It's My Sin

{{Infobox album | name = It's My Sin | type = studio | artist = Jan Hellriegel | cover = File:It's My Sin.jpg | alt = | released = 7 September 1992 | recorded = December 1991–March 1992 | venue = | studio = * Mountain (Tauranga) * Mandrill (Auckland) * Helen Young (Auckland) * Auckland Audio (Auckland) | genre = Pop rock<ref name="ac">{{cite web |url=https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/jan-hellriegel |title=Jan Hellriegel |last=Bollinger |first=Nick |website=Audioculture |date=19 August 2014 |access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref> | length = 48:14 | label = East West | producer = {{hlist|Nick Morgan|JD Souther}} | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Tremble | next_year = 1995 | misc = {{Singles | type = Studio | single1 = Waves | single1date = 1990 | single2 = The Way I Feel | single2date = 1992 | single3 = No Idea | single3date = 1992 | single4 = It's My Sin | single4date = 1993 | single5 = Wings Of Steel | single5date = 1993 | single6 = Westy Gals }} }} '''''It's My Sin''''' is the first studio album by the New Zealand singer-songwriter Jan Hellriegel, released on 7 September 1992 by East West Records.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="jansite">{{cite web |url=https://www.janhellriegel.com/its-my-sin |title=It's My Sin |website=Jan Hellriegel |access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="cd">{{cite AV media notes |title=It's My Sin |date=1992 |type=CD liner notes |publisher=East West Records |id=90317 77192 |location=New Zealand}}</ref> The record spent 11 weeks in the New Zealand album charts, peaking at No. 5.<ref name="charts" /> Its success resulted in two wins for Hellriegel at the 1993 New Zealand Music Awards - Best Songwriter and Most Promising Female - along with four other nominations.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="jansite" /><ref>[https://aotearoamusicawards.nz/award-history/ Award History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025201023/https://aotearoamusicawards.nz/award-history/ |date=2020-10-25 }} (search for 'Jan H'). ''Aotearoa Music Awards''. Retrieved 26 June 2022.</ref>

== Background and development == After the disbandment of her former band Cassandra's Ears, Hellriegel was signed to East West's parent company Warner Music International as a solo artist in 1989.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="jansite" /> Although she did not intend to embark on a solo career, she took up the label's offer as she was willing to move on from working at her father's business and had numerous unpublished songs that she wished to do more with.<ref name="ac "/> Attempts by her label to pair her with a number of co-writers to develop songs for what became ''It's My Sin'', including Eagles songwriter JD Souther, were unsuccessful, and in the end she wrote all but one of the songs on the album by herself.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="cd" />

Production was mostly by Nick Morgan. The only exceptions were the tracks "No Idea" and "Westy Gals", collaborative efforts between him and Souther.<ref name="jansite" /><ref name="cd" /> The Mutton Birds' frontman, Don McGlashan, contributed to musical arrangements on the album, which also had a number of other notable New Zealand musical figures, including Greg Johnson and Rima Te Wiata.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="jansite" /><ref name="cd" /> Recording mostly took place in December 1991 and January 1992 at Mountain Studios in Tauranga, though the Souther-produced tracks were recorded in Auckland as late as March 1992.<ref name="jansite" /><ref name="cd" /> The album was then mixed at Marmalade Studios in Wellingtonand mastered at Studios 301 in Sydney.<ref name="cd" />

Several songs on the album contain autobiographical themes about Hellriegel's formative years. These include "Westy Gals", an "interpretation of her [hometown] West Auckland" and its "masses of sprawling boredom", and "Richmond Rd Revisited", which tells of the "depressing time" she experienced while living in Grey Lynn.<ref name="jansite" />

== Release and singles == Six singles were released from ''It's My Sin''. An early version of "Waves", which did not chart, was released in 1990.<ref name="jansite" /> The official lead single, "The Way I Feel", co-written by Hellriegel and Mark Petersen (Hellriegel's former bandmate from her days in Working With Walt) was the most successful, spending 10 weeks in the New Zealand singles chart and peaking at No. 4.<ref name="jansite" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Jan+Hellriegel&titel=The+Way+I+Feel&cat=s |website=Charts.nz |title= Jan Hellriegel – The Way I Feel|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=25 June 2022}}</ref> The following single, "No Idea", only spent three weeks in the charts and peaked at No. 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Jan+Hellriegel&titel=No+Idea&cat=s |website=Charts.nz |title= Jan Hellriegel – No Idea|publisher=Hung Medien|accessdate=25 June 2022}}</ref> Both singles were released in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/21833794 |title=The way I feel... |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="noidea">{{cite web |url=https://ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=118922 |title=JAN HELLRIEGEL. NO IDEA |website=Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision |access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> The title track and "Wings of Steel" were released as the next singles from the album in 1993.<ref name="titletrack">{{cite web |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22166204 |title=It's my sin... |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=145060 |title=JAN HELLRIEGEL. WINGS OF STEEL |website=Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision |access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> Album closer "Westy Gals" was also released as a radio-only single at an unknown date.<ref name="nzm" /> The latter three singles all failed to chart. Two non-album tracks, "Burger Generation" and "Stupidest Thing," appeared as B-sides on the single releases of "No Idea" and "It's My Sin" respectively;<ref name="titletrack" /> "Burger Generation" later appeared on Hellriegel's 2013 compilation album ''Lost Songs''<ref name="nzm">{{cite web |url=https://nzmusician.co.nz/features/jan-hellriegel-lost-found-again/ |title=Jan Hellriegel: Lost & Found Again |last=Pease |first=Natalie |website=NZ Musician |date=2013 |access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref> but "Stupidest Thing" remains unreleased elsewhere.

