Breaking Hearts

Last updated

Breaking Hearts
Breaking hearts.JPG
Studio album by
Released18 June 1984 [1]
RecordedDecember 1983 – April 1984
Studio AIR, Montserrat
Genre Pop rock
Length40:43
Label Geffen (US), Rocket (UK)
Producer Chris Thomas
Elton John chronology
Too Low for Zero
(1983)
Breaking Hearts
(1984)
Ice on Fire
(1985)
Singles from Breaking Hearts
  1. "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"
    Released: May 1984
  2. "Passengers"
    Released: August 1984
  3. "Who Wears These Shoes?"
    Released: October 1984 [2]
  4. "In Neon"
    Released: November 1984 (US)
  5. "Breaking Hearts"
    Released: February 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Smash Hits 3/10 [6]
Sounds Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Breaking Hearts is the eighteenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1984. It features the quartet of John, Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson. There were four top-40 singles from the album: "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (US Billboard Hot 100 #5/UK singles chart #7), "Who Wears These Shoes" (US #16), "In Neon" (US #38), and the UK No. 5 hit "Passengers".

Contents

Background

This album would be the last to feature all (core) members of the "classic Elton John Band lineup" playing their instruments (although they would reunite to provide backing vocals on John's Reg Strikes Back album). It was the last of Elton John's studio albums to feature bass from Dee Murray, who would die in 1992 of skin cancer, and it was the last studio album until 2001's Songs from the West Coast that would feature Nigel Olsson on drums. It was also the last recorded album in which John played both piano and keyboards in the studio by himself.

Breaking Hearts was also the first album since Victim of Love to not feature a string or horn section on any track. This is one of only two albums with John's classic band to which (unofficial member) Ray Cooper did not contribute at all, the other being 1973's Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player . Shortly after the tour, the band line-up would change and Gus Dudgeon, John's former producer, would produce the next two albums. In the US, it was certified gold in September 1984 and platinum in August 1998 by the RIAA.

John has continued performing "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" as of 2023, as he included the song in his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour setlist. Apart from the 1984 Breaking Hearts Tour (both the European and the North American leg), no other songs from the album have been performed live except "Restless" and "Passengers", on the following 1985–1986 Ice on Fire World Tour (the latter song only performed on the UK leg).

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Restless"5:17
2."Slow Down Georgie (She's Poison)"4:10
3."Who Wears These Shoes?"4:04
4."Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used to Be)"3:34
5."Li'l 'Frigerator"3:37
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Passengers" (John, Taupin, Davey Johnstone, Phineas Mkhize)3:24
2."In Neon"4:19
3."Burning Buildings"4:02
4."Did He Shoot Her?"3:21
5."Sad Songs (Say So Much)"4:55
Total length:40:43

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Breaking Hearts
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [26] Platinum15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [16] Gold50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [27] Gold25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [28] Gold240,000 [25]
United States (RIAA) [29] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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