Washington Post and Brandon Sun
Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:49 pm
http://insider.washingtontimes.com/arti ... 4345-7536r
Fluff Daddy: Bacharach's 'Time' seeks street credBy Christian Toto
November 8, 2005
What the world doesn't need now is for Burt Bacharach to turn into Joan Baez.
Mr. Bacharach, he of the deceptively complicated "easy listening" hits that held the center through years of rapid change in popular music, drops the bomb on the Bush administration with his new release, "At This Time."
The legendary composer has never seen fit to write the lyrics to his chart toppers, and after a few spins of "Time," it's pretty clear why. Rare is the songwriter, or the music for that matter, less suited to polemics.
Reading the lyrics of "At This Time" is like getting a lecture from a relative whose beer buzz isn't doing anyone any good. He bemoans a world where "nobody is safe" but wraps the sentiment in cranky nostalgia.
The diatribe deepens on "Who Are These People?" with guest crooner Elvis Costello. The pair's first collaboration, the sumptuous "God Give Me Strength," hinted at the heights they potentially could climb, a promise mostly fulfilled on their subsequent album, "Painted From Memory."
This seems like a sad bookend to their union, should it stop now.
It's hard to conjure a more jarring experience than hearing those trademark Bacharach strings swelling to a crescendo -- then giving way to an antiwar yelp.
"This stupid mess we're in just keeps getting worse," Mr. Costello sings, a line bereft of maturity or nuance.
Guest singer Rufus Wainwright fares better on "Go Ask Shakespeare," in which the words draw parallels between the disappointments of modern times and a romance gone wrong.
Elsewhere on "Time," Mr. Bacharach chips in some vocals, and his voice is even thinner than we remember. Perhaps he sought that wounded sound for "Where Did It Go," a track mourning the loss of safety in society. He might have convinced us if not for the song's inherent shallowness.
"At This Time" finds its groove whenever the voices fall away, yet it's a far cry from Mr. Bacharach's radio-friendly past.
The saxophones on "Is Love Enough" soothe, and the instrumental "In Our Time" purrs out of the speakers.
Mr. Bacharach's latest wades through pleasant but forgettable horns and some ghostlike piano playing without denting our subconscious. We're even treated to some drum loops cooked up by Dr. Dre, of all people, but beyond making for an odd, cross-generational pairing, the move is more gimmickry than rewarding.
Mr. Bacharach became an iconic figure in the music industry of the 1960s and '70s by sticking with his brand of lushly orchestrated middle-aged pop in serene defiance of rock's growing dominance of an increasingly young market. He has never sounded more like an anachronism than in straining for contemporary relevance with "At This Time."
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http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=9532
Brandon Sun, Online
Sunday, November 6th, 2005
This time, Bacharach not so easy to listen to
By: Grant Hamilton Email Story Printer Friendly Version
Burt Bacharach
At This Time
(Sony)
As the King of Easy Listening, Burt Bacharach has ruled a certain slice of North American popular culture for decades. He’s one of the classic Vegas-style lounge acts, with a crooner’s voice and a deft songwriter’s touch that has made him perennially popular.
But all those years of musical luminescence can’t help him here. Even the appearances on the album from Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright and Dr. Dre don’t do a whole lot to spice up what is, at root, a thoroughly boring CD.
That’s not to say that Bacharach doesn’t try. Indeed, for a man of 77, that voice is incredible, and some of the songwriting compositions border on good, but too much of the time Bacharach seems to be resting on his laurels. There aren’t any breakout singles on this album — nothing with the punch or allure of What’s New Pussycat or Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.
Although Bacharach tries to keep himself relevant with references here and there to politics and social issues, but this is mostly an album of love lost and found. It would be wrong to call this a bad album, exactly, since no one of Bacharach’s talent or obvious commitment can help making a minimum level of quality, but there’s precious little here that showcases the songwriting genius of old.
Besides the obvious orchestral arrangements, the addition of Dr. Dre to the lineup produces some brief moments of poppy timeliness, but they’re far too few and far between. Like the occasional Bush-bashing lyric, Dre’s beats mostly sound dissonant and out-of-place on a Bacharach album. Kudos for trying, but a little more work has to be done before the two styles are really ready for their closeup.
