Staring at the Sun is the eighth studio album by British jazz/funk band Level 42, released in 1988. The album includes the singles "Heaven in My Hands" (UK No. 12), "Take a Look" (UK No. 32) and "Tracie" (UK no. 25).

Background Staring at the Sun is the first Level 42 album not to feature brothers Phil Gould and Boon Gould, although Boon did write the lyrics to six of the songs. They were replaced by British guitarist Alan Murphy, who had collaborated with Go West and singer Kate Bush, and drummer Gary Husband, who had been a member of the band Morrissey–Mullen. This would be the only full-length Level 42 album on which Murphy would appear, as he died only a year after its release from complications related to HIV/AIDS, mere weeks before the release of the band's Level Best compilation, which featured his last contributions to the band on the new single "Take Care of Yourself".

Commercial performance The album was not as successful as its predecessors, again reaching the Top 5 in the UK Albums Chart but missing the top half of the Billboard 200 in the US. Internationally, it reached the Top 10 in several countries, but ultimately had a lesser impact on the charts than the band's two previous albums.

Track listing "Heaven in My Hands" (King, R. Gould) – 4:39 "I Don't Know Why" (King, R. Gould) – 4.22 "Take a Look" (King, R. Gould, Lindup, Badarou) – 4:41 "Over There" (King, Lindup) – 3:59 "Silence" (Lindup) – 4:56 "Tracie" (King, Husband) – 4:53 "Staring at the Sun" (King, R. Gould, Badarou) – 4:39 "Two Hearts Collide" (King, R. Gould) – 4:10 "Man" (King, R. Gould, Badarou) – 7:23 "Gresham Blues" A (King) – 5:43

A Available on the CD and cassette only

Personnel

Level 42 Mark King – bass guitar, vocals Mike Lindup – keyboards, vocals Alan Murphy – guitars Gary Husband – drums with: Wally Badarou – keyboards Dominic Miller – guitars Krys Mach – saxophones Steve Sidwell – trumpet

Production Level 42 – producers Wally Badarou – producer Julian Mendelsohn – producer, engineer, mixing Jean Lamoot – assistant engineer Kevin Metcalfe – mastering The Artful Dodgers – sleeve design Mark Hughes – illustration John Stoddart – photography Paul Crockford – management

Chart positions

Album Year Album Chart Peakposition 1988 Staring at the Sun UK Albums Chart2 1988 Staring at the Sun US Billboard 200128

Singles Year Song Chart Peakposition 1988 "Heaven in My Hands" UK Singles Chart12 1988 "Take a Look" UK Singles Chart32 1988 "Tracie" UK Singles Chart25

Sales and certifications

References