Mean Business

Mean Business is the second and final studio album by The Firm, released by Atlantic Records on 3 February 1986. Repeating the same bluesy formula as on the first album, The Firm (1985), Mean Business did not achieve the same commercial success.

Mean Business
Studio album by
The Firm
Released3 February 1986
Recorded1985
GenreRock
Length39:20
LabelAtlantic
ProducerJimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and Julian Mendelsohn
The Firm chronology
The Firm
(1985)		 Mean Business
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone(unfavorable)[2]

One of the album's tracks, "Live in Peace", was first recorded on Paul Rodgers' first solo album in 1983, Cut Loose. The versions differ in that Chris Slade played the drums slower than on the original version, apart from the ending, and Jimmy Page added a bluesy guitar solo at the end of the song.

The album's title was intended to have a double meaning: that the music business is a hard one, and that the band was serious about its music ("The Firm mean business"). However, perhaps due to the lukewarm-at-best critical and financial success which the band met, Page and Rodgers decided to disband The Firm within months of this album's release.

The album peaked at #22 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[3] and at #46 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "All the King's Horses" spent four weeks at the top of Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

"Fortune Hunter" was originally co-written by Page and Chris Squire for the aborted XYZ project in 1981. Squire was not credited on The Firm's version.

Track listing
1986 vinyl edition & 1986 Compact disc edition
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Fortune Hunter"Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers, Chris Squire (uncredited)5:00
2."Cadillac"Page, Rodgers5:57
3."All the King's Horses"Rodgers3:16
4."Live in Peace"Rodgers5:05
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tear Down the Walls"Page, Rodgers4:43
2."Dreaming"Tony Franklin6:00
3."Free to Live"Page, Rodgers4:13
4."Spirit of Love"Rodgers5:06

Personnel

Band
  • Paul Rodgers – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, producer
  • Jimmy Page – acoustic and electric guitars, producer
  • Tony Franklin – fretless bass, keyboards, synthesizer, rhythm guitar on Dreaming, back vocals
  • Chris Slade – drums and percussion

Other
  • Julian Mendelsohn – producer
  • Aubrey Powell Productions – cover design
  • Barry Diament – mastering

Charts

Album
Chart (1986) Peak Position
US Billboard The 200 Albums Chart[3] 22
Canadian RPM Top 100 Chart[4] 37
Swedish Albums Chart[5] 43
UK Albums Chart[6] 46

Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1986 "All the King's Horses" US Billboard Album Rock Tracks[7] 1
1986 "All the King's Horses" US Billboard Hot 100[8] 61
1986 "All the King's Horses" US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[9] 67
1986 "Live in Peace" US Billboard Album Rock Tracks[10] 21

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Rolling Stone review
  3. "The Billboard 200 - 15 March 1986". Billboard. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  4. "RPM Albums Chart - 29 March 1986". RPM. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  5. "Top 60 Albums - 2 April 1986". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  6. "Top 100 Albums - 5 April 1986". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  7. "Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks - 22 February 1986". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  8. "Hot 100 Chart - 22 March 1986". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  9. "Top 100 Singles - 22 March 1986". cashboxmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  10. "Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks - 5 April 1986". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
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