The Road to Hell
| The Road to Hell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Chris Rea | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Recorded | Miraval Studios, France | |||
| Genre | Blues rock, soft rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 50:53 | |||
| Label | WEA, Atco, Magnet, Geffen | |||
| Producer | Jon Kelly, Chris Rea | |||
| Chris Rea chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Road to Hell is the tenth studio album by Chris Rea. It was released in 1989 and is one of Rea's most famous albums. The second part of the two-part title track, "The Road to Hell (Pt. 2)", is also one of Rea's most famous songs. The song "Texas" has been played through the years on Classic Rock/AOR radio stations in Texas, and is sometimes played as background music before Texas Rangers baseball games at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Another track, "Daytona", is about the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona", in which he sings about the car metaphorically, with the engine and tyre noise from the car ringing out toward the end of the song.[2] Also, the song "Tell Me There's a Heaven" was used in a 1991 public information film for the NSPCC.
The album cover features art by the English commercial artist, Adrian Chesterman,[3] who was also responsible for creating cover art for, amongst others, Motörhead's 1979 Bomber album.
Track listing
All songs by Chris Rea.
- "The Road to Hell (Part 1)" — 4:52
- "The Road to Hell (Part 2)" — 4:30
- "You Must Be Evil" — 4:20
- "Texas" — 5:09
- "Looking for a Rainbow" — 8:00
- "Your Warm and Tender Love" — 4:32
- "Daytona" — 5:04
- "That's What They Always Say" — 4:27
- "I Just Wanna Be with You" — 3:39
- "Tell Me There's a Heaven" — 6:00
(The 1989 US Geffen CD issue also includes the 1988 re-recording of "Let's Dance" slotted between tracks 8 and 9 listed above.)
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[4] | Platinum | 50,000x |
| Canada (Music Canada)[5] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[6] | Gold | 45,000[6] |
| France (SNEP)[7] | Platinum | 300,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[8] | 3× Gold | 750,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[9] | Platinum | 50,000x |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | 6× Platinum | 1,800,000^ |
|
*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
Personnel
- Chris Rea — vocals, guitar, keyboards, producer
- Robert Ahwai — guitar
- Eoghan O'Neill — bass
- Kevin Leach — keyboards
- Max Middleton — piano, string arrangements (cut 10)
- Martin Ditcham — drums, percussion
- Linda Taylor, Karen Boddington, Carol Kenyon — additional vocals
- Jon Kelly — producer
- Neil Amor (with Diane BJ Koné) — engineer
References
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ YouTube. youtube.com.
- ↑ "Website of the artist, www.adrianchesterman.com".
- ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Chris Rea in the field Interpret. Enter The Road to Hell in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
- ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell". Music Canada.
- 1 2 "Chris Rea" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
- ↑ "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Albums) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste)". infodisc.fr.
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'The Road to Hell')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Chris Rea; 'The Road to Hell')". Hung Medien.
- ↑ "British album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Road to Hell in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
| Preceded by Wild! by Erasure |
UK number-one album November 11, 1989 – December 1, 1989 |
Succeeded by …But Seriously by Phil Collins |
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