release date: Nov. 6, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]
producer: Dieter Falk
label: Maxi Media - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Tainted Love" - 2. "Bennie and the Jets" - 4. "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" - 6. "The Boys of Summer" - 8. "Hungry Heart" - 10. "In the Ghetto"
8th studio album by Paul Young is his first album in 9 years. It's recorded, arranged, mixed and produced nearly only with Dutch musicians at Wisseloord Studios in The Netherlands and it's released on the small German label, Maxi Media (distributed by Sony BMG).
Although, being a studio release consisting of 13 tracks it only contains 1 original track written by Young and Steve Sidwell, who has also arranged most of the songs. Now, Paul Young isn't famous for writing a lot of great songs, but more famous for his singing qualities - yet, this is something different as all songs are arranged as swing band compositions. Instead of just singing classic standards (it does contain one standard - Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (made famous by Bing Crosby with his version from the movie "Holiday Inn" from 1942), this is more like a selection of modern standards. The selection of songs is a mix from all genres and styles, and despite using songwriters from various decades [and centuries] and as diverse as Elton John, Metallica, Travis, George Harrison, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Irving Berlin [geeh] the end result is remarkably uniform all thanks to the artistic arrangements.
Once you have accepted... (or: If you get to the point of accepting) the idea of using familiar songs and turned these into swing band standards, it's really an impressive accomplishment. As Paul Young comments in the inlay: "some [songs] were more of a challenge than others, when it comes to arranging them in a new style." and: "...the planning took longer, than the recording!" Yeah, I bet they did!
At first my favourites were songs like "Tainted Love" (written by Ed Cobb and song by Gloria Jones back in '65, but really first made famous by Soft Cell with its new wave and synthpop version from 1981) and Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" (heartland rock from The River, 1980), but as I got to hear it over again, it was just such a treat to hear that great singing voice of Paul Young just coming to terms with new material and adding his special touch that ultimately lifts these arrangements over most of mainstream pop these days. A britpop song like Travis' "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" sounds as an old classic standard in the hands of Young and Sidwell, and even the heavy metal track "Enter Sandman" by Metallica becomes more than digestable in this completely altered version. "In the Ghetto" was brought to international fame by one Elvis Presley, but here it's just as great - just completely different. The perhaps most difficult songs on the album are the two by David Bowie and Lou Reed: "Walk on the Wild Side" and "The Jean Genie", but they cannot disturb the sensation that the album is a much better release than some critics suggest.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
