Cruel Inventions

Cruel Inventions
Cruel Inventions
Studio album by Sam Phillips
Released	May 28, 1991
Studio	Eagle Audio, Fort Worth, Texas; Ocean Way Recorders, Los Angeles, California; Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California; Reggie Fisher's, Los Angeles, California;
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	36:19
Label	Virgin
Producer	T Bone Burnett
Sam Phillips chronology

Cruel Inventions is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Sam Phillips.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Chicago Tribune	^[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	^[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A^[5]

Cruel Inventions received mostly favorable reviews from critics. At Entertainment Weekly magazine, David Browne gave the album an A, writing that it "...is fraught with both beauty and tension, making it one of the year's most beguiling records."^[5] Browne named it his sixth favorite album of 1991.^[6]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Sam Phillips.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lying"	3:52
2.	"Go Down"	3:38
3.	"Cruel Inventions"	3:00
4.	"Standing Still"	3:10
5.	"Tripping Over Gravity"	5:21
6.	"Now I Can't Find the Door"	3:36
7.	"Private Storm"	4:10
8.	"Raised on Promises"	3:11
9.	"Hole in Time"	3:19
10.	"Where the Colors Don't Go"	3:02

Personnel[]

Sam Phillips – vocals, guitar, Chamberlin
T Bone Burnett – guitar, Chamberlin
Elvis Costello – guitar
Marc Ribot – guitar
Van Dyke Parks – Chamberlain
Jerry Scheff – bass
Sandy Bull – oud
Jim Goodwin – piano
Alex Acuña – drums and percussion
Michael Blair – drums and percussion
Mickey Curry – drums and percussion
Ralph Forbes – drums and percussion
David Kemper – drums and percussion
Scott Musick – drums and percussion
The Sid Page Strings – string quartet
- Sid Page – violin
- Joel Derouin – violin
- John Acevedo – viola
- Larry Corbett – cello^[7]

Production

T Bone Burnett – producer
Stacy Baird – recording engineer
Rik Pekkonen – recording engineer
Joe Schiff – recording engineer
Tchad Blake – mixing
Kevin Killen – mixing
Max Garcia – assistant engineer
Mark Guilbeault – assistant engineer
Julie Last – assistant engineer
Tom Nellen – assistant engineer
Chris Niswander – assistant engineer
Eric Rudd – assistant engineer
Brian Soucy – assistant engineer
Jeff Ward – assistant engineer
Bob Ludwig – mastering^[7]

References[]

^ McCartney, Kelly. "Review: Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
^ Kot, Greg (27 June 1991). "Sam Phillips Cruel Inventions (Virgin)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
^ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Sam Phillips: Cruel Inventions". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The encyclopedia of popular music: Indexes. Oxford University Press. p. 522. ISBN 9780195313734.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Browne, David (31 May 1991). "Cruel Inventions (1991)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
^ "1991's best (and worst) music". Entertainment Weekly. 1991-12-27.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

[AMG-1] McCartney, Kelly. "Review: Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 November 2011.

[2] Kot, Greg (27 June 1991). "Sam Phillips Cruel Inventions (Virgin)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2014.

[3] Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Sam Phillips: Cruel Inventions". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.

[4] Larkin, Colin (2006). The encyclopedia of popular music: Indexes. Oxford University Press. p. 522. ISBN 9780195313734.

[ew-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b Browne, David (31 May 1991). "Cruel Inventions (1991)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2014.

[6] "1991's best (and worst) music". Entertainment Weekly. 1991-12-27.

[AM_credits-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Cruel Inventions". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

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