Outrider (album)

Outrider
A blurred black-and-white photograph of Page holding a guitar, wearing a pinstripe suit
Studio album by
Released20 June 1988 (1988-06-20)[1]
RecordedEarly 1987
StudioThe Sol, Cookham, Berkshire, England
GenreBlues rock, instrumental rock, hard rock
Length39:50
LabelGeffen
ProducerJimmy Page
Jimmy Page chronology
Mean Business
(1986)
Outrider
(1988)
Coverdale–Page
(1993)

Outrider is an album by Jimmy Page, released by Geffen Records on 20 June 1988. It is his only solo studio album and the first time since 1969 he recorded with a record label other than Atlantic Records/Swan Song Records. Page recorded the music at his personal studio The Sol. Robert Plant guests on one track, "The Only One", while John Bonham's son Jason plays drums.

This was originally intended to be a two album release. However, during the early recording stages of this album, Page's house was broken into and amongst the items stolen were the demo tapes which had been recorded up to that point.[2] Page did not record any demos prior to recording the album itself.[3]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Chicago TribuneUnfavorable[5]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal4/10[6]
Kerrang![7]
Rolling Stone[8]
SpinFavorable[9]

The album reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200 chart,[10] also peaking at No. 27 on the UK Album Chart.[11] The Globe and Mail determined that "Outrider is a mixed bag, ripe with snakelike blues riffs and Page's impeccable use of textures, but hampered by mediocre songwriting."[12]

Years later, Jimmy Page reflected on the album in rather positive terms:

Outrider's all right. It's demo-like compared with those overproduced albums that came out at the time. It didn't do very well—doesn't matter—but I did tour. I was playing music on that tour going right back to The Yardbirds. Jason [Bonham] was the drummer on that tour.[13]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Wasting My Time"Page, John MilesJohn Miles4:28
2."Wanna Make Love"Page, MilesJohn Miles5:20
3."Writes of Winter"PageInstrumental3:27
4."The Only One"Page, Robert PlantRobert Plant4:27
5."Liquid Mercury"PageInstrumental3:04
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Hummingbird"Leon RussellChris Farlowe5:22
7."Emerald Eyes"PageInstrumental3:20
8."Prison Blues"Page, Chris FarloweChris Farlowe7:10
9."Blues Anthem (If I Cannot Have Your Love...)"Page, FarloweChris Farlowe3:24

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

Technical

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 25
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] 25
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[16] 12
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 50
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[18] 22
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 28
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 27
US Billboard 200[22] 26

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

[edit]
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! UK Albums of 1988[24] 1988 16

Tour

[edit]
Date City Country Venue
2 September 1988 Miami United States Miami Arena
6 September 1988 Atlanta The Omni
8 September 1988 Miami James L. Knight Center
9 September 1988 Tampa USF Sun Dome
11 September 1988 Houston The Summit
14 September 1988 Austin Frank Erwin Center
16 September 1988 El Paso UTEP Special Events Center
17 September 1988 Mesa Mesa Amphitheatre
23 September 1988 Dallas Coca-Cola Starplex
24 September 1988 New Orleans Municipal Auditorium
7 October 1988 Los Angeles LA Forum
8 October 1988 San Diego SDSU State Theatre
11 October 1988 Oakland Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena
14 October 1988 Kansas City Memorial Hall
16 October 1988 Bloomington Met Center
17 October 1988 Chicago UIC Pavilion
19 October 1988 Cleveland Public Auditorium
21 October 1988 Dayton Hara Arena
22 October 1988 Detroit Joe-Louis Arena
25 October 1988 Rochester Rochester Arena War Memorial
26 October 1988 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena
28 October 1988 Uniondale Nassau Colisuem
29 October 1988 Worcester Worcester Centrum
30 October 1988 Philadelphia The Spectrum
3 November 1988 New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum
4 November 1988 Syracuse Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium
5 November 1988 Troy RPI Fieldhouse
8 November 1988 Landover Capital Center
9 November 1988 Pittsburgh Syria Mosque
11 November 1988 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
12 November 1988 New York The Ritz
13 November 1988
UK
21 November 1988 Birmingham United Kingdom The Hummingbird
23 November 1988 Newcastle Newcastle City Hall
24 November 1988 London Hammersmith Odeon
25 November 1988
26 November 1988 Manchester Manchester Apollo

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 8.
  2. ^ Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press, p. 166.
  3. ^ Kay, Max; Scoppa, Bud (19 September 2011). "Jimmy Page Discusses His New Solo Album, 'Outrider,' and More in 1988 Guitar World Interview, Part 1 (Page 3)". Guitar World. Harris Publications. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  4. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Jimmy Page - Outrider review". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ Lynn, Van Matre (17 July 1988). "Jimmy Page Goes Solo In 'Outrider'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  6. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  7. ^ Jeffries, Neil (2 July 1988). "Jimmy Page - 'Outrider'". Kerrang!. No. 194.
  8. ^ David, Fricke (25 August 1988). "Jimmy Page: Outrider". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  9. ^ Christensen, Thor (September 1988). "Jimmy Page - Outrider". Spin. Vol. 4, no. 6. p. 90. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  10. ^ "The Billboard 200 – 30 July 1988". Billboard. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  11. ^ "Top 100 Albums – 2 July 1988". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  12. ^ Dafoe, Chris (30 June 1988). "Jimmy Page Outrider". The Globe and Mail. p. C3.
  13. ^ "I first met Jimmy on Tolworth Broadway, holding a bag of exotic fish...", Uncut, January 2009, p. 47.
  14. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Jimmy Page – Outrider". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8565". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  16. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jimmy Page – Outrider" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  18. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 8 July 2023. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Jimmy Page".
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Jimmy Page – Outrider". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  20. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Jimmy Page – Outrider". Hung Medien. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  21. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  22. ^ "Jimmy Page Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July, 8 2023.
  23. ^ "American album certifications – Jimmy Page – Outrider". Recording Industry Association of America.
  24. ^ "Kerrang! Albums of 1988". rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2009.