Mothers Heaven

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Mothers Heaven
Mothers heaven.jpg
Studio album by
Texas
Released23 September 1991
Recorded1990–1991
StudioPark Lane Studios, Glasgow
The Mill Recording Studios, Berkshire
The Paradiso, Amsterdam
Genre Alternative rock
Length47:36
Label Mercury
Vertigo (US/Canada)
Producer Tim Palmer
Texas chronology
Everyday Now
(1989)		Mothers Heaven
(1991)		 Ricks Road
(1993)
Singles from Mothers Heaven
  1. "Why Believe in You"
    Released: 26 August 1991
  2. "In My Heart"
    Released: 14 October 1991
  3. "Alone with You"
    Released: 27 January 1992
  4. "Mothers Heaven"
    Released: 2 June 1992

Mothers Heaven is the second album from the Scottish rock band Texas. The album was released on 23 September 1991 by Mercury Records. The album peaked at no. 32 in the UK and spent 4 weeks on the charts. [1]

Contents

Background information

The album saw the release of four singles, the lead single released from Mothers Heaven was entitled "Why Believe in You" which only managed to reach #66 on the UK Singles Charts in September 1991. Follow on single, the alternative rock track, "In My Heart" was released on 14 October 1991 but only managed to reach #74 in the United Kingdom. However, "In My Heart" became Texas's last song to date to chart in the United States, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot Rock Tracks chart. The song also reached #44 in France.

The release of a third single was based entirely on the success of the band in countries such as France, Spain and other European countries, as the band's singles were doing particularly poorly in their native United Kingdom. The third single, "Alone with You", saw Texas return to the UK Singles Charts Top 40 (for the first time since their debut single three years earlier), peaking at #32. The single also continued the success of the band in France, reaching #28. The fourth and final single, a remix of the title track "Mothers Heaven" was released in 1992, but failed to chart in any countries. Ironically, after the disappointing performance of singles from the album, the band then released a new cover version of the Al Green classic "Tired of Being Alone", which returned them to the UK Top 20. The track was not available on any album until the band's Greatest Hits album released in 2000.

Mothers Heaven is the band's lowest charting album in the UK where it remains uncertified, however, it has been certified Gold in both France and Switzerland.[ citation needed ]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
NME 6/10 [3]

AllMusic Guide gave the album three stars out of five, and commented:

Texas is a good name for this band, whose sound is open, brooding and just a bit on the twangy side; if you can imagine a sound somewhere between the dour, minimalist bluesiness of Cowboy Junkies and the yearning, gospel-tinged bombast of early U2, you'll have a good idea what to expect. Singer Sharleen Spiteri has the perfect voice for this kind of thing: it's low-pitched and dark-hued, and is shown off to best effect when she's belting out big, cathartic numbers like the title track and "Why Believe in You." Ally McErlaine is a brilliant slide guitarist who can move from grungy, greasy rock to desolate acoustic Delta blues without missing a beat. It's true that the group still needs to digest its influences a bit -- "Dream Hotel," in particular, sounds like a U2 reject—but most of the time, Texas does a good job of mapping out its own territory. And this is just their second album, remember. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide [4]

Track listing

International release

All songs written by Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri except as indicated.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mothers Heaven" 5:46
2."Why Believe in You" 4:09
3."Dream Hotel" 4:22
4."This Will All Be Mine" 2:57
5."Beliefs" 6:45
6."Alone with You" 4:43
7."In My Heart" 4:15
8."Waiting" 1:50
9."Wrapped in Clothes of Blue" 4:17
10."Return" 2:34
11."Walk the Dust" Ally McErlaine / McElhone / Spiteri6:04
Total length:47:36

Personnel

Texas
Other Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Mothers Heaven
Chart (1991)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [5] 74
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [6] 37
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7] 39
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [8] 40
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [9] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [10] 17
UK Albums (OCC) [11] 32

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [12] 2× Gold200,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [13] Gold25,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas (band)</span> Scottish alternative rock band

Texas is a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, founded in 1986 by Johnny McElhone, Ally McErlaine, and Sharleen Spiteri. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas. The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single "I Don't Want a Lover", which was a top-ten hit on the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top ten of the charts in many other European countries. Southside entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 88 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, and sold over two million copies worldwide. Despite the success of Southside, the follow-up albums Mothers Heaven (1991) and Ricks Road (1993) were less successful, peaking at number 32 and number 18 on the UK Albums Chart respectively, but achieved moderate success on various European markets.

