Dangerous Acquaintances

Dangerous Acquaintances
Studio album by Marianne Faithfull
Released	September 1981
Genre	Rock[1]
Label	Island
Producer	Mark Miller Mundy
Marianne Faithfull chronology
Broken English (1979) Dangerous Acquaintances (1981) A Child's Adventure (1983)

Dangerous Acquaintances is an 1981 album by British artist Marianne Faithfull. The work was seen by reviewers as a disappointing follow-up to Faithfull's Broken English, as the album trades the angry and controversial alternative new wave arrangements of the previous one for a more mainstream rock texture, using over a dozen session musicians and, for some, giving a certain anonymous feel to the songs. The title is a reference to the Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.

The main singles of the album were "Intrigue", penned by the singer's then-husband, Ben Brierley, and "For Beauty's Sake", written by Faithfull and Steve Winwood.

Background and recording

Marianne Faithfull described the album's recording as a long and arduous process, marked by numerous instances of miscommunication between herself, the instrumentalists, and the producer.^[2] She particularly commented that bassist Steve York and drummer Terry Stannard did not gel properly, and that producer Mark Mundy made inappropriate production decisions, such as the inclusion of horns on "Intrigue".^[2] She was also unhappy with the way Mundy interacted with the performers: "We went through some amazing scenes. He was treating the band like they couldn't play and didn't know what they were doing - and in a way, me too, but particularly the band. It was a divide and conquer trip. I don't think he meant to do it. He just did it naturally."^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

In their retrospective review, Allmusic repeatedly criticized the album for backing down from the musical and lyrical boldness of Broken English in favor of more conventional and accessible material.^[1]

Track listing

1. "Sweetheart" (Marianne Faithfull, Barry Reynolds) – 3:17
2. "Intrigue" (Ben Brierley) – 4:31
3. "Easy in the City" (Faithfull, Reynolds) – 3:16
4. "Strange One" (Joe Mavety, Terry Stannard) – 2:52
5. "Tenderness" (Faithfull, Reynolds) – 3:53
6. "For Beautie's Sake" (Faithfull, Steve Winwood) – 3:32
7. "So Sad" (Faithfull, Reynolds, Steve York) – 4:32
8. "Eye Communication" (Faithfull, Reynolds, Fuzzy Samuel, Stannard) – 3:36 "The Tyger" excerpt by William Blake
9. "Truth, Bitter Truth" (David Courts, Faithfull, Reynolds) – 7:22

The single "For Beautie's Sake" featured the non-album b-side "Over Here."

• Note: The spelling of the song's title is intentionally anachronistic.

"The Letter", a short spoken word interpretation of a significant episode in the de Laclos novel, was given a limited vinyl release in Australia as b-side on the single release of "Sweetheart".

Personnel

• Marianne Faithfull – vocals
• Barry Reynolds – guitar
• Steve York – bass
• Joe Maverty – bass
• Terry Stannard - drums

with:

• Steve Winwood
• Frank Collins – vocals
• Denis Haines – keyboards
• Pickford Sykes - keyboards
• Neil Hubbard – guitar
• Martin Drover – trumpet
• Julian Diggle – guitar
• Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel – bass
• Chris Stainton - keyboards
• Clifton "Bigga" Morrison - piano
• Dyane Spenner
• Jim Leverton
• Mel Collins
• Peter Veitch

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1981) Peak position Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[3] 24 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[4] 12 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[5] 33 French SNEP Albums Chart [6] 10 New Zealand Albums Chart[7] 7 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[8] 12 Swedish Albums Chart[9] 4 UK Albums Chart[10] 45 U.S. Billboard 200 [11] 104

Year-end charts Chart (1981) Position Canadian Albums Chart[12] 76 Certifications } } } Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[13] Gold 35,000^^ Canada (Music Canada)[14] Gold 50,000^^ France (SNEP)[15] Gold 113,800[16] ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. Dangerous Acquaintances at AllMusic
2. Farber, Jim (June 1983). "I Got Here by the Skin of my Teeth". Record 2 (8): 1, 30.
3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
4. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2012-01-29
5. "dutchcharts.nl Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
6. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
7. "charts.org.nz Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
8. "norwegiancharts.com Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
9. "swedishcharts.com Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2011-10-29.
10. "Chart Stats - Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
11. "allmusic ((( Dangerous Acquaintances > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
12. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1981". RPM. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
13. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
14. "Canadian album certifications – Marianne Faithfull – Dangerous Acquaintances". Music Canada.
15. "French album certifications – Marianne Faithfull – Dangerous Acquaintances" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
16. "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 2012-01-29.