Bad English (album)

Bad English is the debut studio album by British/American rock band Bad English. It was released in on 26 June 1989.

Bad English
Studio album by Bad English
Released	26 June 1989 (1989-06-26)[1]
Studio	One on One (North Hollywood, California) A&M, Conway, Secret Sound L.A. (Hollywood, California) Pacific Sound (Chatsworth, California) Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, California)
Genre	Hard rock AOR
Length	62:10
Label	Epic
Producer	Richie Zito
Bad English chronology
Bad English (1989) Backlash (1991)
Singles from Bad English
"Forget Me Not" Released: 1989 "When I See You Smile" Released: 30 August 1989[2] "Price of Love" Released: 1989 "Don't Walk Away" Released: 1989 (UK)[3] "Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word" Released: 1990 "Possession" Released: 1990

The album was a massive success, especially because of the No. 1 single "When I See You Smile".^[4] That single was certified gold by the RIAA while the album was certified platinum.^[2] Aside from that song, the album had two other top 40 hits, "Price of Love" and "Possession", which peaked at No. 5 and No. 21, respectively.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
LouderSound	[7]
Rock Hard	8.5/10[8]

The album received generally positive reviews.

RPM's reviewer David Spodek called it "an LP full of enough hard driving rock and roll and power chords to please any AOR MD" and named "Forget Me Not" as the best cut.^[9] Rock Hard gave an extremely positive review, and considered it the "best AOR album of the past six months".^[8] Pan-European magazine Music & Media found that the album full of "well-balanced, solid, melodic hard rock" and the "band seem to be at their best on the slower numbers where the quality of the hooks indicate that they could be the next big thing."^[10]

AllMusic's Dan Heilman gave the album four stars, saying, "Amid some tailor-made power ballads lurks some decent hard rock."^[6]

LouderSound writer Dave Everley gave the album four stars, explaining the rating with "Bad English marked the end of an era, but what a last hurrah it was".^[7] Nonetheless, in 2016, "When I See You Smile" was ranked by LouderSound as the 10th-worst power ballad ever written.^[11]

Musician reviewer J. D. Considine wrote simply: "Grammar is the least of their problems."^[12]

In popular culture

"Best of What I Got" is featured during the credits to the 1989 film Tango & Cash.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Best of What I Got"	John Waite Jonathan Cain Neal Schon	4:40
2.	"Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word"	Schon Cain Waite Mark Spiro	4:45
3.	"Possession"	Waite Cain Ricky Phillips	5:08
4.	"Forget Me Not"	Waite Cain Spiro	4:58
5.	"When I See You Smile"	Diane Warren	4:17
6.	"Tough Times Don't Last"	Cain David Roberts Waite	4:42

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ghost in Your Heart"	Waite Martin Page Cain	4:46
2.	"Price of Love"	Waite Cain	4:47
3.	"Ready When You Are"	Cain Waite Schon Todd Cerney	4:20
4.	"Lay Down"	Waite Schon Cain	4:38
5.	"The Restless Ones"	Waite Cain Phillips	5:23
6.	"Rockin' Horse"	Schon Waite Cain	5:31
7.	"Don't Walk Away"	Andy Hill Peter Sinfield	4:30

Personnel

Bad English

• John Waite – lead vocals
• Jonathan Cain – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Neal Schon – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Ricky Phillips – bass, backing vocals
• Deen Castronovo – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Production

• Richie Zito – producer
• Phil Kaffel – engineer, mixing (1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 13)
• Mike Fraser – mixing (1–6, 8, 9, 11, 12)
• Daren Chadwick – second engineer
• Leon Johnson – second engineer
• Jeff Poe – second engineer
• Mike Tacci – second engineer
• Bob Vogt – second engineer
• Gary Wagner – second engineer
• Randy Wine – second engineer
• Toby Wright – second engineer
• George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
• Richard Ivers – production coordinator
• Katy Parks – production coordinator
• Hugh Syme – art direction, design
• Chris Cuffaro – cover photography

Charts

Chart (1989–1990)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[13]	12
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14]	34
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15]	95
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16]	39
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	74
US Billboard 200[18]	21

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA)[20]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.