RHINO
★★★★
Following the career resuscitation of Private Dancer, Tina Turner was able to assemble a who’s who of 80s AOR for its eagerly awaited follow-up in 1986. The emphatic beats on lead single Typical Male and subtle synths on Afterglow were provided by Phil Collins and Steve Winwood respectively. Mark Knopfler penned the semi-autobiographical rockabilly of Overnight Sensation and produced the sensual Paradise Is Here, while recent duet partner Bryan Adams co-wrote arguably Turner’s most full-throated rocker since the Ike And Tina days in Back Where You Started. Even David Bowie chipped in with the brooding, Blade Runner-referencing chanson Girls.
Despite its stellar pedigree, Break Every Rule shifted barely a fraction of its predecessor, with all five UK singles failing to peak any higher than No.30. Yet Parlophone’s 3CD/2DVD reissue shows the disparity in sales didn’t correlate with a dip in quality. Girls is one of the finest ballads in the Turner canon, while Two People recaptures the anthemic quality of the career-defining What’s Love Got To Do With It.