Bringin' on the Heartbreak
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"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" is a song originally recorded by British heavy metal band Def Leppard and written by three of its members (Steve Clark, Pete Willis, and Joe Elliott). A power ballad, it was covered by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey.
Def Leppard version
Def Leppard recorded the song for their second album High 'n' Dry. Its working title had been "A Certain Heartache", and the track (along with the others on the album) was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Lange said he thought the band was intending to make the song's verse "jangley" and "a kind of 'Stairway to Heaven' thing; Steve [Clark] likes that long wrangled guitar jangle". Cliff Bernstein, the manager of Def Leppard and an A&R representative for Mercury Records, later said that Peter Willis was embarrassed to play the song for him because it was a ballad. Bernstein originally thought it only had potential to be a hit single if it was recorded by an artist such as Bonnie Tyler.High 'n' Dry was released in the U.S. in summer 1981. Though its lead single "Let It Go" had become a minor top forty hit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart, the album itself had not been commercially successful. "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" was commercially released in the U.S. on November 13 (see 1981 in music), with "Me and My Wine" (a non-album track) and "You Got Me Runnin'" included as B-sides. It did not appear on the U.S. charts, but its music video was picked up by the recently-launched television channel MTV and received heavy rotation. The popularity of the video and the exposure the band received caused a resurgence in sales of High 'n' Dry, which went on to sell over two million copies. The video was directed by Doug Smith, and is a live recording of Def Leppard performing the song at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, England on July 22 1981. It was originally filmed (along with clips for "Let It Go" and "High 'n' Dry") as part of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert television series on the U.S. network ABC.
High 'n' Dry was re-issued in May 1984 with two new tracks, one of which was a synthesizer-heavy remix of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak". Featuring Phil Collen on guitar, the remix was released as a single with a newly-filmed video (see 1984 in music) and peaked at sixty-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The original version of the song is considered one of Def Leppard's signature power ballads, and was later included on two of their compilation albums: ' (1995) and ' (2005). A critic for All Music Guide has characterised the song as an "unabashedly dramatic rock ballad".
Mariah Carey version
Mariah Carey co-produced her cover of the song with Randy Jackson for her twelfth album Charmbracelet (2002). Carey (who cites the original song as one of her favorites whilst growing up) said that she first came up with the idea of covering it while listening to Def Leppard's album Vault during the album photo shoot for Charmbracelet: "I just put on the music and started listening to it, and I said, 'You know what? I could do this my own way'". It is one of Carey's few songs with a heavy rock influence, and was released as the album's third single in 2003 (see 2003 in music).
Like "Boy (I Need You)", the album's second single, "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" failed to make the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 or Billboard's Hot 100 Bubbling Under Singles chart. It received little airplay on most radio formats, including Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary stations that placed emphasis on songs with a soft rock sound. It reached the top thirty in Switzerland, but peaked outside of the top forty in Austria. When asked about Carey's cover version, Joe Elliot told the Las Vegas Sun: "I think she's done a very good job. It's faithful to the arrangement, but not done like a rock song. Some astonishing vocal gymnastics toward the end that make Minnie Riperton sound like Tom Waits". A number of reviews were positive,http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114174,00.html#4 with Rolling Stone describing the song as "the catchiest cut [on Charmbracelet]...a fascinatingly overblown orchestral remake". Phil Collen praised Carey's cover as a "genuine version of our song"Quoted from The Montreal Gazette, August 2003, http://www.mariahdaily.com/aug03.html . and defended it from Def Leppard's more critical fans: "The fans really get it wrong sometimes. She's on our side and it's an honour she's done it. Really, that's the only way we're getting played".Quoted from Canada Online, Sept 2004, http://www.mariahdaily.com/sept03.html .
The single's video is based on the 1979 film The Rose, which features a rock star (played by Bette Midler) who struggles to find happiness as she goes from her rough "rock and roll" lifestyle to her final high profile concert. The video was shot in Los Angeles, California on March 8 2003 by director Sanaa Hamri, and features cameo appearances by Randy Jackson, Dave Navarro (a guitarist on the track), Evan Marriott (as a helicopter pilot/bodyguard) and Guess? model Damon Willis. Junior Vasquez, Mike Rizzo and Ruanne created club remixes of the song, which saw a wider release on promotional singles than commercial singles and became popular in dance clubs around the world.
| Mariah Carey |
|---|
| Albums | Singles | Awards | |
Credits
Def Leppard version- Lead vocals by Joe Elliott
- Background vocals by Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Pete Willis
- Lead guitars by Steve Clark, Pete Willis
- Bass by Rick Savage
- Drums by Rick Allen
- Lead vocals by Mariah Carey
- Guitars by Dave Navarro, Rob Bacon
Charts
Def Leppard version
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | Failed to chart |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart | Failed to chart |
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1 | 61 |
1 Remix.
Mariah Carey version
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | Failed to chart |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles | Failed to chart |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 | 5 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 23 |
| Austria Top 75 Singles | 55[link] |
| Switzerland Top 100 Singles | 28[link] |
1 Remixes.
Notes
References
- ["Def Leppard: High 'N' Dry"]. Sleaze Roxx. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Rao, Sunil. ["Def Leppard - the Band"]. bbc.co.uk. September 18 2000. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Biography"]. DefLeppard.com — official website. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Huey, Steve. ["High 'N' Dry — Review"]. All Music Guide. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Timeline Part 2"]. The Def Leppard Frequency. September 18 2004. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Def Leppard — Billboard Singles"]. All Music Guide. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Mariah Carey: Artist Chart History — Singles"]. Billboard. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- LAUNCH Radio Networks. ["Mariah Carey Says She Loves Def Leppard Cover"]. LAUNCHcast. June 30 2003. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Armstrong, Mark and Morden, Darryl. ["Mariah Carey Covers Def Leppard On New Album"]. LAUNCHcast. October 24 2002. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Patterson, Spencer. ["Leppard's spots"]. Las Vegas Sun. December 6 2002 (weekend edition: December 8 2002). Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Rumoriah: The Mariah Rumor Mill"]. Mariah Daily. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Johnson Jr., Billy and Holland, Margy. ["Mariah Carey Video Features 'Joe Millionaire,' Dave Navarro"]. LAUNCHcast. March 18 2003. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Staff report. ["For The Record: Quick News On Mariah Carey, Russell Simmons And George W. Bush, Da Brat, Meshuggah, Eels & More"]. MTV.com. March 12 2003. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Walters, Barry. [Mariah Carey — Charmbracelet]. Rolling Stone. November 19 2002 (date of publication: December 12 2002). RS 911. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- Gibson, Darren. ["Def Video 1 — High 'N' Dry Era"]. Def Leppard UK. Retrieved January 26 2006.
- ["Mariah Carey — Bringin' On The Heartbreak"]. Top40-Charts.com. Retrieved January 26 2006.
External links
- [Lyrics]
- [}}}] at YouTube on The Today Show 2003
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