<i>White on Blonde</i> 1997 studio album by Texas

White on Blonde is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Texas, released by Mercury Records on 3 February 1997. The album was the band's first number one in their native Scotland, and also reached number one in the United Kingdom, and would become their biggest seller internationally, selling in excess of four million copies worldwide. A major commercial success for the band, it has been certified 6× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of over 1.8 million copies, and has sold 1.65 million as of January 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharleen Spiteri</span> Scottish singer (born 1967)

Sharleen Eugene Spiteri is a Scottish singer–songwriter and guitarist who has a contralto vocal range, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas, who rose to prominence in 1989 with the release of their debut single "I Don't Want a Lover". Their debut album, Southside (1989) was a commercial success, selling over two million copies. Follow up albums were less successful, however, the release of their fourth album White on Blonde (1997) returned the band to prominence, spawning the internationally successful singles "Say What You Want", "Halo", "Black Eyed Boy" and "Put Your Arms Around Me". Their commercial success continued during the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, with singles "In Our Lifetime", "Summer Son", "In Demand" and "Inner Smile". Following the release of their seventh album Red Book (2005), the band began a hiatus. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 million records.

<i>Southside</i> (Texas album) 1989 studio album by Texas

Southside is the debut album by Scottish rock band Texas. It was released on 13 March 1989. It peaked at no. 3 in the UK Albums Chart and within three weeks of release was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. Worldwide, Southside has sold over 2 million copies.

<i>Ricks Road</i> 1993 studio album by Texas

Ricks Road is the third album by Scottish rock band Texas. The album was released on 1 November 1993 by Mercury Records. The album peaked at number 18 in the UK and spent two weeks on the UK Albums Chart. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry in October 1997. In Australia, the album peaked at number 96 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

<i>The Hush</i> 1999 studio album by Texas

The Hush is the fifth album by Scottish rock band Texas. Released in May 1999 as the follow up to the previous studio album, White on Blonde (1997), the album went onto achieve similar international success than that of its predecessor. It debuted at number one in Scotland and the United Kingdom and spent a total of 43 weeks on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It performed strongly in a number of continental European albums charts, reaching the top ten in France, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.

<i>Careful What You Wish For</i> (Texas album) 2003 studio album by Texas

Careful What You Wish For is the sixth album by Scottish rock band Texas, released 20 October 2003. Released on the backdrop of their 2000 compilation album The Greatest Hits which had sold over four million copies internationally by the time Careful What You Wish For was released, it spawned two singles, the commercial successful "Carnival Girl", featuring Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, and the second single, "I'll See It Through", which failed to match the success of "Carnival Girl".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Say What You Want</span> 1997 single by Texas

"Say What You Want" is a song by Scottish rock band Texas, written by band members Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri. It was the first single to be released from the group's fourth studio album, White on Blonde (1997), and released via the bands record label Mercury Records.

<i>Red Book</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Texas

Red Book is the seventh album from Scottish rock band Texas. It was released on 7 November 2005 and entered the UK Albums Chart at #16. It is named after the little red book that singer Sharleen Spiteri used to write the album songs. The album yielded two UK Top Ten singles, "Getaway" and "Sleep" and the UK Top 20 single, "Can't Resist". Four of the album's tracks were co-written with Brian Higgins of Xenomania — "Can't Resist", "Cry", "Get Down Tonight" and "Bad Weather".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Eyed Boy</span> 1997 single by Texas

"Black Eyed Boy" is the third single from Scottish rock band Texas's fourth studio album, White on Blonde (1997). The song was released on 28 July 1997 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Elsewhere, the song reached the top 50 in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, Israel and Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inner Smile</span> 2001 single by Texas

