''¡Viva El Amor!'' (Spanish for ''Long Live Love'') is the seventh studio album by the rock band

the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

, released in 1999. The band's lineup for the album is the same as that credited on 1994's '' Last of the Independents'': Chrissie Hynde (vocals, guitar), Martin Chambers (drums), Andy Hobson (bass) and Adam Seymour (guitar). This time, however, the credited line-up actually plays on most of the album, although Hobson is replaced on bass by session musicians on a few cuts. The album, featuring a cover photograph of Hynde taken by friend

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

, saw moderate success in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its two lead singles were "Popstar" and "

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

", the latter a

Divinyls Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school un ...

cover. The Class Mix of "Human" was used as the theme music to the short-lived American TV series ''

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

'' as well as featuring in the soundtrack to the Brenda Blethyn film '' Saving Grace''. The album charted in the UK, US and Sweden.

Track listing

# "Popstar" ( Chrissie Hynde, Adam Seymour) – 3:34 # "

" ( Shelly Peiken, Mark McEntee) – 3:55 # "From the Heart Down" (Hynde,

Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly (musician), Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin ...

, Tom Kelly) – 3:31 # "Nails in the Road" (Hynde, Steinberg, Kelly) – 3:25 # "Who's Who" (Hynde) – 4:11 # "Dragway 42" (Hynde) – 5:19 # "Baby's Breath" (Hynde, Steinberg, Kelly) – 3:15 # "One More Time" (Hynde) – 3:15 # "Legalise Me" (Hynde) – 3:51 # "Samurai" (Hynde) – 4:43 # "Rabo de Nube" (

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

) – 1:26 # "Biker" (Hynde) – 4:40

2015 deluxe special edition

The first disc contains the twelve tracks from the original album. ;Disc two :;B-sides # "The Homecoming" (Street Version) (Hynde) – 4:16 # "Human" (Class Mix) (Peiken, McEntee) – 3:57 # " The Needle and the Damage Done" (

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

) – 3:46 # "Samurai" (Street Mix) (Hynde) – 5:47 :;Bonus tracks #

"Back Down" (Hynde, Bernard Butler) – 4:16 # "California" (Hynde, Seymour) – 4:32 # "From the Heart Down" (alternate version) (Hynde, Steinberg, Kelly) – 3:41 :;Songs for soundtracks #

Goin' Back "Goin' Back" (also recorded and released as "Going Back") is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1966. It describes the loss of innocence that comes with adulthood, along with an attempt, on the part of the singer, to recapture tha ...

" (from '' Fever Pitch'', 1997) (

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

) – 4:06 # "Goodbye" (from '' G.I. Jane'', 1997) ( Steve Earle) – 4:34 # "The Homecoming" (from ''G.I. Jane'') (Hynde) – 4:22 ;DVD :;Promo videos # "Human" # "Popstar" :;BBC TV appearances #

"From the Heart Down" (''

Later Later may refer to: * Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the futur ...

'', May 1999) # "Human" (''Later'', May 1999) # " Talk of the Town" (''Songwriters' Circle'', July 1999) # " Kid" (''Songwriters' Circle'', July 1999) # " Back on the Chain Gang" (''Songwriters' Circle'', July 1999)

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes.

The Pretenders

* Chrissie Hynde – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1, 4–10, 12), harmonica (1) * Adam Seymour – guitar, bass (5), keyboards (10), backing vocals (1) *Andy Hobson – bass (3, 6, 7, 10, 12) * Martin Chambers – drums (1–10, 12)

Additional personnel

* Tom Kelly – bass (1, 2, 4, 8, 9), guitar (11), backing vocals (1, 4) *Chuck Norman – keyboards (1, 5), programming (5) *Lindsay Edwards – keyboards (2) *

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

– keyboards (9), accordion (11) * Andy Duncan –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(1, 4, 9), programming (5) * Preston Heyman – percussion (2) *

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

– guitar solo (9) *

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...

– backing vocals (1), ad libs (1) * Jules Shear – backing vocals (2, 5) * The Duke Quartet: (2, 3, 6, 12) **Louisa Fuller – violin **Richard Koster – violin **Ivan McCready –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

** John Metcalfe –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, string arrangements

Technical

*Stephen Hague – producer (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11), mixing (1, 5) *

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English record producer best known for his work with the Smiths, the Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album '' Viva Hate'' following the ...

– producer (3, 6, 7, 10, 12) *Julie Gardner – engineer * Richard Norris – engineer, mixing (1, 5) *David Boucher – engineer *Doug Wynne – engineer *

Tin Tin Out Tin Tin Out were an English electronic dance music duo, comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards. They remixed songs for a variety of artists such as Duran Duran, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, The Corrs and Des'ree, as well as collaborating ...

– remix and additional production for Empire Management (2) * Rob Dickins – executive producer (2) * Bob Clearmountain – mixing (4, 6, 8–12) *Ian Cooper – mastering (at Metropolis Studio, London) *

– cover photo * Mary McCartney – inner sleeve photos *Michael Nash Associates – artwork

Deluxe special edition

*Stephen Street – producer (1, 3, 4, 8) *Stephen Hague – producer (2, 7) * Trevor Horn – producer (9, 10) * Tim Weidner – engineer, mixing (9, 10) * Steve Fitzmaurice – engineer (9, 10) * Tom Elmhirst – engineer (9, 10)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viva El Amor The Pretenders albums 1999 albums Albums produced by Stephen Street Albums produced by Stephen Hague Warner Records albums