Breaking Silence

Breaking Silence
Studio album by Janis Ian
Released	1993 (1993)
Studio	Nightingale Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	pop/rock
Length	48:42
Label	Morgan Creek Records/Columbia
Producer	Janis Ian, Jeff Balding
Janis Ian chronology
Uncle Wonderful (1985) Breaking Silence (1993) Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1995)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Wilson and Allroy	[2]

Breaking Silence is an album by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, released in 1993 on Morgan Creek Records in the United States and Europe and on Columbia in Canada and the Netherlands.^[3]

History

Although Ian was outed as a lesbian in 1976 by the Village Voice,^[4] her sexuality was largely ignored until the release of Breaking Silence when Ian herself brought it to the forefront because of her concern with suicide rates among gay and lesbian teenagers.^[5]

In the preceding decade, Ian met Pat Snyder and, after significant financial and health setbacks, they purchased a house together by 1991. They took on a second mortgage to fund the album, as major record labels were no longer interested in Ian's work. "I thought I was only going to get one more chance to record, so I wanted to make it count", Ian said.^[3] It was her first album in 12 years.^[5]

The album contains political songs such as "His Hands" (about spousal abuse) and "Tattoo" (about the Holocaust). The title track, "Breaking Silence", is about incest.^[3] It also includes Ian's version of "Some People's Lives", previously recorded as the title track of Bette Midler's 1990 album. The album was nominated for a Grammy, making it Ian's seventh nomination.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Janis Ian, unless otherwise noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All Roads to the River"	Janis Ian, Jon Vezner	3:05
2.	"Ride Me Like a Wave"		3:40
3.	"Tattoo"		4:20
4.	"Guess You Had To Be There"	Janis Ian, Buddy Mondlock	4:07
5.	"What About The Love"	Janis Ian, Kye Fleming	4:58
6.	"His Hands"		5:17
7.	"Walking On Sacred Ground"	Janis Ian, Jess Leary	3:26
8.	"This Train Still Runs"	Janis Ian, Jess Leary	4:03
9.	"Through The Years"		3:40
10.	"This House"		5:05
11.	"Some People's Lives"	Janis Ian, Kye Fleming	3:52
12.	"Breaking Silence"		3:09
Total length:			48:42

Personnel

• Janis Ian – acoustic and electric guitar, piano, vocals
• Jeff Balding – producer, lead engineer, mix engineer
• Jim Brock – drums, percussion
• Jim Hoke – harmonica
• Chad Watson – bass
• Dann Huff – electric guitar
• Doug Sax – mastering
• Lisa Powers – photography
• Jerry Joyner – design
• Virginia Team – art direction
• Steve Bishir – assistant engineer
• Patrick Kelly – assistant engineer, overdubs
• Greg Parker – assistant engineer
• John David Parker – assistant engineer
• Christopher Rich – assistant engineer
• Toby Seay – assistant engineer
• Carry Summers – assistant engineer, overdubs

References

1. Roch Parisien. "Breaking Silence – Janis Ian". All Music Group.
2. Wilson, David Bertrand. "Breaking Silence – Janis Ian". Wilson and Allroy’s Record Reviews. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
3. Ian, Janis. "Breaking Silence". Janis Ian. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
4. Kinser, Jeremy (23 August 2012). "Coming Out in Print". Advocate.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
5. "Owen Keehnen: Interviews". Queerculturalcenter.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-05-28.

External links

• "Janis Ian – Breaking Silence at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
• "Breaking Silence – Janis Ian | Credits". AllMusic. 1993-06-08. Retrieved 2017-03-03.