Sleeping with the Past

Sleeping with the Past
Cover of ‘Sleeping With the Past’ by Elton John
Studio album by
Elton John
Released4 September 1989[1]
RecordedNovember 1988 – March 1989
StudioPuk,[2] Randers, Denmark
GenrePop[3]
Length47:43
LabelMCA (US), Rocket (UK)
ProducerChris Thomas
Elton John chronology
Reg Strikes Back
(1988) 		Sleeping with the Past
(1989) 		The Very Best of Elton John
(1990)
Singles from Sleeping with the Past
  1. "Healing Hands"
    Released: August 1989[4]
  2. "Sacrifice"
    Released: October 1989
  3. "Club at the End of the Street"
    Released: April 1990
  4. "Whispers"
    Released: November 1990 (EU)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Chicago Tribune[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Hi-Fi News & Record ReviewA:1[8]
Los Angeles Times[3]

Sleeping with the Past is the twenty-second studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 4 September 1989. It is his best-selling album in Denmark (where it was recorded) and is dedicated to his longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin. The album features "Sacrifice" and "Healing Hands", which were issued as a double A-side and became John's first solo number-one single in his home country of the UK. The single's success helped the album also hit number one there, his first since 1974's Elton John's Greatest Hits. It also became his first platinum album in the UK since 1985's Ice on Fire. In the US it was certified gold in October 1989 and platinum in April 1990 by the RIAA. Sleeping with the Past became John's best selling album of the 1980s.[9]

John and Taupin meant for the songs to reflect the style of 1960s R&B icons such as Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, whom they admired.

Guy Babylon made his debut on this album and would continue to play keyboards with John for the next 20 years, while Fred Mandel left the band shortly after. John went into rehabilitation in 1990.[10]

  1. ^ "New Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 2 September 1989. p. 49. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Legendary Danish Studio Used By JUDAS PRIEST, GARY MOORE And MESHUGGAH Destroyed In Fire". blabbermouth.net. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Boehm, Mike (27 August 1989). "Elton John "Sleeping With the Past" MCA". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  4. ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 5 August 1989. p. 41. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  5. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Sleeping with the Past at AllMusic
  6. ^ Caro, Mark (30 November 1989). "Elton John Sleeping with the Past (MCA)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "John, Elton". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 2,003. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  8. ^ Farmer, Neville (December 1989). "Review: Elton John — Sleeping with the Past" (PDF). Hi-Fi News & Record Review (magazine). Vol. 34, no. 12. Croydon: Link House Magazines Ltd. p. 141. ISSN 0142-6230. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021 – via World Radio History.
  9. ^ Bernardin, Claude; Stanton, Tom (1996). Rocket Man: Elton John from A – Z. Praeger. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-275-95698-1.
  10. ^ Bernardin, Claude; Stanton, Tom (1996). Rocket Man: Elton John From A - Z (Paperback ed.). Praeger. pp. 1. ISBN 978-0-275-95698-1. rocket man: elton john from a-z since 1990, when he began treatment for addictions.