Open Road (Gary Barlow album)

Open Road
Studio album by Gary Barlow
Released	26 May 1997 (1997-05-26)
Recorded	1996–1997
Genre	Pop
Length	50:54
Label	BMG RCA Arista
Producer	Clive Davis (exec.) David Foster Gary Barlow Mike Rose Nick Foster Kristian Lundin Max Martin Carsten Schack Kenneth Karlin Stephen Lipson Absolute Grant Mitchell Walter Afanasieff Chris Porter Simon Willis
Gary Barlow chronology
Open Road (1997) Twelve Months, Eleven Days (1999)
Singles from Open Road (European Version)
"Forever Love" Released: 5 July 1996 "Love Won't Wait" Released: 9 April 1997 "So Help Me Girl" Released: 11 July 1997 "Open Road" Released: 31 October 1997 "Hang on in There Baby" Released: 3 April 1998

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Love Won't Wait"	Madonna Ciccone Shep Pettibone	Stephen Lipson	4:17
2.	"So Help Me Girl"	Howard Perdew Andy Spooner	David Foster	4:29
3.	"My Commitment"	Gary Barlow Diane Warren	Walter Afanasieff	4:48
4.	"Hang on in There Baby"	Johnny Bristol	Trevor Horn	3:39
5.	"Are You Ready Now"	Barlow	Barlow Grant Mitchell	4:19
6.	"Everything I Ever Wanted"	Barlow	Absolute	3:32
7.	"I Fall So Deep"	Larry Loftin Amy Powers	Foster	4:02
8.	"Lay Down for Love"	Barlow Richard Stannard Matt Rowbottom	Barlow Mitchell	5:33
9.	"Forever Love"	Barlow	Barlow Chris Porter	4:55
10.	"Never Knew"	Barlow	Afanasieff	3:50
11.	"Open Road"	Barlow	Barlow Porter Absolute [a]	4:23
12.	"Always"	Barlow	Barlow Porter	3:32

Japanese edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"The Meaning of a Love Song"	Gary Barlow	Porter, Barlow	3:37
14.	"Cuddly Toy"	Andrew Roachford	Mark Picchiotti	3:42

Spanish edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Ayúdame"	Howard Perdew, Andy Spooner, Nani Mano	Foster	4:26

US edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Fall So Deep"	Larry Loftin, Mattias Gustafsson, Amy Powers	David Foster	4:02
2.	"Open Road"	Gary Barlow	Chris Porter, Barlow, Mike Rose [a] , Nick Foster [a]	4:23
3.	"Superhero"	Barlow, Max Martin, Joylon Skinner, Kristian Lundin	Martin, Lundin	3:35
4.	"My Commitment"	Barlow, Diane Warren	Walter Afanasieff, Soulshock & Karlin [b]	4:13
5.	"Love Won't Wait"	Madonna, Shep Pettibone	Stephen Lipson, Junior Vasquez [c]	4:21
6.	"So Help Me Girl"	Howard Perdew, Andy Spooner	Foster	4:29
7.	"Everything I Wanted"	Barlow	Absolute	3:32
8.	"Hang on in There Baby"	Johnny Bristol	Rose, Foster	3:39
9.	"Lay Down for Love"	Barlow, Richard Stannard, Matt Rowbottom	Grant Mitchell, Barlow	5:33
10.	"Never Knew"	Barlow	Afanasieff	3:50
11.	"Forever Love"	Barlow	Chris Porter, Barlow	4:55
12.	"Back for Good" (Live)	Barlow	Simon Willis	4:19

Australian special edition bonus CD-rom tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Forever Love" (Video)	4:55
2.	"Love Won't Wait" (Video)	4:17
3.	"So Help Me Girl" (Video)	4:29

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a remixer
• ^{^[c]} signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits for Open Road adapted from AllMusic. ^[6]

