Wide Awake in Dreamland

Wide Awake in Dreamland is the seventh studio album by American rock singer Pat Benatar, and her eighth album overall, released in 1988. After a string of successful albums, this was her last rock-oriented album of the 1980s, before she would go on to try a blues-based sound with True Love in 1991.

Wide Awake in Dreamland
Cover photography by Moshe Brakha
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 4, 1988[1]
Recorded1987
StudioSpyder's Soul Kitchen,
Ocean Way Recording ("All Fired Up"), Los Angeles, California
GenreRock, hard rock, glam metal
Length50:12
LabelChrysalis
Producer
Pat Benatar chronology
Best Shots
(1987)
Wide Awake in Dreamland
(1988)
True Love
(1991)
Singles from Wide Awake in Dreamland
  1. "All Fired Up"
    Released: June 14, 1988
  2. "Don't Walk Away"
    Released: September 27, 1988
  3. "Let's Stay Together"
    Released: December 19, 1988
  4. "One Love"
    Released: January 9, 1989 (EU)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

The album's lead single, "All Fired Up", peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100[4] and number 25 on the Cash Box Top 100.[5] It was nominated for a Grammy Award but did not win.[6]

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA.[7]

Background and writing

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The album was primarily recorded at Neil Giraldo's studio, with most of the songwriting by Giraldo and longtime drummer Myron Grombacher. Four of the tracks are also co-written with Benatar (who is credited as Pat Giraldo). One of the two songs from other songwriters was "Cerebral Man" written by Tully Winfield and well-known stick player Don Schiff. In an interview from 2002, Schiff recalled how this track was added to the album: "Tully Winfield and I demoed songs at what was becoming a very popular studio in LA (Woodcliff Studio)... we had just recorded "Cerebral Man". If I recall correctly the demo just had Tully's voice, stick and drums. Peter Coleman was producing Pat's next album for Chrysalis and happened to be the next session in and heard the tune. He asked if he could take the song to Pat Benatar and hopefully put it on her next album. Her camp liked it and they did a wonderful job with the song. I thought Tully and I would get a few more songs on that album as they liked the style of our song, but at the last minute she decided to go back to her more familiar rock style, leaving our song the only one stylistically like it on the album."[8]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All Fired Up"Kerryn Tolhurst4:27
2."One Love"Neil Giraldo, Myron Grombacher5:12
3."Let's Stay Together"Pat Benatar, Giraldo4:50
4."Don't Walk Away"Nick Gilder, Duane Hitchings4:35
5."Too Long a Soldier"Giraldo, Grombacher6:42
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Cool Zero"Giraldo, Grombacher5:26
7."Cerebral Man"Don Schiff, Tully Winfield4:40
8."Lift 'em on Up"Benatar, Giraldo, Grombacher4:54
9."Suffer the Little Children"Benatar, Giraldo4:10
10."Wide Awake in Dreamland"Giraldo, Grombacher4:58

Personnel

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Musicians

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Production

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  • Peter Coleman, Neil Giraldo – producers, mixing
  • Frank Linx – assistant engineer
  • Steve Ford, Gil Morales – mixing assistants
  • George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
"All Fired Up"
"Let's Stay Together"
  • Neil Giraldo – producer
  • Ed Thacker – mixing
  • Jim Dineen – mixing assistant

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Wide Awake In Dreamland
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[22] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  3. ^ Guterman, Jimmy (September 22, 1988). "Album Reviews: Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "Pat Benatar Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  5. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles". Cash Box. August 27, 1988. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  6. ^ "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Female". Rock on the Net.com. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  7. ^ "RIAA Searchable database: search for "Benatar"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  8. ^ Long, Andy (March 2002). "Don Schiff". Global Bass.com. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  9. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8728". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  11. ^ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 34. August 20, 1988. p. 18. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  15. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  16. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  17. ^ "Pat Benatar Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "Top 100 Albums of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 13. ISSN 0033-7064 – via World Radio History.
  19. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  20. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Music Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  21. ^ "British album certifications – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  22. ^ "American album certifications – Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
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