Elly Roberts reviews
Michael Buble: Call Me Irresponsible
Distributed by
Reprise Records
- April 2007
- Rating: 8/10
On his third and latest album,
Canadian Michael Buble spans the decades, from 1988 to 1944,
adding two of his own most recent songs.
Despite having already amassed 12 million sales to date, Buble, in my
opinion, wasn’t cutting the mustard in this market. He is finally getting
better, though I still question his live performances.
Sometimes, it’s hard shaking-off Harry Connick Jr’s immense talents as
showman, arranger and composer. Having seen him live at Manchester Apollo
in 1992, Buble was always going to be up against it. Nevertheless, this is
a broadly appealing album, and far better than previous It’s Time,
however, it’s still not challenging enough for my personal taste, rendering
it to be yet another coffee table – the mum’s have it – niche.
Maybe, I’m being churlish, but I know what I like and what I hear in this
type of music, and it still leaves me wanting, probably due to his
lightweight crooning style.
To his credit, his choice of songs is very good, by composers by Leonard
Cohen, Eric Clapton, Huff-Gamble-Gilbert, and he handles them well enough.
Adopting a Sinatra (his hero) style intro, its smoothness personified, and
maybe, just maybe, there really is more to this song, as he stresses – The
Best Is Yet To Come, which I believe, there is.
Going all Latino, Mancini’s It Had Better Be Tonight is shimmering
with full-blooded intent, whereas Billy Paul’s hit is given the silky
treatment, backed by neat vocals from Emily Blunt.
Cohen did I’m Your Man in a Jazz style, so Buble keeps with it, and does
it justice with appropriate gusto when called for, though the vocals
couldn’t be more polarised. Boyz11men add some sparkling backups on a
pacey cover of Dorough-Tucker’s 1962 gem.
Back to swing, the title track offers nothing new, though Clapton’s
Wonderful Tonight has all the trademarks of a gentle Bond feel as
the strings sway away. Willie Nelson’s Always On My Mind, and
standard That’s Life don’t work due to their blandness.
As for his own songs – Lost and Everything, both fit his
crooning perfectly.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
