''Hard Machine'' is the second studio album by American singer Stacey Q, released in February 1988 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. After the international success of her song " Two of Hearts" and debut album '' Better Than Heaven'' (1986), Swain began working on her sophomore record. She again collaborated with her bandmates from SSQ. Produced by Jon St. James, ''Hard Machine'' is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

album, which is influenced by new wave,

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

music. Upon its release, ''Hard Machine'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and noted a small commercial success, peaking at number 115 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Three singles were released from the album. The lead single, " Don't Make a Fool of Yourself" ( Shep Pettibone Remix), released on March 25, 1988, peaked at number 19 on the Hot Crossover 30, Number 4 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, Number 1 on the Top 12 inch Singles Sales chart, and also peaking at number 66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single "I Love You" peaked at Number 49 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs. "Favorite Things" was released as a promotional single.

Track listing

# "Good Girl" (K. Fisher, M. Stein) (4:02) # "Favorite Things" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (4:10) # "Kiss It All Goodbye" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:47) # " Don't Make A Fool Of Yourself" (S. Hahn, J, St. James, S. Swain) (4:08) # "The River" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (5:06) # "I Love You" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (4:35) # "Temptation" (K. Fisher, M. Stein) (3:51) # "Hard Machine" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:16) # "After Hours" (J. St. James, S. Swain) (3:26) # "Another Chance" (S. Hahn, S. Swain) (4:05)

Credits and personnel

SSQ

* Stacey Q. - lead vocals, backing vocals * Skip Hahn - keyboards, guitar, backing vocals * Karl Moet - drums, sampling, percussion * Rich West - keyboards, arrangement on track 10 * Jon St. James - keyboards, drums, percussion

Additional musicians

* Scott Bowers - guitar (tracks 1, 7) * Eddie Reddick - vocals (tracks 1, 7) * Rusty Anderson - guitar (track 8) * Joe Cristina - Formula 1 horns * John Deemer - Formula 1 horns * Victor Cajiao - Formula 1 horns * Michael Stein - additional keyboards * Kirk Fisher - additional keyboards

Production

* Tony Mandich - creative consultant * Anthony Sanfilippo - creative consultant * Keith Zajic - creative consultant * Keith Cowen - creative consultant * Paul Cooper - production coordinator * Larry Yasgar - production coordinator * Karl Moet - assistant engineer * Jimi Yamagishi - assistant engineer * Digital Magnetics/Ted Hall - digital mastering * Danny Mendellin - hair * La Lotte - make-up * Mike Jones - photography * Dennis King - mastering

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1988 albums Stacey Q albums Atlantic Records albums