Written in Red


Written in Red is the thirteenth studio album recorded by The Stranglers. It was produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill.
The media launch-party for Written in Red was held on 13 December 1996 at EuroDisney in Paris, and featured live performances of tracks from the effort. Other tracks performed at the event include "Always the Sun", "Golden Brown" and "Let Me Introduce You to the Family".
The week the album was released, the band performed at several HMV branches including those located in Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.
"In Heaven She Walks" was the only single to be taken from the album, released on 3 February 1997. The single was in two parts: the first CD featured a sleeve similar to the Written in Red cover, with a track listing of: "In Heaven She Walks", a live version of "Golden Brown" from 1995, and an extended version of "In Heaven She Walks". The second CD sleeve featured a still from the video; the tracks were "In Heaven She Walks", and live versions of "Grip" and "Something Better Change".
It was the first Stranglers studio album that failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 52 in February 1997.
Bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel said of the album, "...it had nothing to do with me apart from one or two songs. I've got no feelings about it as an album as I was disconnected from it all. I had given up on the band, it wasn't a band anymore, just John & Paul and a guy with Protools."

Track listing

All tracks written by The Stranglers, except "Summer in the City" by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and Steve Boone.
  1. "Valley of the Birds" – 3:15
  2. "In Heaven She Walks" – 3:49
  3. "In a While" – 3:19
  4. "Silver into Blue" – 3:28
  5. "Blue Sky" – 3:41
  6. "Here" – 4:21
  7. "Joy de Viva" – 3:39
  8. "Miss You" – 3:52
  9. "Daddy's Riding the Range" – 4:19
  10. "Summer in the City" – 3:27
  11. "Wonderful Land" – 3:41

    Personnel

; The Stranglers
; Additional musicians
; Technical