Be Yourself Tonight

Largely recorded in Paris, with additional recording in Detroit and Los Angeles, this album saw Eurythmics move away from their previous more experimental, synthesizer-based songs, to a more pop/rock sound with some R&B elements. Songs, such as "Would I Lie To You?" were influenced by 1960s style music, as well as utilising American soul and British pop.{{cite web |title=Revisiting Eurythmics' 'Be Yourself Tonight' (1985) {{!}} Tribute |url=https://albumism.com/features/eurythmics-be-yourself-tonight-turns-35-anniversary-retrospective |website=Albumism |access-date=4 January 2025 |date=28 April 2020}} Combining elements of Motown and rock music, the album incorporates a more traditional band line-up/instrumentation. Nonetheless, the recordings still possessed an atmospheric and cutting edge sound, winning David A. Stewart awards for his production work on the album.

The release of the album coincided with a new look for singer Annie Lennox, who ditched the androgynous look of the previous albums and became, in biographer Lucy O'Brien's words, "a bleach-blonde rock 'n' roller". Be Yourself Tonight includes guest appearances by notable artists such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Elvis Costello. The album features a range of genres performed by the duo, many of which were performed by the band for the first time. It has been described as both a "masterpiece" and "one of the best pop/rock albums of the 1980s" largely in part a result of their "innovation and ability to not succumb to the machine”.

No tour followed the album's release, due to Lennox's recuperation from vocal fold nodules (which also caused her to have to miss 1985's Live Aid concert).

Be Yourself Tonight reached the top 3 in the UK and top 10 in the US, as well as spawning several hit singles. The album includes the duo's first (and only) UK number-one "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)". The first single released was "Would I Lie to You?". It would hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #6 on the Cash Box Top 100 and also hit #1 in Australia. The album was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), indicating sales in excess of 600,000 copies,{{cite web |title=Be Yourself Tonight, Album |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/739-73-2 |website=BPI |access-date=4 January 2025 |language=en}} and Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies.{{cite web |title=Gold & Platinum |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Eurythmics&ti=Be+Yourself+Tonight&format=Album&type=#search_section |website=RIAA |access-date=4 January 2025}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, except where noted

| title1 = Would I Lie to You?

| length1 = 4:25

| title2 = There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)

| length2 = 5:22

| title3 = I Love You Like a Ball and Chain

| length3 = 4:04

| title4 = Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves

| note4 = duet with Aretha Franklin

| length4 = 5:54

| title5 = Conditioned Soul

| length5 = 4:30

| title6 = Adrian

| note6 = duet with Elvis Costello

| length6 = 4:29

| title7 = It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)

| length7 = 3:45

| title8 = Here Comes That Sinking Feeling

| length8 = 5:40

| title9 = Better to Have Lost in Love (Than Never to Have Loved at All)

| length9 = 5:06

| total_length = 43:15

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2005 special edition bonus tracks

| title10 = Grown Up Girls

| length10 = 4:12

| title11 = Tous les garçons et les filles

| writer11 = {{hlist|Françoise Hardy|Roger Samyn}}

| length11 = 3:25

| title12 = Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves

| note12 = duet with Aretha Franklin) (ET Mix

| length12 = 7:48

| title13 = Would I Lie to You?

| note13 = Extended Mix

| length13 = 4:59

| title14 = Conditioned Soul

| note14 = Live

| length14 = 5:07

| title15 = Hello I Love You

| writer15 = {{hlist|Jim Morrison|Robby Krieger|Ray Manzarek|John Densmore}}

| length15 = 2:50

| total_length = 71:36

}}

• Track 9 is incorrectly labelled "Better to Have Lost in Love (Then Never to Have Loved at All)" on the 2005 remastered reissue.
• Track 13 of the 2005 remastered reissue is listed as the "ET Mix", but it is actually the "Extended Mix" from the "Would I Lie to You?" 12-inch single.
• The live version of "Conditioned Soul" (track 14) was recorded on 14 February 1987, not in 1985. It was captured during Eurythmics' Revenge Tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and it's the same performance featured in their Eurythmics Live video. This was omitted from the final video release but remains part of the audio recording used for the bonus track.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Be Yourself Tonight.{{cite AV media notes |author=Eurythmics |author-link=Eurythmics |title=Be Yourself Tonight |type=liner notes |publisher=RCA Records |year=1985 |id=PD 70711}}

