Skip to content
Elly Roberts reviews
Arista
- September 2007
- Rating: 8/10
Never give up a winning formula, so Barry Manilow sticks with it.,
Following a similar path to Rod Stewarts American Songbook series, Manilowtries his hand at well known hits, again. It also includes a few Maniloworiginals for good measure Mandy, Copacabana, Could It Be Magic.
Some might say Stewart and Manilow are scraping the barrel. For Rod, it seemslike the only way to chart these days. Manilows massive fanbase seems toremain intact, so fans will lap this up. He isnt the greatest of singers, buthis material suits his voice, plus the fact hes written some fantastic songsand plays a mean piano too. Its very much the case here, voice and arrangementsare in perfect unison.
Having tackled the ’50s and ’60s, the ’70s now get the same treatment. This wemust remember is the decade he made his name, so its a kind of comfort zone.With in excess of 75 million sales behind him, Manilow can afford to takechances still.
Like everything he does, this collection smacks of class. Streisands massivehit The Way We Were, is kept in typical cabaret mood. In a similar frame,Frankie Vallis top 5 hit My Eyes Adored You doesnt quite have theValli vocal quality, but he pulls it off. Many have covered James Taylors gemYouve Got A Friend (written by Carole King), so why not Manilow, andto be fair its very good because of the duet with Melissa Manchester.
Elton Johns Sorry Seem To Be The Hardest Word hasnt been messed withperfect Manilow territory. His handling of one of my all time favourites,Breads If is well preserved from over cabaretism as is the Fab FoursLong And Winding Road. Same goes for S&Gs Bridge Over Troubled Water.
His reworking of hits Copacabana, done with an intimate sound, is farremoved from the all-singing all-dancing original, though it still retainsenough beef. Using ex-Buggles/Yes keyboard and studio wizard Trevor Horn forCould It Be Magic is a masterstroke.
Weblink:manilow.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. The Way We Were
2. My Eyes Adored You
3. Youve Got A Friend
4. He Aint Heavy, Hes My Brother
4. (They Long To Be) Close To You
5. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
6. Solitaire
7. If
8. The Long And Winding Road
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water
10. Looks Like We Made It
11. Even Now
12. Somewhere In The Night
13. This Ones For You
14. Mandy
15. Weekend In New England
16. Copacabana (At The Copa)
17. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
18. Could It Be Magic (Trevor Horn Mix) (bonus track)
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.