The Road to Hell

The Road to Hell is the tenth studio album by English singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1989. It is Rea's most successful studio album, topping the UK Albums Chart for three weeks,[2][3] and was certified 6x Platinum by BPI until 2004.[4] The second part of the two-part title track, "The Road to Hell (Pt. 2)", is also one of Rea's most famous songs.

This article is about the 1989 Chris Rea album. For the song from that album, see The Road to Hell (song). For all other uses, see Road to Hell.
The Road to Hell
Studio album by
Chris Rea
Released2 October 1989
RecordedMiraval Studios, France
Genre
Length50:53
Label
Producer
Chris Rea chronology
New Light Through Old Windows
(1988)		 The Road to Hell
(1989)		 Auberge
(1991)
Singles from The Road to Hell
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Summary

Rea recalls that he had a lot of trouble with the album due to the record company, and "recorded the next album – Auberge – before, as an agreement with Warner Brothers. So if Road To Hell didn’t work – and they said it won't – we would jump straight away to Auberge and forget about it. Of course, the beginning to "Road To Hell" is a gospel blues thing. Warner Brothers went, ‘This is going to be over in five minutes’. But I did stand me ground, and it went No.1".[5]

The song "Texas" has been played through the years on Classic Rock/AOR radio stations in Texas, and is sometimes played as background music before Texas Rangers baseball games at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Another track, "Daytona", is about the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona", in which he sings about the car metaphorically, with the engine and tyre noise from the car ringing out toward the end of the song.[6] Also, the song "Tell Me There's a Heaven" was used in a 1991 public information film for the NSPCC.

The album cover features art by the English commercial artist, Adrian Chesterman,[7] who was also responsible for creating cover art for, amongst others, Motörhead's 1979 Bomber album.

Track listing

All songs by Chris Rea.

  1. "The Road to Hell (Part 1)" - 4:52
  2. "The Road to Hell (Part 2)" - 4:30
  3. "You Must Be Evil" - 4:20
  4. "Texas" - 5:09
  5. "Looking for a Rainbow" - 8:00
  6. "Your Warm and Tender Love" - 4:32
  7. "Daytona" - 5:04
  8. "That's What They Always Say" - 4:27
  9. "I Just Wanna Be with You" - 3:39
  10. "Tell Me There's a Heaven" - 6:00

(The 1989 US Geffen CD issue also includes the 1988 re-recording of "Let's Dance" slotted between tracks 8 and 9 listed above).

In 2019 the album, along with others in Rea's back catalogue, was remastered and reissued with a second CD of B-Sides, remixes and live tracks.

Track Listing (2019 remaster bonus disc)
  1. He Should Know Better (B-Side of Road To Hell single) - 4.38
  2. That's What They Always Say (Rainbow Mix) - 6.41
  3. 1975 (B-Side of That's What They Always Say single) - 4.47
  4. The Road To Hell Parts 1 & 2 (Live At Wembley Arena March 1990) - 6.59
  5. Working On It (Live At Wembley Arena March 1990) - 6.26
  6. Let's Dance (Live At Wembley Arena March 1990) - 7.34
  7. Daytona (Live At Birmingham NEC November 1991) - 6.36
  8. Working On It (Extended Mix) - 5.56
  9. Josephine (US Version from New Light Through Old Windows) - 4.16
  10. Let's Dance (from New Light Through Old Windows) - 4.15
  11. You Must Be Evil (Live In Stuttgart 1991) - 4.36
  12. I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (from New Light Through Old Windows) - 3.25
  13. Working On It (from New Light Through Old Windows) - 4.26

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[8] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[9] Gold 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[10] Gold 45,000[10]
France (SNEP)[11] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[12] 3× Gold 750,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[13] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] 6× Platinum 1,800,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel
  • Chris Rea – lead and backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Robert Ahwai – guitar
  • Kevin Leach – keyboards
  • Max Middleton – acoustic piano, string arrangements
  • Eoghan O'Neill – bass
  • Martin Ditcham – drums, percussion
  • Gavyn Wright – concertmaster and conductor
  • Karen Boddington – additional backing vocals
  • Carol Kenyon – additional backing vocals
  • Linda Taylor – additional backing vocals

Production
  • Chris Rea – producer
  • Jon Kelly – producer
  • Neil Amor – engineer
  • Diane BJ Koné – engineer
  • Willie Grimston – coordinator
  • The Leisure Process – artwork, sleeve design
  • Jim Beach – management
  • John Knowles – management
  • Paul Lilly – management
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References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. Neil Cossar (2010). This Day in Music: An Every Day Record of Musical Feats and Facts. Omnibus Press. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-85712-362-6.
  3. "Official Charts > Chris Rea". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  4. "Chris Rea - The Road To Hell". BPI. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. Henry Yates (1 December 2015). "An Interview With The Straight-Talking, No-F**ks-Given Chris Rea". TeamRock. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  6. YouTube. youtube.com.
  7. "Website of the artist, www.adrianchesterman.com".
  8. "Austrian album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  9. "Canadian album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell". Music Canada.
  10. "Chris Rea" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  11. "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Albums) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste)". infodisc.fr.
  12. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'The Road to Hell')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  13. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Chris Rea; 'The Road to Hell')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  14. "British album certifications – Chris Rea – The Road to Hell". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Road to Hell in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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