Heartland (Real Life album)

Heartland
Studio album by Real Life
Released 1983 (AUS); 1984 (worldwide)
Recorded Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney, 1983
Genre Synthpop, new wave[1]
Length 39:56
Label Wheatley (AUS)
MCA (US, UK, CAN)
Curb (EUR, CAN, JAP)
Producer Steve Hillage
Ross Cockle (Track 1)
Ross Fraser (Track 8)
Real Life chronology

Heartland
(1983)
Flame
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]

Heartland is the debut album from Melbourne band Real Life, released in Australia in 1983. The album was picked up for distribution in the United States in the same year by MCA Records and released worldwide by Curb Records[2] in 1984.

The album won Best Debut Album for 1983 in Australia (Countdown Music and Video Awards 1984).

The first single released from the album, "Send Me an Angel", is unquestionably Real Life's most well known song. The song reached the top 5 in Australia and got as far as number 29 in the Billboard Hot 100. In Germany, "Send Me An Angel" reached no. 1. The song has become Real Life's signature tune, having been re-released on several occasions throughout their career, most notably in 1989 where a remixed version performed better than the original on the Hot 100, peaking at no. 26.

The second single, "Catch Me I'm Falling", also fared well in the United States, peaking at no. 40. In Germany the song reached no. 9 and Australia no. 8.

This album was re-released in the early 2000s (decade), and this updated version contained four bonus tracks, including the original extended version of "Send Me an Angel."

Track listing

All songs written by David Sterry and Richard Zatorski.

  1. "Send Me an Angel"
  2. "Catch Me I'm Falling"
  3. "Under the Hammer"
  4. "Heartland"
  5. "Breaking Point"
  6. "Broken Again"
  7. "Always"
  8. "Openhearted"
  9. "Exploding Bullets"
  10. "Burning Blue"

The first CD release was on Curb Records (INT 847.710), West Germany in 1984 or 1985. This CD is now very hard to find. The second CD (Warner Chappell Australia) was released in 2001. This CD was made available by the band because of the rarity of the original German CD. In early 2013 a bootleg CD (counterfeiting the german release) saw the light of day.

Charts

Chart (1983–1984) Peak
position
Canada (RPM 100 Albums)[3] 45
German Albums (Official Top 100)[4] 12
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[6] 10
US Billboard 200[7] 58

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mureika, Tomas. "Real Life – Heartland". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  2. "Real Life – Heartland". Discogs. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  3. "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 40, No. 4, March 31, 1984". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  4. "Real Life – Heart Land". Officialcharts.de. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  5. "Real Life – Heart Land". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  6. "Real Life – Heart Land". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  7. "Heartland – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 April 2014.