Released: Nov. 1
Rating: 1 out of 5
Effort: B
Fluff Daddy: Bacharach's 'Time' seeks street credBy Christian Toto
November 8, 2005
What the world doesn't need now is for Burt Bacharach to turn into Joan Baez.
Mr. Bacharach, he of the deceptively complicated "easy listening" hits that held the center through years of rapid change in popular music, drops the bomb on the Bush administration with his new release, "At This Time."
The legendary composer has never seen fit to write the lyrics to his chart toppers, and after a few spins of "Time," it's pretty clear why. Rare is the songwriter, or the music for that matter, less suited to polemics.
Reading the lyrics of "At This Time" is like getting a lecture from a relative whose beer buzz isn't doing anyone any good. He bemoans a world where "nobody is safe" but wraps the sentiment in cranky nostalgia.
The diatribe deepens on "Who Are These People?" with guest crooner Elvis Costello. The pair's first collaboration, the sumptuous "God Give Me Strength," hinted at the heights they potentially could climb, a promise mostly fulfilled on their subsequent album, "Painted From Memory."
This seems like a sad bookend to their union, should it stop now.
It's hard to conjure a more jarring experience than hearing those trademark Bacharach strings swelling to a crescendo -- then giving way to an antiwar yelp.
"This stupid mess we're in just keeps getting worse," Mr. Costello sings, a line bereft of maturity or nuance.
Guest singer Rufus Wainwright fares better on "Go Ask Shakespeare," in which the words draw parallels between the disappointments of modern times and a romance gone wrong.
Elsewhere on "Time," Mr. Bacharach chips in some vocals, and his voice is even thinner than we remember. Perhaps he sought that wounded sound for "Where Did It Go," a track mourning the loss of safety in society. He might have convinced us if not for the song's inherent shallowness.
"At This Time" finds its groove whenever the voices fall away, yet it's a far cry from Mr. Bacharach's radio-friendly past.
The saxophones on "Is Love Enough" soothe, and the instrumental "In Our Time" purrs out of the speakers.
Mr. Bacharach's latest wades through pleasant but forgettable horns and some ghostlike piano playing without denting our subconscious. We're even treated to some drum loops cooked up by Dr. Dre, of all people, but beyond making for an odd, cross-generational pairing, the move is more gimmickry than rewarding.
Mr. Bacharach became an iconic figure in the music industry of the 1960s and '70s by sticking with his brand of lushly orchestrated middle-aged pop in serene defiance of rock's growing dominance of an increasingly young market. He has never sounded more like an anachronism than in straining for contemporary relevance with "At This Time."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=9532
Brandon Sun, Online
Sunday, November 6th, 2005
This time, Bacharach not so easy to listen to
By: Grant Hamilton Email Story Printer Friendly Version
Burt Bacharach
At This Time
(Sony)
As the King of Easy Listening, Burt Bacharach has ruled a certain slice of North American popular culture for decades. He’s one of the classic Vegas-style lounge acts, with a crooner’s voice and a deft songwriter’s touch that has made him perennially popular.
But all those years of musical luminescence can’t help him here. Even the appearances on the album from Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright and Dr. Dre don’t do a whole lot to spice up what is, at root, a thoroughly boring CD.
That’s not to say that Bacharach doesn’t try. Indeed, for a man of 77, that voice is incredible, and some of the songwriting compositions border on good, but too much of the time Bacharach seems to be resting on his laurels. There aren’t any breakout singles on this album — nothing with the punch or allure of What’s New Pussycat or Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.
Although Bacharach tries to keep himself relevant with references here and there to politics and social issues, but this is mostly an album of love lost and found. It would be wrong to call this a bad album, exactly, since no one of Bacharach’s talent or obvious commitment can help making a minimum level of quality, but there’s precious little here that showcases the songwriting genius of old.
Besides the obvious orchestral arrangements, the addition of Dr. Dre to the lineup produces some brief moments of poppy timeliness, but they’re far too few and far between. Like the occasional Bush-bashing lyric, Dre’s beats mostly sound dissonant and out-of-place on a Bacharach album. Kudos for trying, but a little more work has to be done before the two styles are really ready for their closeup.
Released: Nov. 1
Rating: 1 out of 5
Effort: B