"Angelia" hit #2 on the Cash Box singles chart, and reached #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 2, 1989. It was also a Top 40 hit in Australia and made the Top 50 in the UK. On the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, "Angelia" peaked at #2 for several weeks behind the Linda Ronstadt/Aaron Neville duet "Don't Know Much".

Richard Marx based the sound of "Angelia" on Def Leppard's 1983 album Pyromania and the 1987 album Hysteria. During recordings of "Angelia", engineer and co-producer David Cole along with Richard Marx tried to copy the sounds of the guitars and drums that Def Leppard and producer "Mutt" Lange had used on the Hysteria and Pyromania records.

Ironically, during a night out with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, Richard Marx was told that Def Leppard attempted to emulate Angelia for a song that was to appear on the next Def Leppard album, Adrenalize. The song Def Leppard recorded with "Angelia" in mind was likely the hit "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad".

The production and sound of the song "Angelia" is Richard Marx's favorite from his second album, Repeat Offender.Michael Landau played the guitar solo on the song.

...
Wikipedia