• Annie Lennox – vocals {{small|(all tracks)}}; keyboards {{small|(tracks 2–6, 8, 9)}}; keyboard sequencers {{small|(track 7)}}
• David A. Stewart – guitars {{small|(tracks 1, 3, 4, 6–9)}}; sequencers {{small|(tracks 1, 5, 7)}}; keyboards {{small|(tracks 2–5, 8, 9)}}; bass sequencer, drum computer program {{small|(track 3)}}; electric guitar, slide guitar {{small|(track 5)}}; six-stringed octave guitar {{small|(track 6)}}

{{Div col}}

• Nathan East – bass {{small|(tracks 1, 4)}}
• Olle Romo – drums {{small|(tracks 1, 2, 5–9)}}; wood stomping {{small|(track 3)}}
• Benmont Tench – organ {{small|(tracks 1, 4)}}
• Dave Plews – trumpet {{small|(tracks 1, 7)}}
• Martin Dobson – saxophones {{small|(tracks 1, 7)}}
• Dean Garcia – bass {{small|(tracks 2, 5–9)}}; wood stomping {{small|(track 3)}}
• Michael Kamen – strings {{small|(tracks 2, 9)}}; celeste {{small|(track 6)}}; brass arrangement idea {{small|(track 7)}}; keyboard solo, string parts {{small|(track 8)}}
• Stevie Wonder – harmonica {{small|(track 2)}}
• Angel Cross – backing vocals {{small|(track 2)}}
• The Charles Williams Singers – backing vocals {{small|(track 3)}}; gospel choir {{small|(track 4)}}
• Adam Williams – drum computer program {{small|(track 3)}}
• Sadie (and other uncredited performers) – gravel stomping {{small|(track 3)}}
• Aretha Franklin – "super" vocals {{small|(track 4)}}
• Stan Lynch – drums {{small|(track 4)}}
• Mike Campbell – lead guitar {{small|(tracks 4, 6)}}
• Elvis Costello – harmony vocal {{small|(track 6)}}

{{Div col end}}

• David A. Stewart – production, mixing
• Adam Williams – mixing {{small|(tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 9)}}; engineering {{small|(tracks 2, 4–9)}}
• Don Smith – special help {{small|(track 1)}}; engineering {{small|(tracks 2, 4)}}; mixing {{small|(tracks 3, 4, 6, 8)}}; additional engineering {{small|(track 6)}}
• Jay Willis – engineering assistance {{small|(tracks 2–4)}}
• Shelly Yakus – drum recording {{small|(track 4)}}
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering

• Laurence Stevens – art, design
• Paul Fortune – photography

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{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Be Yourself Tonight}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|nocert=true|type=album|relyear=1984|salesamount=150,000|salesref={{cite magazine |last=Barker |first=Glenn A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT54 |title=Majors |magazine=Billboard |volume=97 |issue=45 |date=9 November 1985 |page=A-26 |issn=0006-2510 |via=Google Books}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|nocert=true|salesamount=56,000|relyear=1984|salesref={{cite news |last=Serpa |first=Paulo Ernesto |url=http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/docreader.aspx?bib=030015_11&pasta=ano%20199&pesq=terence%20trent%20darby%20copias&pagfis=1854 |title=A parada de sucessos do Hollywood Rock |newspaper=Jornal do Brasil |language=pt |page=28 |date=2 January 1990 |via=National Library of Brazil}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Platinum|number=2|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1985|date=15 October 1985}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Finland|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1998|salesamount=27,170}}

{{Certification Table Entry|title=Be Yourself Tonight|artist=Eurythmics|region=France|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1995|certyear=1986|source=infodisc|access-date=4 August 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1985}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Platinum|type=album|id=1986-02-07|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|relyear=1985}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Platinum|number=2|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1987|date=7 September 1987}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Platinum|number=2|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1986|id=739-73-2|date=18 February 1986}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Eurythmics|title=Be Yourself Tonight|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1985|date=13 September 1985}}

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{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |edition=illustrated |location=St Ives, N.S.W. |publisher=Australian Chart Book |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite magazine|title=Eurythmics – Be Yourself Tonight (RCA)|last=Murphy|first=Elliot|date=July 1985|volume=1|issue=3|magazine=Spin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ImJFcBcCvUoC&pg=PA30|page=30|issn=0886-3032}}

{{Eurythmics}}

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Category:1985 albums

Category:Albums produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)

Category:Contemporary R&B albums by English artists

Category:Eurythmics albums

Category:RCA Records albums