| Christopher Cross | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Christopher Cross |
| Cover: | Christopher_cross.jpg |
| Recorded: | July 1979 |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. Recording Studios (North Hollywood, California) Pecan Street Studios (Austin, Texas) |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 38:32 |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: | Michael Omartian |
| Next Title: | Another Page |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
Christopher Cross is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross. It was released on December 27, 1979, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Michael Omartian and recorded in mid-1979, the album was one of the first in popular music to be digitally recorded, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System.[2]
Cited as one of the most influential soft rock albums of the late 1970s and early 1980s,[3] [4] it won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, with Cross becoming the first artist to win the four major categories in the same year — a feat not replicated until Billie Eilish in 2020.
According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album was "a huge hit and widely acclaimed, at least among industry professionals (critics didn't give it a second listen), leading to multi-platinum success and Grammys." In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Erlewine says that while its success as a soft rock album has little cachet with most listeners, it "remains one of the best mainstream albums of its time" because of consistent song quality and Cross's skillful musicianship: "Yes, he does favor sentimentality and can be very sweet on the ballads, but his melodicism is rich and construction tight, so there's a sturdy foundation for the classy professional gloss provided by his studio pros and friends, including indelible backing vocals by Michael McDonald."
In retrospective appraisals, Christopher Cross is regarded as a key release of yacht rock music. For Spin in 2009, Chuck Eddy lists it among the genre's eight essential albums.[5] Vinyl Me, Please magazine's Timothy Malcolm includes it in his 2017 list of the 10 best yacht rock albums, explaining that, "It’s actually a sonic outlier for the yacht rock genre, heavy on acoustic guitar and strings. But its message fits the genre (a fool searching for inner peace), and yeah, it’s still undeniably smooth."[6] For The Vinyl District's online publication in 2018, Michael H. Little calls it the genre's best album as well as one of its smoothest, crediting it for making Cross "the face of soft rock".[7]
All tracks composed by Christopher Cross.
'Mary Ann' was originally written for the YAMAHA World Music Festival in Japan and released in 1980 as a Japan only single.
| Chart (1980) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[8] | 17 | |
| Chart (1981) | Position | |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 4 |
Cross, the album and the hit "Sailing" won the following Grammy Awards:[10] [11] [12]
| Year | Category | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Album of the Year | Christopher Cross |
| Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) | "Sailing" | |
| Record of the Year | ||
| Song of the Year | ||
| Best New Artist | Christopher Cross |
Producer Michael Omartian accepted the Album of the Year award on behalf of Warner Bros. Records and the album's personnel.