Misplaced Pages

Cruel Inventions
Studio album by Sam Phillips
Released	May 28, 1991 (1991-05-28)
Studio	Eagle Audio, Fort Worth, Texas Ocean Way, 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
The Indescribable Wow (1988) Cruel Inventions (1991) Martinis & Bikinis (1994)

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

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Christgau's Consumer Guide
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly	A

Cruel Inventions received mostly favorable reviews from critics. At Entertainment Weekly, 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." Browne named it his sixth favorite album of 1991.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sam Phillips

Personnel

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

Production

• T Bone Burnett – producer
• Stacy Baird – recording
• Rik Pekkonen – recording
• Joe Schiff – recording
• 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 at Masterdisk (New York City, New York)
• Melanie Nissen – art direction
• Inge Schapp – design
• Kathleen Philpott – design
• Anton Corbijn – photography
• Borman Entertainment – management

References

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.
5. ^ Browne, David (31 May 1991). "Cruel Inventions (1991)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
6. "1991's best (and worst) music". Entertainment Weekly. 1991-12-27.

• 1991 albums
• Sam Phillips (musician) albums
• Albums produced by T Bone Burnett
• Virgin Records albums