Mister Heartbreak

Mister Heartbreak
Mister Heartbreak - Laurie Anderson.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 14, 1984
RecordedJuly–December 1983
Studio
  • The Lobby (New York City)
  • RCA (New York City)
  • A & R (New York City)
  • 39th Street Music (New York City)
Genre
Length40:16
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerLaurie Anderson
Bill Laswell
Roma Baran
Peter Gabriel
Laurie Anderson chronology
Big Science
(1982)
Mister Heartbreak
(1984)
United States Live
(1984)
Singles from Mister Heartbreak
  1. "Sharkey's Day"
    Released: 1984

Mister Heartbreak is the second studio album by avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released on February 14, 1984.

Like its predecessor, it contains reworked elements of Anderson's United States ("Langue d'Amour", "Kokuku", based on musical elements from "Rising Sun", and "Blue Lagoon"). However, Anderson also introduced new material ("Sharkey's Day"/"Sharkey's Night" and "Gravity's Angel"), while "Excellent Birds", written in collaboration with Peter Gabriel, was written for a 1984 project for video artist Nam June Paik called Good Morning, Mr. Orwell.

Background

"Gravity's Angel" borrows imagery from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. Anderson had "wanted to make an opera of that book ... and asked him if that would be OK... He said, 'You can do it, but you can only use banjo.' And so I thought, 'Well, thanks. I don't know if I could do it like that." "Blue Lagoon" contains allusions to other tales of the sea: William Shakespeare's The Tempest (Ariel's song) and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.[citation needed]

The album's lead track, "Sharkey's Day", formed the basis of a popular music video. Author William S. Burroughs read the lyrics of the closing track, "Sharkey's Night", while Peter Gabriel provided vocals on "Excellent Birds", an alternate version of which, titled "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)", also appeared on his album So (1986). According to Anderson, she and Gabriel "could never agree on what a bassline was. (I think I probably don't hear so well down there.) I wanted to learn from him, but it turned into a standoff and so we each put out our own version of the song." A third version of the song can be heard in the music video version, directed by Dean Winkler.

Most of the songs on the album were later performed in Anderson's 1986 concert film Home of the Brave. Burroughs appears in the film in two brief segments, reciting lines from "Sharkey's Night", although it is Anderson herself who performs a complete version of the song at the film's conclusion. "Sharkey's Night" featured in the Australian short documentary film Ladies Please! (1995).

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Rolling Stone
The Village VoiceA−

Track listing

All songs written by Laurie Anderson, except where otherwise indicated.

Side one

  1. "Sharkey's Day" – 7:41
  2. "Langue d'Amour" – 6:12
  3. "Gravity's Angel" – 6:02

Side two

  1. "Kokoku" – 7:03
  2. "Excellent Birds" (Anderson, Peter Gabriel) – 3:12
  3. "Blue Lagoon" – 7:03
  4. "Sharkey's Night" (Anderson, William S. Burroughs) – 2:29

Personnel

Technical
  • Laurie Anderson – co-producer (tracks 1–2, 4–7), producer (track 3), art, graphics
  • Bill Laswell – co-producer (tracks 1, 4, 7), mixing assistance (track 3)
  • Roma Baron – co-producer (tracks 2, 6)
  • Peter Gabriel – co-producer (track 5)
  • Leanne Ungar – engineer
  • Bob Bielecki – technical consultant, systems design, Synclavier spectral displays
  • Mike Getlin – assistant engineer
  • Joe Lopes – assistant engineer
  • Pat Martin – assistant engineer
  • Larry Franke – assistant engineer
  • Tim Cox – assistant engineer
  • Mike Krowiak – mixing assistant
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering
  • Bud Shark – printing

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1984 The Billboard 200 60
1984 Canada RPM 41
1984 Dutch Album Chart 23
1984 Swiss Album Chart 19
1984 New Zealand Album Chart 12
1984 Swedish Album Chart 46
1984 UK Album Chart 93

This page was last updated at 2022-12-17 12:30 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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