''Young Lions'' is the fifth solo album by

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...

released in May 1990 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 ...

. The album featured

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

singing on two tracks, "Pretty Pink Rose" and "Gunman", the latter of which Bowie and Belew co-wrote since he was acting as musical director and lead guitarist on the

Sound+Vision Tour In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

with Bowie. Two

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s appear on the album: " Heartbeat", a song Belew had co-written and performed with

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

while he was a member; and " Not Alone Anymore", a

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...

song from '' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1''. This was Belew's tribute to

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

who had recently died. The other songwriting "collaboration" on the album is with Nashville radio evangelist

Prophet Omega Prophet Omega (real name Omega Townsend; August 27, 1927 – February 28, 1992) was a weekly radio evangelist broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee on Music Row’s WNAH in the 1970s. He was founder of the Peaceway Temple then located at "Apartmen ...

. Working decades-old tapes of Omega's broadcasts into "I Am What I Am", Belew, "listed him as a co-author, so in case a couple of hefty guys drop by my place some day, I can say 'here's your money.' "

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song " Like ...

, who collects "oddball" recordings, gave a 47-minute recording of Omega preaching and Belew made two further recordings: "I Know What I Know" on '' Coming Attractions'' and "Troubles" on ''

Side Three ''Side Three'' is the fifteenth solo album by Adrian Belew, released in 2006. It is the third installment of Belew's four-album series, each titled "Side" and their installment number in the series. The album features contributions from variou ...

''. Belew was pressed for time for the cover artwork and it was hurriedly completed by Atlantic's art department. It features a then five-year-old Robert S. Belew on his way to Sunday school carrying a stuffed animal.

Track listing

All songs written by Adrian Belew unless noted: # "Young Lions" – 3:48 # "Pretty Pink Rose" (

) – 4:44 # " Heartbeat" (Belew,

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

) – 3:59 # "Looking for a U.F.O." – 3:36 # "I Am What I Am" (Belew,

) – 4:11 # " Not Alone Anymore" (

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

) – 3:13 # "Men in Helicopters" – 3:17 # "Small World" – 3:45 # "Phone Call from the Moon" – 3:38 # "Gunman" (music: Belew; lyrics: Bowie) – 3:51

Personnel

Musicians

* Adrian Belew –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, multi-instruments *

– vocals (tracks 2, 10) * Mike Barnett –

string bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

(track 9) * Van Kampen –

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 ...

ensemble (track 1) ** Ellen Gieles – percussion ** Dree Van Beeck – percussion ** Willem Van Kruysdijk – percussion ** Mies Wilbrink – percussion * The Prophet Omega – spoken word (track 5)

Technical

* Adrian Belew – producer * Ron Fajerstein – executive producer * Justin Hertzman – executive producer * Rich Denhart –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Michael White – engineer * Dan Harjung – assistant engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– digital mastering, mastering * Carol Bobolts – design * Bob Defrin – art direction * Sotto Vocé – cover art concept * John M. Stevens – lettering * Curtice Taylor – photo tinting

References

External links

Adrian Belew's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Lions (Album) Adrian Belew albums 1990 albums Albums produced by Adrian Belew Atlantic Records albums