Following the release of the album, critical reception was very positive.<ref name="ac" /><ref name="jansite" /> Reviews by ''The New Zealand Herald'' and ''Sunday Scene'' both awarded it a perfect five stars, the ''Sound Advice'' newspaper gave it 3.5 stars, and numerous other reviewers were well-pleased with the album, complimenting Hellriegel's "rich, robust vocals," "neat guitar melodies," and the overall "great collection of music." Comparisons to Chrissie Hynde were also often mentioned in reviews. The commercial and critical success was a surprise to Hellriegel, who was not expecting many people beyond her friends to purchase the album or its singles.<ref name="jansite" />

== Track listing == Track listing and song credits adapted from CD liner notes.<ref name="cd" /> Except where noted, all tracks are written by Jan Hellriegel and produced by Nick Morgan.<ref name="cd" /> {{Track listing | extra_column = Producer(s) | total_length = 48:14 | title1 = The Way I Feel | writer1 = {{hlist|Jan Hellriegel|Mark Petersen}} | length1 = 3:54 | title2 = It's My Sin | length2 = 3:43 | title3 = Richmond Rd Revisited{{NoteTag|name="richmond"|Recorded as such in original physical versions, though streaming platforms now list it as "Richmond Road Revisited."}} | length3 = 3:34 | title4 = I'm Alive | length4 = 4:29 | title5 = Viva Voca | length5 = 3:17 | title6 = Waves | length6 = 3:49 | title7 = Surprise | length7 = 3:34 | title8 = Jumping | length8 = 4:26 | title9 = Wings of Steel | length9 = 3:49 | title10 = All the Best Thoughts | length10 = 3:56 | title11 = No Idea | length11 = 4:13 | extra11 = {{hlist|JD Souther|Nick Morgan}} | title12 = Westy Gals | length12 = 5:26 | extra12 = {{hlist|Souther|Morgan}} }}

== Personnel == Credits adapted from CD and cassette{{NoteTag|name="liner"|Both are used as the information provided in the liner notes slightly differs between the two versions of the album; for instance, the cassette version omits Tony Lumsden from the credits while the digitized liner notes of the CD version do not provide the details of the additional musicians or design personnel.}} liner notes.<ref name="cd" /><ref name="cass">{{cite AV media notes |title=It's My Sin |others=Jan Hellriegel |date=1992 |type=cassette liner notes |publisher=East West Records |id=90317 77194 |location=New Zealand}}</ref> {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} '''Jan Hellriegel Band''' * Jan Hellriegel – vocals, backing vocals, arrangements * Mark Bell – guitar, backing vocals (tracks 4, 7, 10), arrangements * Wayne Bell – drums, arrangements * Tony Lumsden – bass guitar, backing vocals (tracks 4, 7, 10), arrangements * Mark Petersen – guitar, backing vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 7, 10), arrangements

'''Additional musicians''' * Pip Anderton – backing vocals (track 9) * Sally-Ann Brown – cello (track 3) * Paul Cantell – alto sax (track 12) * Rodger Fox – trombone (track 12) * Steve Garden – drums (tracks 11, 12) * Greg Johnson – trumpet (track 12) {{col-2}} * Mikey Havoc – backing vocals (track 4) * Don McGlashan – arrangements * Stuart Pearce – keyboards (track 12) * Rima Te Wiata – backing vocals (track 8) * Zan Wright – backing vocals (track 1)

'''Technical personnel''' * Nick Morgan – production, recording, mixing * JD Souther – production * John Harvey – mixing * Graham Myhre – recording

'''Design personnel''' * Melanie Bridge – photography, cover design * Michelle Cutelli – hair and make up * Stephen Langdon – photography assistant {{col-end}}

== Charts == {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- !Chart (1992) !Peak position |- {{album chart|New Zealand|5|artist=Jan Hellriegel|album=It's My Sin|accessdate=25 June 2022|rowheader=true|refname=charts}} |- |}

== References == === Notes === {{NoteFoot}} {{notelist}}

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Category:1992 debut albums Category:Alternative rock albums by New Zealand artists

It's My Sin

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