Suspending Disbelief

Suspending Disbelief is the eighth album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, released in September 1993 by Elektra Records.[1]

Suspending Disbelief
Studio album by Jimmy Webb
Released	September 7, 1993 (1993-09-07)
Recorded	February–March 1993 The Site and Skywalker Ranch, Russian Hill Recording, and Johnny Yuma Recording in California
Genre	Pop
Length	52:38
Label	Elektra Records
Producer	Linda Ronstadt George Massenburg
Jimmy Webb chronology
Angel Heart (1982) Suspending Disbelief (1993) Ten Easy Pieces (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Production

Suspending Disbelief was recorded in February and March 1993 at The Site and Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, Russian Hill Recording in San Francisco, and Johnny Yuma Recording in Los Angeles. The album was mixed at Record One in Los Angeles.

Critical reception

In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann wrote that Suspending Belief contains Webb's "most straightforward, plainspoken writing yet" and that the songwriter "seems better able to perform his music now than at any time in the past."[1] Ruhlmann continued:

Suspending Disbelief doesn't, like other Webb albums, sound like a series of unrelated songs sung by an adequate vocalist but waiting for better singers to get at them. It sounds like a unified statement by an artist in his own right. At 46, that artist clearly has been around the block a few times, and he's no longer interested in waxing poetic about cakes left out in the rain or space travel; these songs are decidedly down to earth. If the reminiscences leading to the conclusion that he's "Too Young to Die" stake his claim to currency, he actually spends most of the album looking back maturely and somewhat sadly, when he isn't taking others to task for their bad behavior. ... The music never overwhelms the songs. And Webb, whose voice has deepened and coarsened from the wheezy Oklahoma tenor he exhibited 20 years earlier, has gained in confidence and control as a singer, enabling him to put across his material better than he ever did before.[1]

The AllMusic website gave the album four out of five stars. Glen Campbell would record four tracks on this album for his final album, "Adios". [1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jimmy Webb, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Too Young to Die"		5:43
2.	"I Don't Know How to Love You Anymore"		5:05
3.	"Elvis and Me"		5:49
4.	"It Won't Bring Her Back"		3:46
5.	"Sandy Cove"		5:44
6.	"Friends to Burn"		5:01
7.	"What Does a Woman See in a Man"		4:11
8.	"Postcard from Paris"		4:57
9.	"Just Like Always"		3:59
10.	"Adios"		3:30
11.	"I Will Arise"	Jimmy Webb, Albert E. Brumley	4:46
Total length:			52:38

Personnel

Music Jimmy Webb – vocals, piano, electric piano, synthesizer, arranger, conductor Linda Ronstadt – vocals, background vocals Skywalker Symphony Orchestra – orchestra Steve Lukather – electric guitar Dean Parks – guitar Ben Keith – steel guitar Mario Guarneri – piccolo trumpet, trumpet Leland Sklar – bass Russ Kunkel – drums, percussion Valerie Carter – background vocals David Crosby – background vocals Leah Kunkel – background vocals Craig Fuller – background vocals J.D. Souther – background vocals Don Henley – background vocals

Production Linda Ronstadt – producer George Massenburg – producer, engineer, mixing Bob Conlon – engineer David Gleeson – engineer Chris Haynes – engineer Nathaniel Kunkel – engineer Rail Jon Rogut – engineer Kevin Scott – engineer Craig Silvey – engineer Squeak Stone – engineer Bob Fisher – mastering Greg Sudmeir – coordination Ivy Skoff – production coordination Kosh Art – direction, design Richie Unterberger – liner notes Robbie Buchanan – programming, synthesizer programming Robert Blakeman – photography[1]

References

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Suspending Disbelief". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2012.