Simple Mission
{{Infobox album
| name = Simple Mission
| type = Studio album
| artist = Glass Tiger
| cover = SimpleMission.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1991
| recorded = 1990
| venue =
| studio = A&M Studios, Los Angeles, Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, and Distorto Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| genre = Pop
| length = 53:59
| label = Capitol{{cite news |title=A Simple Mission Turns Complicated |work=The Kitchener-Waterloo Record |date=4 Apr 1991 |page=C9}}
| producer = Tom Werman
| prev_title = Diamond Sun
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = Air Time: The Best of Glass Tiger
| next_year = 1993
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Simple Mission
| type = studio
| single1 = Animal Heart
| single1date = 1991
| single2 = Rhythm Of Your Love
| single2date = 1991
| single3 = My Town
| single3date = August 1991
| single4 = Rescued (By The Arms Of Love)
| single4date = 1991
}}
}}
Simple Mission is the third album by the Canadian band Glass Tiger, released in 1991.{{cite news |last1=Kawchuk |first1=Brent |title=Band puts boots to audience |work=Calgary Herald |date=27 Mar 1991 |page=D10}}{{cite news |title=Glass Tiger sharpens claws in musical makeover |work=The Gazette |date=5 Dec 1991 |location=Montreal |page=D16}}
The single "My Town" features Rod Stewart on lead vocals alongside Alan Frew, and reached No. 33 on the UK, marking the band's second highest position in that country.{{cite news |last1=Burliuk |first1=Greg |title=Simple Mission Glass Tiger |work=The Kingston Whig-Standard |date=20 Apr 1991 |department=Magazine |page=1}}{{cite web |title=Glass Tiger |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23691/glass-tiger/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=8 February 2023}} "Animal Heart" received a Juno Award nomination.{{cite news |last1=Rubinoff |first1=Joel |title=Rough as Glass: Well-manicured Tiger a tame cat compared to raunchy Sass Jordan |work=The Kitchener-Waterloo Record |date=24 Apr 1992 |page=C7}} The album was certified platinum in Canada.{{cite web |title=You Say It's Your Birthday: Wayne Parker of Glass Tiger |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/whosxq/you-say-its-your-birthday-wayne-parker-of-glass-tiger |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208143813/https://www.mtv.com/news/whosxq/you-say-its-your-birthday-wayne-parker-of-glass-tiger |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |website=MTV News |access-date=8 February 2023}}
Production
The album was produced mostly by Tom Werman.{{cite news |last1=Barr |first1=Greg |title=Glass Tiger back with new, sharper image |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=30 Mar 1991 |page=G1}} Tony Thompson played drums on the majority of its tracks. The band attempted to incorporate rock styles alongside its pop.{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Keith |title=Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine |date=2014 |publisher=Dundurn Press |page=238}}
Critical reception
{{album ratings
|rev2 = Windsor Star
|rev2score = B{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Owen |title=Pop |work=Windsor Star |date=13 Apr 1991 |page=C2}}
}}
The Toronto Star wrote: "By the fourth or fifth listen, one senses the pure, unvarnished Glass Tiger, and that's a band still very much rooted in the ethos of mid-'70s arena-rock, a hybrid of your basic REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Journey and Kansas."{{cite news |last1=MacInnis |first1=Craig |title=McTiger bellyaches into the '90s |work=Toronto Star |date=6 Apr 1991 |page=J8}} The Windsor Star noted that the album "has a raunchier, gutsier sound on most of the tunes, a conscious effort on their part to emphasize guitar rather than keyboards." The Edmonton Journal concluded that "every cut on this uneven effort is slathered with rackety electric guitar riffs and self-consciously aggressive vocals that ape everyone from Aerosmith's Steve Tyler to Corey Hart."{{cite news |last1=Metella |first1=Helen |title=Simple Mission Glass Tiger |work=Edmonton Journal |date=21 Apr 1991 |page=D6}}
Track listing
{{Tracklist
| collapsed =
| headline =
| title1 = Blinded
| writer1 = Connelly, Frew, Dvoskin
| length1 = 4:38
| title2 = Animal Heart
| writer2 = Connelly, Frew, Dvoskin
| length2 = 3:50
| title3 = Let's Talk
| writer3 = Frew, Reid, Vallance
| length3 = 4:23
| title4 = Where Did Our Love Go
| writer4 = Frew, Reid, Vallance
| length4 = 4:31
| title5 = My Town
| writer5 = Connelly, Frew, Parker, Cregan
| length5 = 4:49
| title6 = The Rhythm of Your Love
| writer6 = Connelly, Frew
| length6 = 4:38
| title7 = Spanish Slumber
| writer7 = Frew, Reid
| length7 = 1:29
| title8 = Simple Mission
| writer8 = Frew, Reid
| length8 = 4:34
| title9 = Stand or Fall
| writer9 = Frew, Reid, Vallance, Sandford
| length9 = 3:59
| title10 = Rescued (By the Arms of Love)
| writer10 = Frew, Parker, Washbrook
| length10 = 4:16
| title11 = One to One
| writer11 = Frew, Reid, Vallance
| length11 = 4:30
| title12 = One Night Alone
| writer12 = Frew, Reid, Vallance
| length12 = 4:06
| title13 = (She Said) Love Me Like a Man
| writer13 = Frew, Reid, Vallance
| length13 = 4:09
}}
Produced by Tom Werman except:
- track 5, produced by Tom Werman and Jim Cregan
- track 7, produced by Sam Reid
- track 11, produced by Tom Werman and Jim Vallance
Personnel
=Glass Tiger=
- Al Connelly - guitars
- Wayne Parker - electric bass
- Sam Reid - keyboards
- Alan Frew - vocals
=Additional musicians=
- Drums: Tony Thompson (except tracks 4 and 6)
- Drums: John Keane (tracks 4 and 6)
- Backing vocals: Tom Kelly, Tommy Funderburk, Rique Franks, Jeff Scott Soto, Mark Free, Paul Rafferty
- Spanish voice: Maria Del Rey
- Vocals on "My Town": Rod Stewart
- Acoustic guitar on "My Town": Jim Cregan
- Additional guitars: Tim Pierce
- Additional keyboards on "One to One": Jim Vallance
- Saxophone solo on "Where Did Our Love Go": Gary Herbig
- Extra percussion: Alex Acuña
- String Arrangement on "Where Did Our Love Go": James Newton Howard
=Production=
- Associate Producer: Sam Reid
- Engineering: Eddie DeLena
- Mixing: Eddie DeLena and David Thoener
- Assistance: Neal Avron, Ed Goodreau, Greg Goldman, and Efren Herrera
- Additional Engineering: Neal Avron
- Recording: Jim Vallance
- Mastering: Stephen Marcussen (Precision Lacquer, Los Angeles)