slang | Euphoria | X | Yeah!
Compilations and extended plays: Def Leppard EP | First Strike | Vault: Def Leppard's Greatest Hits (1980-1995) | Best of Def Leppard | Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection
Singles: Bringin' on the Heartbreak | Rock of Ages | Animal | Pour Some Sugar on Me | Love Bites | Armageddon It | Rocket | Let's Get Rocked
Concert Tours
Early Tours 1978/79 | On Through The Night World Tour | High 'n' Dry World Tour | Pyromania World Tour | Hysteria World Tour | Seven Day Weekend Tour | Slang Tour | Euphoria World Tour 1999-2001 | X World Tour 2002/2003 | Rock Of Ages Tour 2005 | YEAH! Tour 2006
Related Articles
Robert John "Mutt" Lange | Terror Twins