Be Yourself Tonight is the fourth studio album by British pop duo Eurythmics, released on 29 April 1985 by RCA Records. It spawned four singles – "Would I Lie to You?", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (a duet with Aretha Franklin) and "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)". The album has been described as their most commercially successful album, and has been pitched as "one of the greatest pop and rock albums of the 1980s". Elsewhere, it reached the top ten in the United States, Switzerland and Germany.
It was nominated for the Billboard Music Award for Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Compact Disk Award at the 1985 Billboard Music Awards and the Brit Award for British Album of the Year at the 1986 Brit Awards. Two of the albums singles – "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" and "Would I Lie to You?" were nominated for two awards at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal respectively.
Background
Largely recorded in Paris, with additional recording in Detroit and Los Angeles, this album saw Eurythmics move away from their previous more experimental, synthesizer-based songs, to a more pop/rock sound with some R&B elements. Songs, such as "Would I Lie To You?" were influenced by 1960s style music, as well as utilising American soul and British pop. Combining elements of Motown and rock music, the album incorporates a more traditional band line-up/instrumentation. Nonetheless, the recordings still possessed an atmospheric and cutting edge sound, winning David A. Stewart awards for his production work on the album.
The release of the album coincided with a new look for singer Annie Lennox, who ditched the androgynous look of the previous albums and became, in biographer Lucy O'Brien's words, "a bleach-blonde rock 'n' roller". Be Yourself Tonight includes guest appearances by notable artists such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Elvis Costello. The album features a range of genres performed by the duo, many of which were performed by the band for the first time. It has been described as both a "masterpiece" and "one of the best pop/rock albums of the 1980s" largely in part a result of their "innovation and ability to not succumb to the machine”. and Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies.
Track listing
Notes
- Track 4 is edited to 5:22 on the 2018 vinyl remaster
- Track 9 is incorrectly labelled "Better to Have Lost in Love (Then Never to Have Loved at All)" on the 2005 remastered reissue.
- Track 13 of the 2005 remastered reissue is listed as the "ET Mix", but it is actually the "Extended Mix" from the "Would I Lie to You?" 12-inch single.
- The live version of "Conditioned Soul" (track 14) was recorded on 14 February 1987, not in 1985. It was captured during Eurythmics' Revenge Tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and it's the same performance featured in their Eurythmics Live video. This was omitted from the final video release but remains part of the audio recording used for the bonus track.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Be Yourself Tonight.
Eurythmics
- Annie Lennox – vocals ; keyboards ; keyboard sequencers
- David A. Stewart – guitars ; sequencers ; keyboards ; bass sequencer, drum computer program ; electric guitar, slide guitar ; six-stringed octave guitar
Additional musicians
- Nathan East – bass
- Olle Romo – drums ; wood stomping
- Benmont Tench – organ
- Dave Plews – trumpet
- Martin Dobson – saxophones
- Dean Garcia – bass ; wood stomping
- Michael Kamen – strings ; celeste ; brass arrangement idea ; keyboard solo, string parts
- Stevie Wonder – harmonica
- Angel Cross – backing vocals
- The Charles Williams Singers – backing vocals ; gospel choir
- Adam Williams – drum computer program
- Sadie (and other uncredited performers) – gravel stomping
- Aretha Franklin – "super" vocals
- Stan Lynch – drums
- Mike Campbell – lead guitar
- Elvis Costello – harmony vocal
Technical
- David A. Stewart – production, mixing
- Adam Williams – mixing ; engineering
- Don Smith – special help ; engineering ; mixing ; additional engineering
- Jay Willis – engineering assistance
- Shelly Yakus – drum recording
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
Artwork
- Laurence Stevens – art, design
- Paul Fortune – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Be Yourself Tonight
! scope="col"| Chart (1985)
! scope="col"| Peak<br>position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Eurotipsheet)
| 5
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 3
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (IFOP)
| 20
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)
| 18
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 44
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1985 year-end chart performance for Be Yourself Tonight
! scope="col"| Chart (1985)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 5
|-
! scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 17
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Eurotipsheet)
| 10
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 28
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 12
|-
! scope="row"| Norwegian Autumn Period Albums (VG-lista)
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Norwegian Summer Period Albums (VG-lista)
| 6
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (Gallup)
| 15
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 54
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1986 year-end chart performance for Be Yourself Tonight
! scope="col"| Chart (1986)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 86
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 75
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 53
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (Gallup)
| 30
|}