| Mirror Mirror | ||||
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| Studio album by 10cc | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 65:22 (15-track version) | |||
| Label | ZYX | |||
| Producer | Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Adrian Lee, Rod Gammons | |||
| 10cc chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Mirror Mirror | ||||
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Mirror Mirror is the 11th and last album by British pop band 10cc. It was released in 1995 and did not chart in the UK or US.
Again featuring just two of 10cc's core band members, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart, the album included performances by Paul McCartney on two tracks, Andrew Gold on two tracks and Rick Fenn on one track.
Mirror Mirror was more a combination of two solo albums than a conventional 10cc production. Gouldman and Stewart played together on only one track – an acoustic reworking of their 1975 hit, "I'm Not in Love", one of only three songs on the album that bore a Stewart-Gouldman joint songwriting credit. Songs written by Stewart, including one co-written with McCartney, were recorded in France, while Gouldman's songs, one of which was co-written with musical theatre lyricist Tim Rice and another with Gold, were recorded in London.
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Gouldman admitted the album was "almost like two halves of an album", largely a result of the fact that he and Stewart began recording in separate countries. "Vaguely, we intended starting off these tracks and then bring them together, finish them together, which a lot of people do," he said. "But it never happened, we got so into what we were doing, we wanted to keep it pure. I don’t like to say we hoodwinked the people, but you could say it’s not quite what it appears to be, and anyone with any sense, who reads the credits, could see that."[1]
One of Gouldman's songs, "Ready To Go Home", was written after the death of his father, Hyme Gouldman, in 1991. Gouldman re-recorded the song for his 2000 album, And Another Thing..., when he observed in the liner notes: "It reflects my feelings at the time. I suppose I was trying to put a positive slant on his passing, remembering all the things we had done together and his artistic legacy to me. The last verse of the song best reflects my feelings on this. This song has been recorded by many artists and remains one of my favourites. Very emotional."
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
Allmusic panned the album, commenting that the claim of "I'm Not in Love" being reworked is dubious, since the track has no noticeable differences from the original recording. They summarized the rest of the album with "songs flashing the group's trademark lyrical wit generally tend toward musical vaporware, while those revealing an occasional glimmer of instrumental creativity go nowhere fast on the songwriting."[2]
At least three different versions of the album exist. The most common version of the album has 10 songs. A European version of the album leaves out one song ("I'm Not In Love: Rework Of Art Mix"), but also adds five new tracks: "Yvonne's the One" (Written by Eric Stewart and Paul McCartney, and first attempted in February 1985 during the sessions for Paul's Press to Play album, but remade and completed on this album, with Paul returning the favour by playing rhythm guitar), "Margo Wants the Mustard", "Blue Bird", "Now You're Gone", and a 1995 acoustic rendition of "I'm Not in Love". The Japanese version has 15 tracks, including all five new tracks, and the "Rework of Art Mix" version of "I'm Not in Love". The track listing below is based on that of the Japanese version.
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