Mothers Heaven
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''Mothers Heaven'' is the second album from the Scottish rock band
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. The album was released on 23 September 1991 by
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
and spawned four singles – " Why Believe in You", " In My Heart", " Alone with You" and " Mothers Heaven". It largely failed to replicate the commercial success of their debut album released in 1989. Whilst it reached number thirty-two in the United Kingdom, it experienced greater commercial success in continental European markets, reaching the top twenty in Switzerland and being certified 2x Gold by the National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (SNEP) in France for sales in excess of 200,000 copies.


Background information

The album saw the release of four singles, the lead single released from ''Mothers Heaven'' was entitled " Why Believe in You" which only managed to reach #66 on the UK Singles Charts in September 1991. Follow on single, the alternative rock track, " In My Heart" was released on 14 October 1991 but only managed to reach #74 in the United Kingdom. However, "In My Heart" became Texas's last song to date to chart in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot Rock Tracks chart. The song also reached #44 in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The release of a third single was based entirely on the success of the band in countries such as France, Spain and other European countries, as the band's singles were doing particularly poorly in their native United Kingdom. The third single, " Alone with You", saw Texas return to the UK Singles Charts Top 40 (for the first time since their debut single three years earlier), peaking at #32. The single also continued the success of the band in France, reaching #28. The fourth and final single, a remix of the title track "Mothers Heaven" was released in 1992, but failed to chart in any countries. Ironically, after the disappointing performance of singles from the album, the band then released a new cover version of the
Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...
classic "
Tired of Being Alone "Tired of Being Alone" is a soul song written by American singer Al Green. It reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number seven on the Soul Singles Chart in 1971. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 12 song for 1971. Background ...
", which returned them to the UK Top 20. The track was not available on any album until the band's ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
'' album released in 2000. ''Mothers Heaven'' is the band's lowest charting album in the UK where it remains uncertified, however, it has been certified Gold in both France and Switzerland.


Critical reception

AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
gave the album three stars out of five, and commented: ''Texas is a good name for this band, whose sound is open, brooding and just a bit on the twangy side; if you can imagine a sound somewhere between the dour, minimalist bluesiness of Cowboy Junkies and the yearning, gospel-tinged bombast of early U2, you'll have a good idea what to expect. Singer Sharleen Spiteri has the perfect voice for this kind of thing: it's low-pitched and dark-hued, and is shown off to best effect when she's belting out big, cathartic numbers like the title track and "Why Believe in You." Ally McErlaine is a brilliant slide guitarist who can move from grungy, greasy rock to desolate acoustic Delta blues without missing a beat. It's true that the group still needs to digest its influences a bit -- "Dream Hotel," in particular, sounds like a U2 reject—but most of the time, Texas does a good job of mapping out its own territory. And this is just their second album, remember.'' ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide


Track listing


International release

All songs written by Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri except as indicated.


Personnel

* Recorded at: Park Lane Studios, Glasgow, Scotland and The Mill Recording Studios, Cookham, Berkshire. ;Texas * Ally McErlaine - guitar *
Johnny McElhone John Francis McElhone (born 21 April 1963, Glasgow) is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter. He played with three bands who have enjoyed a top-20 presence on the UK Singles Chart; the new wave bands Altered Images and Hipsway, and the alterna ...
- bass *
Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer–songwriter and guitarist who has a contralto vocal range, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas (band), Texas, who rose to prominence in 1989 with the release ...
- vocals, guitar * Eddie Campbell - keyboards * Richard Hynd - drums ;Other Personnel * Engineer - George Shilling, Kenny MacDonald, Simon Vinestock * Mastered By -
Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...
* Producer - Tim Palmer * Voice
all Out Stuart Kerr Gouranga, Be Happy All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and profe ...
- Stuart Kerr * Backing Vocals on Track 1 - Maria McKee


Charts


Certifications and sales


References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Texas (band) albums Albums produced by Tim Palmer Mercury Records albums Vertigo Records albums