Belinda Carlisle
Runaway Horses

THE REVIEW

This review stems from the one I read about Belinda's previous album.

This work, dated 1989, is the artist's third and comes a year and a half after the great success of "heaven on earth" (7 million copies worldwide). The album as a whole is perhaps more beautiful than the previous one.

"Heaven on earth" was indeed an album of light pop characterized by the presence of 4 very good tracks (3 of which were singles) and a handful of songs that were neither here nor there. "Runaway horses", on the other hand, is a wholly good album, but a bit too studied.
The tracks are indeed connected by a common thread, namely, created with a guitar base (instead of keyboards), many strings and regal arrangements, rich choral and powerful vocal blend.

The repetition of these features throughout 9 of the 10 tracks (except the last one) means that the work loses its ability to surprise listen after listen. However, the arrangements are very well-crafted, with illustrious collaborations (George Harrison on guitars in the first single "leave a light on" and "deep deep ocean", Bryan Adams on backing vocals in "Whatever it takes", perhaps the best track on the album) and Belinda's voice is warm, and more sensual than ever.
Six singles were released from the album, which were highly respected European hits (2 top ten hits and 4 top 40 hits), all accompanied by beautiful and carefully crafted videos. Result: 5 million copies sold worldwide. Belinda was not a mere flash in the pan, as claimed by the person who preceded me in their review. Throughout the 90s, she released 3 more albums and 2 compilations, the first of which reached number 1 even in the challenging UK. Even today, there are many sites about the artist, who moreover will release 2 albums over the year, one of remixes in July and one of new material in September.

In short... definitely worth reevaluating.