• Gary Barlow – composer, piano, producer, vocals
• Absolute – mixing, multi instruments, producer
• Walter Afanasieff – bass, drums, keyboards, organ, producer, programming, synthesizer
• Alex Black – assistant engineer
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Andreas Carlsson – backing vocals
• Jake Chessum – photography
• Clive Davis – executive producer
• Joey Diggs – backing vocals
• Felipe Elgueta – engineer
• David Foster – arranger, vocals, keyboards, producer
• Nick Foster – keyboards, producer, programming, remixing
• Simon Franglen – programming
• Paul Gendler – guitar
• David Gleeson – engineer, mixing
• Nathaniel Goldberg – photography
• Jeff Griffin – assistant engineer
• Sandy Griffith – backing vocals
• Mick Guzauski – mixing
• Phillip Ingram – backing vocals
• Judy Kirschner – assistant engineer
• Bob Kraushaar – mixing
• Kristian Lawing – Producer
• Stephen Lipson – producer
• Richard Lowe – mixing
• Milton Mcdonald – guitar
• Madonna – composer
• Manny Marroquin – engineer, mixing
• Max Martin – producer, backing vocals
• Grant Mitchell – arranger, producer, programming
• P. Dennis Mitchell – mixing
• Heff Moraes – engineer
• Joey Moskowitz – programming
• Esbjörn Öhrwall – guitar
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Shep Pettibone – composer
• Chris Porter – producer
• Claytoven Richardson – backing vocals
• Marnie Riley – mixing assistant
• Mike Rose – keyboards, producer, programming, remixing
• Marc Russo – guest artist, tenor saxophone
• Mike Scott – assistant engineer
• Dan Shea – keyboards, programming
• Andy Spooner – composer
• Christopher Stern – art direction
• Ren Swan – engineer
• Michael Thompson – guitar
• Jeanie Tracy – backing vocals
• Junior Vasquez – producer
• Norman Watson – photography
• Dave Way – mixing
• Wil Wheaton – backing vocals
• Simon Willis – producer
• Tim Willis – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1997) Peak Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [7] 30 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria Top 75) [8] 13 Belgian (Ultratop 50 Vlaanderen) Albums [9] 7 Belgian (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) Albums [10] 20 Danish Albums (Tracklisten) [11] 6 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) [12] 13 Estonian Albums (Eesti Top 10) [13] 7 European Albums Chart [14] 4 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [15] 29 German Albums (Media Control AG) [16] 10 Greek Albums (IFPI Greece) [17] 3 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [18] 33 Irish Albums (IRMA) [19] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI) [20] 8 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [21] 40 Malaysian Albums (IFPI) [22] 3 New Zealand Albums (RIANZ) [23] 43 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [24] 34 Scottish Albums (OCC) [25] 2 Singapore Albums (SPVA) [26] 5 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [14] 5 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [27] 25 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [28] 6 Taiwanese Albums (IFPI) [29] 1 UK Albums (OCC) [30] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [31] 100 UK Albums (OCC) [32] 43

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [33]	Platinum	300,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "UK Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
2. Open Road British Sales Certificate ^{[ permanent dead link ]}. British Phonographic Industry. 12 December 1997. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
3. AllMusic review
4. "Reviews: Albums" (PDF). Music Week . 17 May 1997. p. 13. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
5. http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T12772348936&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T12772348940&cisb=22_T12772348939&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=172244&docNo=2 Nexis Lexis, Search Gary Barlow Open Road, 2nd source on list. Rodel Divina, The Vista San Diego
6. https://www.allmusic.com/album/open-road-mw0000024917/credits Open Road album credits.
7. Danish Charts AustralianCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
8. "Discographie Gary Barlow". AustrianCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
9. "Gary Barlow – Open Road". UltraTop.be. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
10. "Gary Barlow – Open Road". UltraTop.be. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
11. "Billboard". books.google.com. 27 September 1997. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
12. "Discography Gary Barlow". DutchCharts.nl. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
13. "Kassetid ja CD-d: EESTI TOP 10". Sõnumileht (in Estonian). 14 June 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
14. "Billboard". books.google.com. 21 June 1997. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
15. "Discography Gary Barlow". FinnishCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
16. "Gary Barlow". Charts-Surfer.de. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
17. "IFPI Greece – Gary Barlow – Open Road". IFPI Greece . Retrieved 8 December 2010.
18. http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum Hungarian album Archive.
19. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie.
20. "Billboard". books.google.com. 21 June 1997. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
21. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/68069/ranking/cd_album/ Oricon Archive – Gary Barlow Open Road.
22. "Billboard". books.google.com. 6 September 1997. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
23. "Discography Gary Barlow". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
24. "Discography Gary Barlow". NorwegianCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
25. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
26. "Top 10 Albums of the Week". The Straits Times . 19 July 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 16 December 2024– via National Library Board of Singapore and SPH Media.
27. "Discography Gary Barlow". SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
28. "Discography Gary Barlow". SwissCharts.com. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
29. "IFPI Taiwan – International Top 10 (1997/24)". Archived from the original on 24 February 1998. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
30. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
31. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved 8 September 2016.
32. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
33. "British album certifications – Gary Barlow – Open Road". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 25 July 2012.