Christopher Cross (album)

According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album was "a huge hit and widely acclaimed, at least among industry professionals (critics didn't give it a second listen), leading to multi-platinum success and Grammys." In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Erlewine says that while its success as a soft rock album has little cachet with most listeners, it "remains one of the best mainstream albums of its time" because of consistent song quality and Cross's skillful musicianship: "Yes, he does favor sentimentality and can be very sweet on the ballads, but his melodicism is rich and construction tight, so there's a sturdy foundation for the classy professional gloss provided by his studio pros and friends, including indelible backing vocals by Michael McDonald." Vinyl Me, Please magazine's Timothy Malcolm includes it in his 2017 list of the 10 best yacht rock albums, explaining that, "It’s actually a sonic outlier for the yacht rock genre, heavy on acoustic guitar and strings. But its message fits the genre (a fool searching for inner peace), and yeah, it’s still undeniably smooth." For The Vinyl District's online publication in 2018, Michael H. Little calls it the genre's best album as well as one of its smoothest, crediting it for making Cross "the face of soft rock". ==Track listing==

'Mary Ann' was originally written for the YAMAHA World Music Festival in Japan and released in 1980 as a Japan only single. == Personnel ==

• Christopher Cross – lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar (1, 4, 6–9), backing vocals (1, 5–8), guitar solo (5, 6) • Michael Omartian – acoustic piano (1–4, 6–8), synthesizers (9), backing vocals (9) • Rob Meurer – synthesizers (2–4, 6–8), electric piano (3, 4, 7, 8), celesta (3), acoustic piano (5, 9), organ (5) • Jay Graydon – guitar solo (1, 4) • Larry Carlton – guitar solo (2, 7) • Eric Johnson – guitar solo (9) • Andy Salmon – bass • Tommy Taylor – drums • Lenny Castro – percussion (1, 2, 4–7, 9) • Victor Feldman – vibraphone (3, 4), percussion (3, 7, 8) • Jim Horn – saxophone (2, 6) • Jackie Kelso – saxophone (2, 6) • Don Roberts – saxophone (2, 6) • Tomás Ramírez – sax solo (9) • Lew McCreary – trombone (2, 6) • Chuck Findley – trumpet (2, 6), flugelhorn (3) • Assa Drori – concertmaster (3, 5, 6, 8) • Nicolette Larson – backing vocals (1) • Michael McDonald – backing vocals (2, 6) • Valerie Carter – lead and backing vocals (3) • Myrna Matthews – backing vocals (4) • Marty McCall – backing vocals (4) • Stormie Omartian – backing vocals (4) • Don Henley – backing vocals (7) • JD Souther – backing vocals (7) == Production ==

• Producer – Michael Omartian • Assistant Producer – Michael Ostin • Engineer and Mixing – Chet Himes • Second Engineer – Stuart Gitlin • Mastering – Bobby Hata • Artwork – Danny Henderson and James Flournoy Holmes • Design – James Flournoy Holmes and Wonder Graphics • Flamingo Concept – Jim Newhouse ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==

Cross, the album and the hit "Sailing" won the following Grammy Awards: Producer Michael Omartian accepted the Album of the Year award on behalf of Warner Bros. Records and the album's personnel. ==References==