Tearing Down the Walls

Tearing Down the Walls
Studio album by E.G. Daily
Released	April 13, 1999
Genre	Pop, pop rock
Length	40:39
Label	E.G. Daily Productions (Tommy T)
Producer	Brad Gilderman, Harvey Mason Jr., E.G. Daily Bernie Larsen, E.G. Daily (track 7)
E.G. Daily chronology
Lace Around the Wound (1989) Tearing Down the Walls (1999) Changing Faces (2008)

Tearing Down the Walls is the third studio album by American singer, actress and musician, E.G. Daily, which was released in 1999.

Background

Tearing Down the Walls was Daily's first album since 1989's Lace Around the Wound, largely due to the fact she was no longer signed to a record label anymore. Instead, Daily focused on her successful voice acting career. Tearing Down the Walls did not contain the 1980s dance music, pop-rock style of her earlier material but a more acoustic-led pop-rock sound, with introspective, often confessional lyrics.^[1] Daily worked with Grammy-winning music veterans and producers Brad Gilderman and Harvey Mason, Jr. for the majority of the album, whilst "Pretty Baby" was produced by Bernie Larsen and Daily.^[2] It didn't garner any commercial success, however critical reception was favorable.^[3] To promote the album, Daily would perform live on July 18, 1999, at the Phoenix, Arizona stop of Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair, a travelling music festival tour that showcases the best in women's pop music.^[3]

In 2007 Daily went on "The Changing Faces Tour", which celebrated the Tearing Down the Walls album, as well as the launch of her first two albums - Wild Child and Lace Around the Wound – available on iTunes that May. Additionally the first single "Don't Even Care" was reported for release on June 13, 2007, and this single was mean to be serviced to Mainstream/Top 40/Hot AC radio. The album was released nationwide again on September 18 with exclusive bonus tracks.^[4] This version featured four additional tracks: "Home," "Earthlings," "Just for You" and "Tryin'".^[5][6] All songs were new material, although "Just for You" was a re-recorded version of the song that appeared on her 1985 debut album Wild Child. The original version was dedicated to Jon-Eric Hexum, Daily's boyfriend of the time, an American model and actor who died in late 1984 as a result of a firearms accident on the set of the CBS television series Cover Up in which he played the male lead.^[7]

The song "Breath of Heaven" is the album's only cover, and was first recorded by Christian music/pop singer Amy Grant from her 1992 album Home for Christmas. On October 23, 2007, Daily released the song as an MP3 single via her own label E.G. Daily Productions.^[8] "All I Want" was written by Daily and Grammy-winning writer/producer John Shanks.^[4]

During October 2002, Daily was interviewed by Matt Cibula for Ink 19. Cibula immediately asked "Since this is mostly a music site, let's start with your most recent record. Tearing Down the Walls is a very personal record, isn't it?" Daily replied "All my records are. They're like diaries, you know? Some of the songs on that record were written before I had kids, some after, and some were written during my marriage. I don't know how to write songs that aren't personal." When asked if it was cathartic for her to write about personal stuff, Daily revealed "I have to, otherwise my thoughts go swirling all around. When I feel certain things, I write them down right away. I have a lot of new material right now. A lot of themes and feelings are coming up, and the music is really interesting - hey, I've been through a divorce from someone I loved dearly, and I have two kids. I mean, do you keep all the movies and pictures from those times? What do you do? These are very new thoughts, and I'm putting it all down on paper. It's funny, but back when I wrote "Keep It Together," I was frustrated about that area of my life (family), wanting to move forward, longing for more. My friends had car seats, you know? And I didn't, then. And now I do, and I get to look back and reevaluate."^[9]

Cibula also noted "One theme I hear on the album is about control. Is that right?" Daily stated "I was very particular with that record. I produced and released it, and I needed someone with good chops to co-produce it. I found Brad Gilderman, who is a great engineer and mixer. He worked on "When Will I See You Again." And he's done mixes for Babyface. Anyway, he was the guy who had mixed that track, and I had a really awesome time making that. I'd already rehearsed the band, so he was able to just come right in." When asked what was next musically for Daily, she stated "I'm working on a lot of new songs, but I'm also trying to get "Tearing Down the Walls" back out there. My goal is to get it out in front of people again. And yeah, I'm writing some new stuff. I'm tracking with some new guys. Usually I tend to do everything on a record, and this time I just made the decision that they are in charge of the new material."^[9]

In a December 19, 2013 interview for Media Mikes, Daily was asked by interviewer Mike Gencarelli about her plans for 2014. Daily mentioned the album in her response, as she stated "I have been in the studio a lot recently. If you look up E.G. Daily on iTunes, there is tons of great music available right now. There is a record I put out there a while back called "Tearing Down the Walls" that is so beautiful."^[10]

Release

The album was independently released in early 1999 on CD in America only (on Amazon and record stores nationwide), via Daily's own label E. G. Daily Productions (Tommy T), along with Sumthing Distribution.^[2] The CD remains in print.^[11] During 2007, Daily released the album as an MP3 download on sites such as Amazon and iTunes via E. G. Daily Productions.^[12][13] Additionally, this coincided with the launch of the bonus track version of the album.^[5][6]

Track listing

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[14]

Alex Henderson of Allmusic stated "For most of the '90s, E.G. Daily was absent from the charts and wasn't signed to any label. Those who knew the L.A.-based singer/actress from her '80s albums on A&M were wondering what happened to her, and the answer is that she had been keeping busy doing a lot of voice-overs; the most famous were for the Rugrats and the character of Babe (yes, Babe the talking pig) in the 1998 film Babe: Pig in the City. You certainly have to admire Daily's flexibility; not everyone could portray a talking pig and then turn around and record an introspective singer/songwriter offering like "Tearing Down the Walls". This album, her first in ten years, has a very reflective tone, and "personal" is definitely the watchword on "Someday," "Here It Goes Again," "The Walls," and other songs she wrote or co-wrote. At 38, Daily was still best known for her Madonna-ish hit of 1986, "Say It, Say It," but you won't find any high-gloss dance music or urban contemporary on this intimate, often confessional pop/rock date. It was nice to see Daily recording again, and one hopes she won't make listeners wait another ten years for her next album."^[14]

The professional body piercer Elayne Angel mentioned the track "All I Want" in an interview with Jodie Michalak. When asked for the song on her iPod right now, and the one she kept replaying, Angel stated "It's a song called "All I Want" by E.G. Daily (who is a friend of my husband's) from her 1999 album "Tearing Down the Walls." It may be a little obscure, but I really like her music - and she's a really cool lady. If you're not familiar with her work, you should check it out!"^[15]

Personnel

• E.G. Daily - Vocals, Lead Guitar, Piano, Harmonica, Producer (all tracks)
• Jeff Kluesner - Rhythm Guitar (all tracks except track 7)
• Randy Mitchell - Rhythm Guitar (track 7)
• Jeff McElroy - Bass Guitar (all tracks except track 7)
• Ralf Balzer - Drums (all tracks except track 7)
• Nick Vincent - Drums (track 7)
• Brad Gilderman, Harvey Mason Jr. - Producer (all tracks except track 7)
• Bernie Larsen - Producer (track 7)

References