Bublé's Crazy Love is here

Admit it, Michael Bublé garnered his initial fame as a novelty act. He was a young man who likes to sing the swing songs of old. Think of his take on The Way You Look Tonight which everybody loves. To his credit, he easily transcended that early impression and proved himself, an adept songwriter in Home, a collaboration with Amy Foster, and a confident vocalist, Anthony Newley’s Feeling Good.

I do not think there is anything more for Bublé to prove. He was fortunate enough to find it early on and now has his success formula for albums down pat. Get some old songs and give these a pop spin. Include some new works but give these a ’50s swing feel. Then perform each cut with the swagger of a Rat Pack wannabe. I do not recall exactly how many albums he has released, maybe four or five. What I am sure about though is he has never had a flop.

Bublé hits it big every time he releases an album and his latest Crazy Love is no different. He sticks again to the tried and tested for this one. A lot of old, a little of the new and everything in a swinging mood. But listen a few times and you will find that those are not all that this CD is about. Bublé has no intention of becoming a bore, so he has thought up little surprises that his fans will surely like and have them begging for more.

Crazy Love tries for a middle-ground between the swing stuff and current pop. It is a difficult task that sometimes does not work. For one, the title cut, a Van Morrison classic is neither here or there, while The Eagles’ Heartache Tonight is such a delight, it could have been written for Bublé or maybe even Sinatra.

I think that the best way to enjoy Crazy Love is to take every cut for itself and not as part of a whole. That way, one can really appreciate how Bublé is trying out new stuff but never without sacrificing the classic melodies and the elegant style he has perfected. He has also become an incredible singer. I do think that vocally, Crazy Love is his best.

As for the songs, there are instances when they do not work well together. For example, the jazzy pop of his new song Hold On, with its acoustic guitar on the forefront in direct contrast with the light ’50s croon of All I Do Is Dream Of You, the Latin jazz take on Whatever It Takes or the powerhouse feel of At This Moment or with the over-the-top arrangement of Cry Me A River or even his beautiful starry Stardust with Naturally 7, that borrows a lot from The Inkspots. But take them one by one and the CD sounds like one hit after another.

The first single out is the cute conversational Haven’t Met You Yet, another Bublé collaboration with Amy Foster. My personal pick though and the one that stands out from the rest is Georgia On My Mind. This is such a surprise because I had always thought that Ray Charles had already perfected this song. Well, Bublé does it very well, too.

Crazy Love also includes All Of Me; You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You; Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes) with Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings; and a bonus DVD about The Making Of Crazy Love. Nice.

Billboard’s Top 20 albums

And now here is the week’s top selling 20 albums as per the Billboard Magazine tabulation: Play On by Carrie Underwood; This Is It, the movie soundtrack featuring Michael Jackson; My Christmas, Andrea Bocelli’s first Christmas album; Glee Season One, the soundtrack of the hit TV show; Now 32 the latest in the hit compilation series; Fearless by Taylor Swift; Raditude by Weezer; Crazy Love by Bublé; If On A Winter’s Night by Sting, another first Christmas album.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the motion picture soundtrack; Greatest Hits by the Foo Fighters; World Painted Blood by Slayer; Soulbook by Rod Stewart; Full Circle by Creed; The Blueprint by Jay-Z; Southern Voice by Tim McGraw; The Time Of Our Lives by Miley Cyrus; Ocean Eyes by Owl City; Night Castle by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; and The E.N.D. by The Black Eyed Peas.