New Light Through Old Windows

New Light Through Old Windows is the first compilation album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1988. The album consists primarily of re-recordings of songs from Rea's earlier albums, as well as the new track "Working on It", which peaked at No. 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100,^[2] and was Rea's only No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[3] "On the Beach" peaked at No. 9 on the US Adult Contemporary singles chart, and No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.^[4][5] The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, charted for over a year, and was certified 3× Platinum by BPI until 1992.^[6][7] It charted in the Top 10 in New Zealand, Australia and West Germany.

New Light Through Old Windows
Compilation album by Chris Rea
Released	17 October 1988
Studio	Mountain Studios (Montreux, Switzerland) Studio Miraval (Provence, France)
Genre	Album-oriented rock
Length	60:13
Label	Geffen (US) Magnet (rest of world)
Producer	Chris Rea Jon Kelly
Chris Rea chronology
Dancing with Strangers (1987) New Light Through Old Windows (1988) The Road to Hell (1989)
Music video
"Working on it (1989)" on YouTube

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Chris Rea.

1. "Let's Dance" – 4:14
2. "Working on It" (previously unreleased) – 4:24
3. "Ace of Hearts" – 4:52
4. "Josephine" – 4:33
5. "Candles" – 4:44
6. "On the Beach" – 6:51
7. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" – 4:03
8. "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" – 3:23
9. "Shamrock Diaries" – 4:12
10. "Stainsby Girls" – 4:06
11. "Windy Town" – 4:05
12. "Driving Home for Christmas" – 3:58
13. "Steel River" – 6:48

The US vinyl release featured different cover artwork and an altered track listing, shown below:

1. "Let's Dance" – 4:16
2. "Working on It" – 4:25
3. "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" – 3:24
4. "Windy Town" – 4:06
5. "On the Beach" – 6:53
6. "Steel River" – 6:48
7. "Stainsby Girls" – 4:08
8. "Ace of Hearts" – 4:52
9. "Josephine" – 4:17 (different version than international release)
10. "Candles" – 4:42

Personnel

• Chris Rea – vocals, keyboards, guitars
• Max Middleton – keyboards
• Robert Ahwai – guitars
• Eoghan O'Neill – bass
• Martin Ditcham – drums, percussion
• Steve Gregory – soprano saxophone
• Carol Kenyon – backing vocals
• Katie Kissoon – backing vocals

Production

• Chris Rea – producer
• Jon Kelly – producer
• Justin Shirley-Smith – engineer
• Ronald Bos – art direction
• Hotline – design
• Jim Beach – management
• Paul Lilly – management
• John McCoy – title

Charts

Chart performance for New Light Through Old Windows

Chart (1988–2021)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8]	14
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9]	7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10]	59
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11]	9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12]	7
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13]	15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14]	29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15]	24
UK Albums (OCC)[16]	5
US Billboard 200[17]	92

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[18]	Gold	25,000*
France (SNEP)[19]	Gold	100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[20]	Platinum	500,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[21]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	3× Platinum	900,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.