ARTIST: Smokey Robinson
TITLE: Timeless Love
LABEL: UMe
GENRE: R&B
BITRATE: 165kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 56min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-06-20
RIP DATE: 2006-05-31
Track List
----------
01. You Go To My Head 4:33
02. In The Mood For Love 5:07
03. Our Love Is Here To Stay 5:31
04. In Other Words 3:22
05. Night And Day 5:53
06. I'm Glad There Is You 3:42
07. More Than You Know 3:19
08. Speak Low 4:11
09. Time After Time 5:13
10. Can't Give You Anything But 2:51
Love
11. I Love Your Face 2:58
12. Under My Skin 4:31
13. Tea For Two 5:04
Release Notes:
For his first non-Gospel studio album in 7 years, it was a bit of a gamble for
Smokey Robinson to choose to release Timeless Love, an album of covers of pop
standards. After all, he's not a traditional crooner of the type who would
typically be expected be singing songs like "You Go To My Head" and "Our Love
Is Here To Stay." But, to his credit, he generally pulls it off.
The song selection on Timeless Love is not terribly imaginative, as Smokey
tends to pick the same batch of songs that have been covered over the past
couple of decades by dozens of aging rockers from Linda Ronstadt to Rod
Stewart. But he smartly takes a different approach, putting them in a "live"
jazzy setting that plays on his biggest strength: his warm, intimate vocals.
So a worn chestnut like "Night and Day" does not get the perfunctory big band
treatment, but is transformed into a quiet, romantic -- yes, even sexy -- love
song. Smokey's jazz instincts are unfortunately diluted on some songs by
after-the-fact strings that were added to the recording, but his warm
vocalizing (amazingly his voice sounds unchanged, even at age 67) nonetheless
lifts up such familiar numbers as "More Than You Know" and "Speak Low," and
gives them new life as cozy ballads.
Timeless Love is not a perfect effort, but it is a welcome change from the
by-the-numbers pop standard albums that are drowning the market these days,
and is worthy return for one of soul music's great masters. Recommended.