PopSyndicate.com

I think it’s a sign that your career is in its twilight when you put out a “songbook” album. Rod Stewart’s done four of them now, so that should give you some indication of how double dead his music career is.

Tony Bennett Sings the American Songbook Volume 1 sees Tony covering a variety of classic tunes from his long, accomplished life, but most are issues from the years of his easy listening compatriots like Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra, as well as songs from a musical or two. What’s clear is that Tony knows the music backwards and forwards. What’s not clear is why the album is so boilerplate. The Bel Canto master’s voice is as clear as ever, but it sounds like he just walked into a studio one day and recorded it Frank Sinatra “shotgun-style”. The only song that really stands out is a latin-flavored cover of Sammy Davis, Jr.’s “That Old Black Magic.” The rest are rather sleepy little versions with little power or emotion, flowing from one to the other with little change in attitude or style.

I don’t begrudge Tony doing the album, because he is in the twilight of his career, realistically speaking. I do begrudge the fact that Tony is better than this effort shows and Songbook Volume 1 only undermines last year’s flavorful Duets: An American Classic.

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