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DVDfever.co.uk – Tom Jones: 24 Hours CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
Parlophone/S-Curve Records
- Released: November 2008
- Rating: 10/10++
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Sex-bomb returns! Phew!
Its always been about the tubes for me with Tom Jones.
Not since his halcyon days (the mid-60s) has superstar Tom Jones dug so deep to unleash a phenomenal album.
Some are calling it his best ever, and to be honest, it probably is.
Jones The Voice, unlike some of his contemporaries, sounds better than ever, consolidated by amazing performances on recent Later..with Jools Holland and Graham Norton shows. On Jools show, he belted out current single If He Should Ever Leave You it was a rare show-stopping moment, and later on the stirring 24 Hours were enough to stir my curiosity.
2000s Reload, was a masterstroke by his manager-son, doing covers like party hit, Sex Bomb.
Now on 24 Hours, he appears to have gone back to his roots of doing soul-R&B infused material that perfectly match that cavernous larynx.
If Dusty was the greatest white soul singer, then our Tom is the blue-eyed soul boss.
Earth shattering bongos and whopping brass open the 60s flavoured Im Alive sounding like some wild party – a statement of intent maybe? Then the loungy cabaret 60s swinging If He Should cruises by with Tom masterfully layering some smokey tones. A similar mood ensues for the cool and breezy We Got Love, only to be broken by a Motown (Funk Brothers) beat thatll blast the rafters on his live shows: Feels Like Music, should be the next single are you listening Parlophone / Tom?
Things get even hotter Im about to self-combust at this point- Give A Little brings the best of the valley boy, as if he hasnt impressed enough so far.
Even Sir Thomas Jones Woodward, 68, with over 100 million sales behind him needs to cool-off, so he takes it niceneasy on stylish ballad The Road, segued by two throbbing and funky delights In Style And Rhythm then Sugar Daddy. Never, is (surely) a nod to Amy Winehouses soulful retro-ism. Bringing southern soul bang up-to-date, he whips up a gentle and breathy storm that Otis Redding and his type would marvel, while he steadily trawls through The Hitter. Listening again to 24 Hours, and those ominous military drum rolls, is the perfect close to a, really, yes really, brilliant album.
It ends with a hidden track, a monster thatll shake those rafters all over again.
File under: One of the best 2008.
Weblink:tomjones.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Im Alive
2. If He Should Ever Leave You
3. We Got Love
4. Feels Like Music
5. Give A Little Love
6. The Road
7. In Style And Rhythm
8. Sugar Daddy
9. Seasons
10. Never
11. The Hitter
12. Seen That Face
13. 24 HoursView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
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.