Stranger in This Town

Last updated

Stranger in This Town
Stranger In This Town.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 3, 1991
Studio
  • A&M Studios (Hollywood, California)
  • Marathon Studios, Right Track Recording and Skyline Studios (New York City, New York)
  • City Lights Recording Studios (Farmingdale, New Jersey)
Genre Hard rock, blues rock
Length52:11
Label Mercury
Producer
Richie Sambora chronology
Stranger in This Town
(1991)
Undiscovered Soul
(1998)
Singles from Stranger in This Town
  1. "Ballad of Youth"
    Released: 1991
  2. "One Light Burning"
    Released: 1991
  3. "Stranger in This Town"
    Released: 1991
  4. "Mr Bluesman (Solo by Eric Clapton)"
    Released: 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

Stranger in This Town is the first solo studio album by Richie Sambora, the guitarist from the New Jersey band Bon Jovi. The album was released in 1991, while Bon Jovi was on a 17-month hiatus. Jon Bon Jovi also released a solo album, Blaze of Glory (1990), during this period.

Contents

Recording and production

As his first solo album, Sambora experimented with a more blues-oriented sound. He sings lead vocals and plays guitar on the album, backed by his Bon Jovi bandmates Tico Torres on drums and David Bryan on keyboards, joined by Tony Levin on bass guitar. Eric Clapton makes a guest appearance playing guitar on the track "Mr. Bluesman".

"Ballad of Youth", "One Light Burning" and "The Answer" were co-written with colleagues from his former club band Shark Frenzy. "Rosie" was originally intended to be a Bon Jovi song for their fourth album New Jersey ; versions of this song with the full Bon Jovi line-up have surfaced as bootlegs.

"Ballad of Youth" was released as the lead single followed by the second single "One Light Burning". The album titled track, "Stranger in This Town" was released as the third single and "Mr. Bluesman" featuring Eric Clapton was released as a promo single. The first three singles were accompanied by music videos. [2]

The first radio promotional single was "Church of Desire" in the United Kingdom. "The Answer" and "Rosie" were also released as promo singles in Japan.

Occasionally, "Stranger in This Town" has been played by Sambora on Bon Jovi's tours, most recently on their Lost Highway Tour in 2008.

Chart performance

The album charted at No. 36 on the Billboard 200 [3] and No. 20 on the UK Albums Chart. [4]

The lead single, "Ballad of Youth", reached a high of No. 63 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 59 in the UK. The album titled track, "Stranger in This Town" charted at No. 38 on the Mainstream rock charts. [5]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rest in Peace" Richie Sambora, David Bryan 3:47
2."Church of Desire"Sambora6:07
3."Stranger in This Town"Sambora, Bryan6:15
4."Ballad of Youth"Sambora, Tom Marolda3:52
5."One Light Burning"Sambora, Marolda, Bruce Foster5:47
6."Mr. Bluesman" ( Solo by Eric Clapton )Sambora5:14
7."Rosie"Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child, Diane Warren 4:50
8."River of Love"Sambora5:06
9."Father Time"Sambora, Child6:06
10."The Answer"Sambora, Foster5:07
Total length:52:11
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."The Wind Cries Mary" Jimi Hendrix 6:00
Total length:58:11

Personnel

Production

Additional technical credits

Notes

Charts

Album

Chart (1991)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [6] 44
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [7] 69
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [8] 72
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [9] 31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [10] 15
UK Albums (OCC) [11] 20
US Billboard 200 [12] 36

Singles

Ballad of Youth (1991)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [13] 25
Canada Singles67
UK Singles (OCC) [14] 59
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] 63
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [16] 13
Stranger in This Town (1991)Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [16] 38

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References

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  5. "Allmusic (Richie Sambora charts & awards) Billboard singles".
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  7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Richie Sambora – Stranger in This Town" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
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  10. "Swisscharts.com – Richie Sambora – Stranger in This Town". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
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  13. "Richie Sambora – Ballad of Youth". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  14. "Richie Sambora: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  15. "Richie Sambora Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Richie Sambora Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2021.