Blast (album)

Blast
Studio album by Holly Johnson
Released 24 April 1989
Genre Dance
Length 42:55
Label MCA
Producer Andy Richards, Dan Hartman, Stephen Hague, Steve Lovell
Holly Johnson chronology
Blast
(1989)		 Hollelujah
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Record-Journal (USA)B[2]
The Age (USA)unfavourable[3]

Blast is the debut solo album by the British musician Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in 1989 and reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart and sold over 300,000 copies making it platinum. The album stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. The album features the hits "Love Train", "Americanos", "Atomic City" and "Heavens Here". The album was re-released in November 2009 and again in November 2010.

As part of the early 2011 fan questions, Johnson marked "Love Will Come" and "Heaven's Here" as his favourite tracks from the album. The album's title Blast came from The Vorticists.[4]

In a 2014 interview with The Arts Desk, Johnson spoke of his reaction to the success of Blast following the stressful nature of his court case with record label ZTT:

"The week it got to No.1 I was very... vindicated. That was a transient moment of victory in retrospect. I'd been on the promotional trail, touring and on the endless European television shows that existed in those days, for years and years, since the beginning of '84. Towards the end of '89, with a couple of hit singles and a platinum-selling album. I started to get health worries that ultimately came to consume my life for quite a number of years."[5]

Track listing

Original release

All tracks written by Johnson except "Atomic City" (Johnson, Dan Hartman).

  1. "Atomic City" – 6:15
  2. "Heaven's Here" – 4:16
  3. "Americanos" – 3:35
  4. "Deep in Love" – 3:58
  5. "S.U.C.C.E.S.S." – 3:31
  6. "Love Train" – 4:02
  7. "Got It Made" – 3:49
  8. "Love Will Come" – 4:28
  9. "Perfume" – 3:33
  10. "Feel Good" – 5:28

Blast (Expanded Edition) (2010)

Disc 1 - The Blast Album Remastered

  1. "Atomic City" – 6:14
  2. "Heaven's Here" – 4:18
  3. "Americanos" – 3:37
  4. "Deep in Love" – 4:00
  5. "S.U.C.C.E.S.S." – 3:33
  6. "Love Train" – 4:03
  7. "Got It Made" – 3:50
  8. "Love Will Come" – 4:29
  9. "Perfume" – 3:35
  10. "Feel Good" – 5:25

Disc 1 continued - B-Sides and Rarities

  1. "Murder in Paradise" (B-Side of "Love Train") – 6:25
  2. "Americanos (Mambo Dub)" (B-Side of "Americanos") – 4:14
  3. "Beat the System" (B-Side of "Atomic City") – 3:48
  4. "Hollelujah" (B-Side of "Heaven's Here"/From the album "Hollelujah") – 4:08
  5. "Love Me Tender" – 3:09
  6. "Perfume (Aromatherapy Mix)" (From the album "Hollelujah") – 5:58
  7. "Perfume (Aromatherapy Instrumental Mix)" (Previously unreleased) – 4:13

Disc 2 - The Blast Singles Remixed

  1. "Love Train (Americana Big Beat Version)" (From the album "Hollelujah") – 6:39
  2. "Love Train (Iron Horse Instrumental)" (Previously unreleased in the UK) – 4:53
  3. "Love Train (Americana 12" Version)" (Previously unreleased in the UK) – 6:24
  4. "Love Train (Bonus Big Beat Radio Mix)" (Previously unreleased in the UK) – 4:38
  5. "Love Train (Americana Pop Version)" (Previously unreleased in the UK) – 3:58
  6. "Love Train (Ride The 'A' Train)" (From the UK 12" single) – 6:55
  7. "Americanos (The Perfect Taco Mix)" (From the album "Hollelujah") – 6:13
  8. "Americanos (Liberty Mix)" (From the UK 12" single) – 5:34
  9. "Americanos (Justin Strauss Extended Version)" (Previously unreleased in the UK) – 6:49
  10. "Americanos (Magimix)" (From the UK 12" remix single) – 6:41
  11. "Americanos (7" Magimix Version)" (Previously unreleased) – 3:27
  12. "Atomic City (Bona Biodegradeable Mix)" (From the UK 12" remix single/From the album "Hollelujah") – 7:29
  13. "Heaven's Here (Mount Olympus Mix)" (From the UK 12" single/From the album "Hollelujah") – 9:29

Disc 3 - DVD - The Blast Promotional Videos

  1. "Love Train (Promo Video)"
  2. "Americanos (Promo Video)"
  3. "Atomic City (Promo Video)"
  4. "Heaven's Here (Promo Video)"
  5. "Atomic City (Enviro-Mental 12" Mix) (Promo Video)"

Personnel

  • Holly Johnson - vocals, synthesizer
  • Neil Taylor, Johnny Willett, Vini Reilly, Steve Byrd - guitar
  • Brian May - guitar solo on "Love Train"
  • Nick Bagnall, Andy Richards, Marius de Vries, Steve Howell - keyboards
  • Chris Whitten - drums
  • Danny Cummings, Luís Jardim - percussion
  • Chyna Gordon, Dee Lewis, Suddenly Denise, Stevie Lange, Lance Ellington, Mark Williamson, Vicky Brown - background vocals
  • Guy Barker, John Barclay, John Thirkell, Phil Todd, Stuart Brooks - brass

Chart performance

Chart (1989) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[6] 97
Austrian Albums Chart[7] 12
Dutch Albums Chart[8] 27
German Albums Chart[9] 5
Italian Albums Chart[10] 10
New Zealand Albums Chart[11] 11
Norwegian Albums Chart[12] 10
Swedish Albums Chart[13] 11
Swiss Albums Chart[14] 10
UK Albums Chart[15] 1

References

  1. ↑ "Blast". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PgZIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bwANAAAAIBAJ&pg=1291,6079849&dq=holly+johnson+blast+americanos&hl=en
  3. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CcpUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZZEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4018,5433728&dq=holly+johnson+atomic+city&hl=en
  4. ↑ Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Holly Johnson". The Arts Desk. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  6. ↑ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  7. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  9. ↑ Steffen Hung. "germancharts.com - Holly Johnson - Blast". Germancharts.de. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  10. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - ALBUM 1989". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  12. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  13. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  14. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Holly Johnson - Blast". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  15. ↑ "holly-johnson | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.