The Quality of Mercy (album)
| The Quality of Mercy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Studio album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel | ||||
| Released | 3 October 2005 (UK) 14 March 2006 (Norway) |
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| Genre | Rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 44:45 | |||
| Label | Gott Discs (UK) Universal Music (Norway) |
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| Producer |
Steve Harley Jim Cregan (track 9) |
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| Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | Unrated |
| Record Collector |  |
| The Sunday Express |  |
| Q | |
| Classic Rock |   |
| Uncut | |
| Birmingham 101 Gig Guide | favourable |
| Cross Rhythms | |
| RO (Norwegian) | favourable |
| Rocktimes (German) | favourable |
The Quality of Mercy is the sixth studio album by English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 2005. Fronted by Steve Harley, the album was the first studio album in 29 years to be released by Harley under the band's name. The existing Cockney Rebel line-up of the time featured all new musicians compared to the best-known Cockney Rebel line-ups of their 1970s heyday. The album was produced entirely by Harley, with Jim Cregan also co-producing the track "A Friend for Life".
The album's title is based on the Shakespearean phrase.
Since 2000, Harley had been working on the recording of a new studio album, and during this year he also began talks with various record companies. In a September 2000 diary entry for his official website, Harley commented:
"Plans to further the recording career at in hand. Negotiations are taking place daily and constantly. I am determined that "A Friend for Life" will be available in the shops and on the radio in time for the next Spring band tour, with an album, God willing, in the can. I am the eternal optimist, as you probably know. I have "A Friend for Life" and "When the Halo Slips" and several others 90% finished on record."
Later in November, Harley revealed: "If the deal I want is forthcoming and a contract signed within, then I'll be studio-bound through January and February making that album. There are something like 50 songs half-to-75% finished on cassettes and mini-discs around my study, bags, and all around the grand piano." Although the single "A Friend for Life" was released in April 2001 by Intrinsic Records, no studio album would be released until 2005.
Between 2001 and 2005, Harley continued to write new material, record in the studio and hold discussions with various record labels. Later in August 2004, Harley commented in an online diary entry that he was still writing new material and that the upcoming album would include "A Friend for Life" and "The Last Feast".
In February 2005, Harley and his touring band Cockney Rebel went into the Gemini Recording Studio in Ipswich to start recording for what would become The Quality of Mercy. In an entry from that month, Harley commented of the week-long recording session:
"We are all pretty high, to be honest. The band have played with spirit and shown an understanding of my new songs that comes best from musicians you've got close to over hundreds of touring concerts. I left six new recordings, all about 70% finished, to go back to soon."
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