Michael Ball - Back to Bacharach
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CD Details
Artist: Michael BallEdition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2007-11-27
Music Label: Universal I.S.
Soundtracks:
- Look of Love
- Make It Easy on Yourself
- Alfie
- Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)
- One Less Bell to Answer
- (They Long to Be) Close to You
- Anyone Who Had a Heart
- This House Is Empty Now
- This Guy's in Love with You
- You'll Never Get to Heaven
- Reach Out for Me
- What the World Needs Now
Music reviews of Back to Bacharach
Music Review: Great concept falls flat somewhere along the way...
Rating: 3 Stars
I'm an ardent, till-I-die fan of Michael Ball, and while I'm only casually appreciative of Burt Bacharach's music, I love what Michael had done with his songs on previous albums. They're both wonderful storytellers in their own way - this marriage of talents should be one made in heaven, no?
Press releases described this album as a new direction for Michael: the sophisticated, low-key, jazzy kind of stuff you play late at night. The cover art is dark, stylish and sexy - on it, Michael has traded in his cheeky, boyish grin for a more intense, mature look that had me in a puddle of fangirl mush when I first saw it. I was aching to have the CD in my hot little hands, so you can imagine my surprise and dismay when I played it the first time and was more or less underwhelmed by the whole thing. I've given it a few more turns around the player since then and I still feel the same way.
It's not that I don't appreciate Michael's subtle side (his versions of "If You Could Read My Mind," "Fever," and "Time in a Bottle" are among my favorites of his) but you won't find any of the kind of power-house ballads he's known for here, and I feel that the album suffers for it. Michael's not really able to put his 'stamp' on much of the material. It's an album I'll pull out when I want some background music, not when I want to listen to Michael Ball. If that was the intention of the producers and Michael, it was a misguided one, I think. It's not bad by any means, just plain OK - and I think anyone bothering to read this review knows that Michael is capable of far better than just OK.
The one standout track I can think of is "This Guy's in Love With You," previously heard on his 2003 album, A Love Story. It was a sweet, playful song there; Michael's reading was optimistic yet guarded. On B2B it's given a quiet, intimate arrangement, and Michael here is sexy, sly and confident - more like a man who's sweet-talking his way to a conquest than one who's head-over-heels in love but somewhat unsure of himself. It serves as a great example of Michael's talent and artistry, if nothing else on the album does.
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