Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Between Private Dancer and Foreign Affair stood a woman who was willing to break every conceivable rule if it meant that she could have artistic and physical autonomy over every aspect of her personal and music life.

Rules are man-made, and it takes an artist, a woman of Tina Turner’s vision to smash them, to take the patriarchy apart and dictate that she cannot be controlled anymore, a message to all women, to all who feel the effects of being damaged by the man and the system.

Whilst it could be argued that both Private Dancer and Foreign Affair were Ms. Turner’s most productive and commercial period after her publicised solo career took hold, It is perhaps in Break Every Rule that there was a true reflection of the heart break and fear she had endured, and one that stands out because of its refusal to be part of a perceived trilogy of music that was overwhelmingly and extremely dynamic; instead opting to be wonderfully serene on the surface, and raging, exploding with the terms of regret, of erupting love, and the joy of being free to be the woman, the performer she wanted to be.

Few of us are willing to completely break free from the ties that bind, we go so far, but we don’t truly examine our life and make the changes required to be the kings or queens of our story, Tina Turner is an exception to this decree and in the 2022 deluxe edition of Break Every Rule, what comes through with greater insight than the original release is just how far she was willing to finally leave the past behind.

Private Dancer and Foreign Affair were, by consensus, full of muscle, they were rippling with strength and fierce domination, this album, with thanks to the extras of B sides and rarities, and a tremendously involved live set from Rio in 1988, is one of possession, this was Ms. Turner perhaps at most vulnerable in her solo career, but it was all hers, the chosen musicians, including Phil Collins, Steve Winwood, Bryan Adams, Tessa Niles, and Tim Capello all give their all for the First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and across tracks such as Typical Male, Afterglow, I’ll Be Thunder, and the Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance written Back Where You Started, and in the live set which includes a physically demanding and polished version of Addicted To Love, I Can’t Stand The Rain, We Don’t Need Another Hero, Help, the divine Proud Mary, and What’s Love Got To Do With It, the sense of  control, of custody is there for the listener to appreciate for the several hours of work to be found in the D.N.A of the boxset.

Rules are there to be broken, pre-conceived arrangements are there to be challenged and smashed, it is our right to deny another being so much power over our emotions, and for Ms. Turner, for that blistering and intensely brilliant artist and woman, the rules from this moment on were hers to lay down and hold with honour.

Ian D. Hall