Overview
About Face is the second solo studio album by English singer and musician David Gilmour, released on 5 March 1984 by Harvest in the UK and Columbia in the United States, a day before Gilmour's 38th birthday. Co-produced by Bob Ezrin and Gilmour, the album was recorded in 1983 at Pathé Marconi Studio, in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. The lyrics of two tracks, "All Lovers Are Deranged" and "Love on the Air", were written by Pete Townshend of the Who. Townshend's version of "All Lovers Are Deranged" appears on his solo album Scoop 3.
The album received positive reviews and peaked at number 21 on UK Albums Chart and number 32 on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Two singles were released: "Blue Light" peaked at number 62 in the United States, while "Love on the Air" failed to chart. Like Gilmour's self-titled debut solo album, About Face was certified gold by the RIAA. A remastered reissued CD was released in 2006 on EMI in Europe and Columbia for the rest of the world.
Recording
The album was recorded with engineer Andy Jackson at a time when Pink Floyd's future was uncertain. It was mixed by James Guthrie at Mayfair Studios in London, England.
Gilmour said he wanted to take his time and make "a really good album" and "get the best musicians in the world that I could get hold of to play with me." Musicians on the album include drummer Jeff Porcaro, bass guitarist Pino Palladino, Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, backing vocalists Roy Harper, and Sam Brown, orchestral arranger Michael Kamen (who had also worked on The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, The Final Cut, and The Wall), and keyboardist Steve Winwood.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).