"Inner Smile" is a song by Scottish alternative rock band Texas, originally released on their greatest hits album, The Greatest Hits (2000). Written by Gregg Alexander and Rick Nowels and arranged by Texas, the song is based on Alexander's unreleased demo "Inner Child", which was written and performed between 1995 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Demand (song)</span> 2000 single by Texas

"In Demand" is a song by Scottish band Texas, written by Dallas Austin with band members Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri. The song was released in Europe on 25 September 2000 and in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2000 as the first single from their compilation album The Greatest Hits, reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 in Spain.

<i>Melody</i> (Sharleen Spiteri album) 2008 studio album by Sharleen Spiteri

Melody is the debut solo album by Sharleen Spiteri, lead singer of the Scottish band Texas. It was released on 14 July 2008 and peaked at number three in the UK Albums Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halo (Texas song)</span> 1997 single by Texas

"Halo" is a song by Scottish alternative rock band Texas, released on 7 April 1997 as the second single from their fourth studio album, White on Blonde (1997). The song was written by Texas frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri and guitarist Johnny McElhone and was produced by Texas and Mike Hedges. "Halo" debuted and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Charts. The music video, filmed in Hong Kong, features Spiteri and a Chinese woman acting as her "halo".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Owe It All to Me</span> 1993 single by Texas

"You Owe It All to Me" is a song by Scottish band Texas, released in October 1993 by Vertigo Records as the second single from their third studio album, Ricks Road (1993). It was written by Johnny McElhone and Sharleen Spiteri, and produced by Paul Fox. The song reached number 39 on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ally McErlaine</span> Scottish guitarist

Alistair Manson McErlaine, known as Ally McErlaine, is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his work with the band Texas, which he has been a member of since 1988. Ally is also a member of Red Sky July, who released their self-titled debut album on 17 October 2011.

<i>The Conversation</i> (Texas album) 2013 studio album by Texas

The Conversation is the eighth album from Scottish rock band Texas. It was released on 20 May 2013. Tracks are written mainly by Sharleen Spiteri and Johnny McElhone, with Richard Hawley and Bernard Butler as collaborators. The Conversation is the group's first studio album of new material since Red Book in 2005. The title track "The Conversation" was released as the first single from the album in April 2013, followed by up-beat Pop Rock "Detroit City", both of which received a decent amount of UK airplay, including on BBC Radio 2's playlist.

<i>Texas 25</i> 2015 compilation album by Texas

Texas 25 is a compilation album by Scottish rock band Texas, released on 16 February 2015. The album was released to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary and features eight reworked Texas tracks along with four new songs. A 2-disc deluxe edition of the album was also released, with disc 1 featuring the same track listing as the standard version of the album and disc 2 including the original versions of 15 of the band's biggest hits.

<i>Hi</i> (album) 2021 studio album by Texas

Hi is the tenth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Texas, released on 28 May 2021 through BMG. Hi was originally intended to be based on "lost" outtakes from the recording sessions of their 1997 chart-topping White on Blonde album, but this was eventually shelved and ultimately led the band to create new material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let's Work It Out</span> 2017 single by Texas

"Let's Work It Out" is a song by Scottish alternative rock band Texas, released in February 2017 as the lead single from their ninth studio album, Jump on Board (2017). The single was released via PIAS and BMG.

References

  1. ↑ "Texas". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Southwell, Tim (28 September 1991). "Long Play". New Musical Express . p. 35.
  4. ↑ "Mothers Heaven by Texas @ ARTISTdirect.com - Shop, Listen, Download". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 277.
  6. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Texas – Mothers Heaven" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Texas – Mothers Heaven" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Charts.nz – Texas – Mothers Heaven". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Texas – Mothers Heaven". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Texas – Mothers Heaven". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Les Certifications depuis 1973: Albums". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 18 December 2019. (select "Texas" from drop-down list)
  13. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Mothers Heaven')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
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