Runaway Horses is the third solo studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released on October 3, 1989, by MCA Records. The album features songs written by Rick Nowels, Ellen Shipley, Charlotte Caffey and a song co-written by Carlisle herself. The album contains an array of guest artists, including George Harrison and Bryan Adams.
The album peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200, a considerable fall in sales from Carlisle's 1987 album, Heaven on Earth, but reached number four in the United Kingdom, where it was certified Platinum.
Cashbox noted that "Belinda is back and she’s... exactly the same! There’s nothing really
ground-breaking here and it is difficult to hear any of the artistic growth or newfound maturity about which her biography boasts. The album isn’t bad; it is your basic radio-ready pop, and Carlisle will probably have more than
one hit single from it. The song topics are pretty much all the same boy-girl relationship stuff, which is tolerable in small doses but nine songs about it?... The album is solid and well produced, and jeez, the sleeve itself is enough to make you buy it, with its smashing pictures of Carlisle and its purple/lime-green color scheme."
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In positive review of November 11, 1989, Rob Garner of RPM called this record "a very well packaged group effort." He resumed: "Any one of these chorus-with-a-hook tracks could find play."[5]
AllMusic retrospectively reviewed the album as being not as strong as Heaven on Earth but is generally likeable and appealing. Although not most critics' cup of tea, the good-spirited, romantic idealism of "Valentine," "Leave a Light On," "Whatever It Takes," and other sugary pop/rock and power pop confections is tough to resist."[1]
Retrospectively, in 2020, Steve Harnell of Classic Pop noted that "now installed as one of the world’s biggest female solo artists, all eyes were on Belinda to follow up the success of Heaven On Earth. If the pressure to write another hit-packed album was intense, it only spurred Carlisle and her team on to even greater and more diverse work...Runaway Horses is packed upfront with singles but the depth of material here makes this one of Carlisle’s most rewarding albums." [6]
Charts
he album made its debut on the Billboard 200 on October 21, 1989, and after seven weeks of slowly moving up the charts reached its peak position of number 37, a lower position than her previous two albums. The album spent a total of 25 weeks on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA. Runaway Horses was Carlisle's last album to chart in the United States.[7]
The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart on November 4, 1989, at number four, which was the album's peak position, matching that of her previous album.[8] The album moved down and back up the chart over the next 18 months and re-entered the top 10 in 1991. Five singles from the album entered the UK Top 40, two of which reached Top 10. The album spent a total of 39 weeks in the UK Top 100[9] and was certified Platinum by the BPI. Carlisle was presented with her Platinum disc live on the Saturday morning children's television show Going Live! on BBC One.
The album was also a success in Australia; it peaked at number six and was certified double Platinum becoming the 24th best-selling album of 1990.[10]
Six singles were released from Runaway Horses and were successful in most markets, with the album giving Carlisle four more international top ten hits. "Leave a Light On" was the first song released from the album and became a top ten hit around the world including the UK, where it hit number four (and was certified Silver), Australia, where it hit number five, and Canada, where it hit number six. The song narrowly missed the top ten in the United States peaking at number 11. In Japan, "(We Want) The Same Thing" was released alongside "Leave a Light on" as the lead single in October 1989;[11][12] when issued in the UK the following year, it became her fifth top ten single. "La Luna" was the third song released from the album and became a top 40 hit in Australia and the UK, also becoming her third top ten in Switzerland.
"Summer Rain" was the fourth song released and became a top ten hit in Australia and a top 30 hit in the US (where it was released as the second single) and the UK (where it was released as the sixth single in December 1990). "Runaway Horses" was the fifth single released but was not as successful as the previous singles, only managing to reach number 40 in the UK. "Vision of You" was the sixth song released and became the lowest-charting single on the album only peaking at number 41 in the UK, and a re-release in 1991 reached 71.
Reissues
Runaway Horses was re-released on August 26, 2013, in a 2CD+DVD casebook edition from Edsel Recording (EDSG 8026) featuring the original album remastered, the single versions, remixes and B-sides. The DVD features the videos from the album and an exclusive interview with Carlisle discussing the album.[13]
Runaway Horses 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2019 to coincide with her Runaway Horses 30th Anniversary Tour. This version features the 27 tracks from the 2013 re-release without the DVD, plus three new cover recordings: Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind", Elton John's "I Need You to Turn To" and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now". The digital download features all 30 tracks and the Deluxe Edition is a 4LP+CD Box Set.
^"Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved June 3, 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Belinda Carlisle" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
