| The Works | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Nik Kershaw |
| Cover: | Nik-Kershaw-The-Works.jpg |
| Recorded: | August 1987–October 1988 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | |
| Length: | 42:13 |
| Label: | MCA |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Radio Musicola |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | The Best of Nik Kershaw |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
The Works is the fourth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nik Kershaw. It was released in 1989 and was the last album he created for MCA Records. Kershaw chose the album's title as he felt the album represented "the collected works of Nik Kershaw". He did not release any new solo material until 15 Minutes, 10 years later.
The album was not commercially successful, though the lead single "One Step Ahead" reached No. #55 in the UK.[1] "Elisabeth's Eyes", the second and final single, failed to chart altogether.
Although the album was produced by Peter Wolf and co-produced by Brian Malouf, both singles were written shortly after Kershaw became unhappy with Wolf's production and his direction for the album. They were produced by Kershaw and Julian Mendelsohn, with the two also re-working the production of the entire album, earning them an additional production credit.[2]
After its original release, the album remained out of print on any format for years. However, in November 2006, the album became available via online MP3 download on major sites such as Amazon[3] and iTunes.[4]
In an interview of the time, Kershaw spoke of the album's creation and production:
Speaking of working with Wolf, Kershaw said:
The track "One World" was later included on Kershaw's 1991 compilation album The Collection,[5] while the German vinyl and Japanese CD editions of the compilation featured a re-recorded version of the track instead. In recent years, Kershaw stated via his Q&A sessions "Drum Talk" that the re-recorded version was to be a single after the release of "Elisabeth's Eyes", however this never materialised as he and the record label MCA parted company. In 1991, English pop singer Chesney Hawkes covered the song for his debut studio album Buddy's Song and it also appeared as the B-side to his third single "Secrets of the Heart".[6] In the same year, Hawkes had scored a number one hit in the UK with the Nik Kershaw-penned song "The One and Only".[7]
All songs are written by Nik Kershaw, except where noted.
Side one
Side two