Real (Belinda Carlisle album) shirt" look instead this time without make-up. The album features a cover version of The Graces pop rock song "Lay Down Your Arms". Allmusic reviewed the album as suffering from a lack of memorable songs and while the record sounded good, it had nothing to support the state-of-the-art production. It was also a departure from her previous solo albums, it has more in common with Belinda's The Go-Go's sound rather than her own, typical, solo pop themes. Dealing with what Belinda termed the 'dark side of relationships,' the album is mature and intentionally lacks the slick production of her other
Belinda (Belinda Carlisle album) of Gold" was a hit song for Freda Payne in 1970. Payne provided background vocals on the dance mixes of Carlisle's version of this song, which would later appear as bonus tracks on the 2003 re-release of the album. "I Need a Disguise" was written by the team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg who co-wrote the song with Susanna Hoffs as it was originally intended for use by The Bangles. Kelly and Steinberg also co-wrote another song for Carlisle called "Dancing in the City" which she sang and would later appear on the soundtrack for the 1987 movie "Burglar".