Wings of Desire (album)

Wings of Desire
Studio album by
Jennifer Rush
ReleasedNovember 6, 1989[1]
Genre
Length40:47
44:07 (CD)
LabelCBS Records
Producer
Jennifer Rush chronology
Passion
(1988) 		Wings of Desire
(1989) 		The Power of Jennifer Rush
(1991)
Singles from Wings of Desire
  1. "Higher Ground"
    Released: 1989
  2. "Wings of Desire"
    Released: 1990

Wings of Desire is the fifth studio album by American singer Jennifer Rush, released in November 1989.

Background

After working mainly with American writers and producers for her last two albums, Rush decided to bring her music back to Europe and collaborated with producers Christopher Neil, Phil Ramone and others, including a song ("Angel") co-written by ABBA affiliate Tomas Ledin.

Jennifer enjoyed the music of the song "Angel", but did not like the lyrics and chose to re-write them.[2]

Commercial performance

Wings of Desire failed to sell as well as Rush's earlier albums, although it did make the top 20 in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In her biggest market, Germany, the album remained in the chart for 20 weeks.[3] In the UK the album was released in April 1990 with the lead single "Higher Ground". It failed to chart highly in the UK despite her scoring a hit with "Till I Loved You" the previous year.[4]

The title track "Wings of Desire" was released as a second single in 1990.[5]

Track listing

Writers in the 'Music' column are the same as those in the 'Lyrics' column unless otherwise stated.

Wings of Desire track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducerLength
1."Wings of Desire"
 
4:03
2."Pleasure"
 
  • Neil
4:10
3."Midnight Mirage"
 
4:15
4."Angel"
  • Ramone
4:39
5."Higher Ground"
  • Ken Cummings
  • Mark Blatt
 
  • Ramone
4:20
6."Love is a Wild Thing"
  • Pamela Phillips Oland
  • Alides Hidding
 
4:47
7."For All That"
  • Klarmann
  • Weber
  • Ramone
4:13
8."Love is the Language (of the Heart)"
  • Palmer
  • Ramone
4:28
9."Cry"
  • Duncain Pain
 
  • Powell
3:44
10."Walk Away"
  • Rodger Bruno
  • Ellen Schwartz
  • Lynn Feiner
  • Susan Pomerantz
 
  • Ramone
3:48
11."Where Can You Run" (CD bonus track)
 
  • Powell
3:20
Total length:45:47

Personnel

  • Bass: Adrian Lee (1), Peter Adams (2), Robbie Buchanan (5)
  • Drums: Adrian Lee (1), Peter Van Hooke (2), Eric Rehl (3, 6–8), David Lebolt (4), Robbie Buchanan (5), Sammy Merendino (10)
  • Guitar: Adrian Lee (1), Carlos Alomar (3-4, 6–8, 10), Michael Landau (5), Michael J. Powell (9, 11), Donnie Lyle (9, 11)
  • Keyboards: Adrian Lee (1), Peter Adams (2), Eric Rehl (3, 6–10), David Lebolt (4), Robbie Buchanan (5), Vernon D. Fails (9, 11)
  • Saxophone: Bobby Stern (8-10)
  • Percussion: Bashiri Johnson (3-4, 6–11)
  • Backing Vocals: Alan Clavell (1), Christopher Neil (1), Linda Taylor (2), Stevie Blue (4, 6–8, 10), Jennifer Rush (4, 7–10), Dorianne Elliot (4, 6), Karen Kamon (4, 6–8, 10), Paulette McWilliams (4, 6), Mark Hudson (5), Dawn Feusi (5), Lise Miller (5), Robin Clark (6), Mark Radice (7-8, 10), Diva Gray (7-8, 10), Valerie Pinkston-Mayo (9), Kim Edwards-Brown (9), Fred White (9), Franke Previte (10), The New Jersey Mass Choir (10)

Charts

Chart performance for Wings of Desire
Chart (1989–1990) Peak
position
European Albums (Music & Media)[6] 36
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 37
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 13

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[11] Gold 250,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[12] Gold 25,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Music and Media" (PDF). p. 26.
  2. ^ "Jennifer Rush Interview (Sweden)". Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  3. ^ Wings of Desire - album chart information
  4. ^ "Jennifer Rush - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  5. ^ Discogs - "Wings of Desire" single, 1990
  6. ^ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. VIII. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  7. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  8. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jennifer Rush – Wings of Desire" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Jennifer Rush – Wings of Desire". Hung Medien.
  10. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Jennifer Rush – Wings of Desire". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Jennifer Rush; 'Desire')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  12. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Desire')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 October 2019.