Journeyman (album)

Journeyman is the eleventh solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Heralded as a return to form for Clapton, who had struggled with alcohol addiction and recently found sobriety, the album has a 1980s electronic sound, but it also includes blues songs like "Before You Accuse Me", "Running on Faith", and "Hard Times." "Bad Love" was released as a single, reaching the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart in the United States, and being awarded a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990. "Pretending" had also reached the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart the previous year, remaining at the top for five weeks ("Bad Love" had only stayed for three weeks).

The album reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and 16 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and it went on to become double platinum in the US. Clapton has said Journeyman is one of his favourite albums.

Critical reception

Reviewing in December 1989 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B-minus and wrote of Clapton, "What did you expect him to call it – Hack? Layla and 461 Ocean Boulevard were clearly flukes: he has no record-making knack. So he farms out the songs, sings them competently enough, and marks them with his guitar. Which sounds kind of like Mark Knopfler's." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album for its "convincing" vocals and "consistently strong" songwriting.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Pretending" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 4:48
2. "Anything for Your Love" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 4:16
3. "Bad Love" (Eric Clapton, Mick Jones) – 5:11
4. "Running on Faith" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 5:27
5. "Hard Times" (Ray Charles) – 3:00
6. "Hound Dog" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:26

Side two

1. "No Alibis" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 5:32
2. "Run So Far" (George Harrison) – 4:06
3. "Old Love" (Eric Clapton, Robert Cray) – 6:25
4. "Breaking Point" (Marty Grebb, Jerry Lynn Williams) – 5:37
5. "Lead Me On" (Cecil Womack, Linda Womack) – 5:52
6. "Before You Accuse Me" (Ellas McDaniel) – 3:55

Outtakes

1. "Forever" Unissued
2. "Don't Turn Your Back" Unissued
3. "Something About You" Unissued

Personnel

Musicians

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.

Production

Charts

Certifications

References