Venus Isle is the third studio album by guitarist Eric Johnson, released on September 3, 1996, through Capitol Records. The album reached No. 51 on the U.S. Billboard 200,^[4] the highest position in Johnson's career, and remained on that chart for six weeks.^[5] "Pavilion" was released as a single and reached No. 33 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart,^[4] while its B-side "S.R.V." is a tribute to guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and features his elder brother Jimmie Vaughan as a guest soloist. "Camel's Night Out" is featured as downloadable content for the video game Guitar Hero World Tour (2008) and can also be exported to Guitar Hero 5 (2009).

The album's original title was to be Travel One Hope, but this was changed at the last minute by Capitol for "being too oblique."^[6] Advance promotional CDs of Travel One Hope have since become a collector's item.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic gave Venus Isle three stars out of five, describing Johnson as a "consummate guitarist" and "a joy to hear him play". However, he criticized the album for not breaking any new ground following the six-year gap from its 1990 predecessor Ah Via Musicom, remarking that it "reveals no new insights about the guitarist, it only offers a new spin on the territory Ah! Via Musicom covered."^[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Eric Johnson, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Venus Isle"	5:29
2.	"Battle We Have Won"	5:59
3.	"All About You"	8:20
4.	"S.R.V."	3:02
5.	"Lonely in the Night" (Vince Mariani)	6:05
6.	"Manhattan"	4:52
7.	"Camel's Night Out" (Kyle Brock, Mark Younger-Smith)	5:16
8.	"Song for Lynette"	4:54
9.	"When the Sun Meets the Sky" (Johnson, Steve Barber)	7:54
10.	"Pavilion"	5:02
11.	"Venus Reprise"	1:30
Total length:		58:23

Personnel

Eric Johnson – lead vocals (tracks 1–3, 5, 9), guitar (all tracks), guitar synthesizer, synthesizer (track 2), piano, electric sitar, arrangement, engineering, production
Amit Chatterjee – vocals (tracks 1, 3)
Christopher Cross – vocals (tracks 3, 5)
Jimmie Vaughan – additional guitar solos (track 4)
Steve Barber – synthesizer (tracks 1–5, 8–10), Hammond B3, arrangement
Tommy Taylor – drums (tracks 1–7, 9–11), percussion (tracks 3, 11), arrangement
Bill Maddox – drums (track 8), engineering
James Fenner – percussion (tracks 2, 5, 6)
Chris Searles – percussion (tracks 3, 5)
Kyle Brock – bass (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5–7, 10), arrangement
Roscoe Beck – bass (tracks 3, 9, 10, 11), engineering
Chris Maresh – bass (track 8)
Richard Kilmer – strings (track 5)
Bruce Williams – strings (track 5)
Jennifer Bourianoff – strings (track 5)
Anthony Stogner – strings (track 5)
Scott McIntosh – trumpet
Vince Mariani – arrangement
Richard Mullen – engineering, mixing, production
John Fannin – engineering
Ethridge Hill – engineering
Malcolm Harper – engineering
John Aguto – engineering
Jeff Poe – engineering
Stuart Sullivan – engineering
Mark Hallman – engineering
John Moran – engineering
James Hoover – engineering
Jeff DeMorris – mixing assistance
Jim Champagne – mixing assistance
Brad Haehnel – mixing assistance
Allen Sides – mixing assistance
Bernie Grundman – mastering
Jimmy McKeever – mastering assistance

Chart performance

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1996	Billboard 200	51^[4]

Singles

Year	Title	Chart	Position
1996	"Pavilion"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	33^[4]

References

External links

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson Mike Stern Chris Maresh Anton Fig Tommy Taylor Roscoe Beck Stephen Barber Kyle Brock David Tickle Jerry Marotta
Studio albums	Tones Ah Via Musicom Venus Isle Seven Worlds Bloom Up Close Eclectic
Compilation album	Souvenir
Live albums	G3: Live in Concert Live from Austin, TX
Notable songs	"Cliffs of Dover"
Related articles	Discography G3 Christopher Cross Eric Johnson Stratocaster

Authority control databases