Never Enough (Patty Smyth album)
| Never Enough | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Patty Smyth | ||||
| Released | 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 41:04 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Rick Chertoff, William Wittman | |||
| Patty Smyth chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B−[2] |
Never Enough is the debut album by former Scandal singer Patty Smyth. It was released in 1987 on Columbia Records (also the group's label) three years after the band's breakup in 1984.
In an interview with Smyth on The Bloomberg Report, she said the album "was never supposed to be a solo record; it was meant to be a record by Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth. Even though the band had broken up, I was still with Keith Mack; it was Zack & I that had ended our partnership."
Though she would have success as a songwriter later on, here she only co-wrote two tracks, the first and the last. The first of these two, "Never Enough" (the album's title track) was actually a slight rewrite of a song with the same title from the self-titled debut album of then-current (in 1987) Hooters bandmembers Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian's former band, Baby Grand. The original version featured different lyrics sung by Baby Grand frontman David Kagan.[3] In fact, Hyman and Bazilian, as well as others associated with The Hooters, including producer Rick Chertoff had a significant hand in the making of this album.
The album includes two cover versions, one of "Downtown Train" by Tom Waits, which was covered that same year by country singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter for her album Hometown Girl, and the retitled "Call To Heaven" originally called "Les Morts Dansant" by British hard rock band Magnum featured on their 1985 album On A Storyteller's Night.
The LP reached a peak of 66 in the U.S. and spawned three singles: the title track (#61 pop, #4 U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks), "Downtown Train" (#95 pop, #40 Mainstream) and "Isn't It Enough" (failed to chart on pop, #26 Mainstream).
The album was produced by William Wittman and Rick Chertoff. Chertoff was one of the people on the production team of Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual, and would go on to work with platinum-selling singer-songwriter Joan Osborne on her 1995 album, Relish.
Track listing
- "Never Enough" (Rob Hyman, David Kagan, Eric Bazilian, Rick Chertoff, Patty Smyth) 4:15
- "Downtown Train" (Tom Waits) 5:05
- "Give It Time" (Hyman, Kagan) 4:17
- "Call To Heaven" (Tony Clarkin) 5:06
- "The River Cried" (Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly) 4:16
- "Isn't It Enough" (Danny Wilde, Nick Trevisick) 4:22
- "Sue Lee" (Willie Nile, Chertoff) 3:48
- "Tough Love" (Nick Gilder, Duane Hitchings) 4:54
- "Heartache Heard 'Round the World" (Hyman, Bazilian, Chertoff, Smyth) 4:54
Production
- Produced by Rick Chertoff and William Wittman
- Recorded, engineered and mixed by John Agnello
- Mastered by George Marino
Personnel
- Patty Smyth: Lead Vocal
- Ellison Chase, John Leffler, Kasim Sulton, Rory Dodd, Eric Troyer, Andy King, William Wittman, John Agnello: Backing Vocals
- Eric Bazilian, Rick Di Fonzo, Keith Mack, William Wittman: Guitars
- Tommy Conwell: Guest Lead Guitar on track 1
- Rob Hyman, Ralph Schuckett, Richard Termini, Peter Wood, Eric Bazilian: Keyboards
- Neil Jason: Bass
- Anton Fig: Drums, Percussion
- Ray Spiegel: Tabla
- David Sanborn: Saxophone on track 2
- Magic Dick: Harmonica on track 3
External links
References
- Patty Smyth: Never Enough liner notes. 1987, Columbia Records.
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