Bless a Brand New Angel

Bless a Brand New Angel
Studio album by Benny Mardones
Released	1998
Studio	Capitol Studios and Hollywood Sound Recorders (Hollywood, California)
Length	38:54
Label	Crave
Producer	Joel Diamond Jim Ervin Maurice Starr
Benny Mardones chronology
Stand by Your Man (1996) Bless a Brand New Angel (1998) A Journey Through Time (2002)

Bless a Brand New Angel is the sixth studio album from American singer Benny Mardones, released by Crave in 1998.

Background

Both Bless a Brand New Angel and its title track (which was released as a single) failed to generate commercial success. As "Bless a Brand New Angel" began generating airplay in the United States, Crave was shut down in July 1998. ^[1] On June 19, 1998, the Gavin Report listed "Bless a Brand New Angel" under adult contemporary as "chartbound", with the single having generated 46 reports and 671 spins. ^[2] In 1999, Bless a Brand New Angel was reissued as Angel by Fuel 2000. ^[3] The title track achieved further airplay, with the Gavin Report reporting 87 spins and placing the song at No. 35 on their Adult Contemporary chart. ^[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]

Tomas Mureika of AllMusic described Bless a Brand New Angel as "standard fare" from Mardones, but praised his vocals as "strong". He added: "While it lacks the punch of his 1980s material, Bless a Brand New Angel contains more soulful rockers in the tradition that Mardones has made solidly his own." ^[5] In a review of the title track, Larry Flick of Billboard described it as "meticulously designed for AC playlists". He praised Mardones' "raspy voice" which he felt "makes for a nice contrast against the track's oh-so-pretty piano/string arrangement". ^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Bless a Brand New Angel"	Judithe Randall, Robin Randall	4:51
2.	"If I Could Have My Way"	Leslie Pearl	5:11
3.	"Touch"	Maurice Starr	4:37
4.	"From Me to You"	Bobby Eli, Lee Phillips	3:46
5.	"You Are My World"	Benny Mardones, Robert Tepper	4:48
6.	"No Words for Love"	Peter Myer	4:13
7.	"Everything That Touches You"	Michael Kamen	3:29
8.	"To Make a Long Story Short"	Van McCoy	4:35
9.	"You're a Part of Me"	Mardones, Jim Ervin, Jack Conrad	5:03
10.	"I Believe in Miracles"	Barry Mason, Les Reed	3:45

Personnel

• Benny Mardones – lead vocals
• Jim Ervin – keyboards, bass, drums, percussion
• Jim Cox – acoustic piano, organ
• Maurice Starr – instruments (3), orchestrations (3), backing vocals (3)
• Charles Fearing – guitars
• Bruce Watson – guitars
• Lance Morrison – bass
• Nick Vincent – drums
• Tommy Oliver – orchestrations
• Ayanna Bereal – backing vocals
• Troy Clark – backing vocals
• Martika Knight – backing vocals

Production

• Jim Ervin – executive producer, producer (1, 2, 4–10)
• Joel Diamond – producer
• Maurice Starr – producer (3)
• Bryan Davis – engineer, mixing
• Dann Thompson – engineer
• Mike Tritter – engineer
• Brian Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)
• Joel Zimmerman – art direction

References

1. "Angel". Benny Mardones. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
2. "New Mainstream: Adult Contemporary". Gavin Report. June 19, 1998. p. 29.
3. "Angel - Benny Mardones; Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
4. "GavinAC: Adult Contemporary". Gavin Report. July 26, 1999. p. 30.
5. Tomas Mureika. "Bless a Brand New Angel - Benny Mardones; Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
6. Flick, Larry (April 25, 1998). "Reviews & Previews: Singles". Billboard. p. 69.