''Bitterblue'' is the eighth studio album by Welsh singer

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

. It was released on 11 November 1991, through

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label based in Berlin, Germany founded in 1962. History In the early 1960s, brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel, grandchildren of Will Meisel, who was th ...

. ''Bitterblue'' is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

album, described by

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous G ...

as "more commercial" than her previous albums. Bohlen began working with Tyler in early 1991, writing and producing multiple songs for the album. ''Bitterblue'' also features compositions from

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the decade, i ...

and

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...

. ''Bitterblue'' received mixed reviews from music critics, with the songs being complimented but the production criticised. The album had major success in mainland Europe, where it reached number one in Austria and Norway. In 1992 it was certified 3× Platinum by IFPI Norway. Three singles were released from the album, including the hits " Bitterblue" and " Against the Wind".

Writing and recording

Tyler signed to

in 1990. ''Bitterblue'' was her first multi-producer album, with contributions from

, Luis Rodríguez,

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

, David Yorath,

and

. Bohlen claimed that Tyler was reluctant to record his songs as she perceived them to be more commercial-sounding than her previous work.Bohlen, ''Bonnie. Oder: Keiner singt geiler als die Tyler'', p. 204. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

includes elements of

Scottish folk music Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in ...

, including

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, and was inspired by the

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

hit " Rhythm of My Heart". ''Bitterblue'' was the first of three albums that Tyler recorded with Bohlen. His songwriting and production work was often credited under the names Howard Houston, Steve Benson and Jennifer Blake. Tyler claimed that Bohlen chose to disguise his involvement to avoid radio DJs developing preconceptions about the album. ''Bitterblue'' was recorded at five recording studios located in Germany, the UK and in the US. Bohlen wrote, recorded and produced his own songs, with Luis Rodríguez acting as co-producer on three tracks.

David Yorath all wrote and produced their own songs. Songs written by

and

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has won an Academy Honorary Award, Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and three consecutive ''Billboard'' Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year from 19 ...

were produced by

at Conway and A&M Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Tyler recorded "Heaven Is Here" as a duet with Moroder, and "Till the End of Time" with Dan Hartman. Both songs were written by Moroder. Tyler also co-wrote the lyrics for "Whenever You Need Me" with David Madiran.

Critical reception

Tomas Mureika of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated the album three and a half stars out of five, describing the album as "a pleasant collection of pop tunes." He opined that her pairing with

ave is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

Tyler's work a contemporary sheen that frames her vocals within the songs." Mureika concluded that ''Bitterblue'' is "better than most pop records," but not as strong as her work with

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

and Desmond Child. In a review of the lead single, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' criticised Bohlen's production; "bombastic production, with a rush of bagpipes and a choir of chirping children at the forefront, overpower Tyler's distinctive raspy voice."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. Technical and Design * Dieter Bohlen (as Howard Houston) – recording (1, 13), mixing (1, 13) * Dieter Bohlen – recording (2, 9, 14), mixing (2, 9, 14) * Luis Rodriguez – recording (2, 9, 14), mixing (2, 9, 14) * Phil Kaffel – engineer and recording (3, 5, 6), mixing (3, 5, 6) * David Yorath – recording (4), mixing (4) * Stuart Bruce – recording (7), mixing (7) * Brian Reeves – engineer (8, 10, 11, 12), mixing (8, 10, 11, 12) *

– mixing (8, 10, 11, 12) * Thomas Sassenbach – art direction * Aaron's Outfit – design * Ariola – design * Markus Amon – photography * Jeff Weiss – photography * David Aspden – management Musicians and Vocals * Bonnie Tyler – vocals * Dan Hartman – vocals (12) *

– programming (8, 10, 11, 12) - vocals (10) *

– keyboards (3, 5, 6), arrangements (3, 5, 6) * Richard Cottle – keyboards (7) *

– keyboards (7), programming (7), guitars (7), arrangements (7) * Scott Greer – programming (8, 10, 11, 12) * John Pierce – guitars (3, 5, 6) * Waddy Wachtel – guitars (3, 5, 6) *

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

– acoustic guitar (3, 5, 6) * Teddy Castellucci – guitars (8, 10, 11, 12) *

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

– bass (3, 6, 6) * Kenny Aronoff – drums (3, 5, 6) * Gary Herbig – saxophone (8, 10, 11, 12) * Dieter Bohlen – arrangements (as Howard Houston on 1, 13), arrangements (2, 9, 14) * David Yorath – arrangements (4) * Jackie Challenor – backing vocals (7) *

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a South African singer. She was born in Johannesburg, and her work is influenced by the Music of Africa, African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style ...

– backing vocals (7) * Debbie McGlendon-Smith – backing vocals (8, 10, 11, 12) * Joe Pizzulo – backing vocals (8, 10, 11, 12) * Marietta Waters – backing vocals (8, 10, 11, 12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Accolades

RSH Gold Award , - , 1992 , Bitterblue , Most successful German produced interpreter female ,

Notes

References

* * {{Authority control 1991 albums Bonnie Tyler albums Albums produced by Giorgio Moroder Albums produced by Roy Bittan Hansa Records albums