Call Me Irresponsible | 
| Manufacturer: 143/Reprise
Buy New: $8.99
Rating:  250 reviews
Sales Rank: 1016
Genre: pop-music
Media: Music Download
Running Time: 0 Minutes
ASIN: B0011Z0ZZS
Release Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 245 more reviews...
 A truly beautiful, unique blend of traditional jazz crooning and contemporary pop. May 13, 2007
Esthero
152 out of 163 found this review helpful
As a performer, Buble is the closest thing to Frank Sinatra there is today.
"Call Me Irresponsible" is the latest offering from Canadian hot-young-thing Michael Buble. The handsome singer has already gained success in recent years with albums It's Time and Caught In The Act (CD + DVD) and singles including one of 2005's most played radio tracks Home.
With new and original material the crooner hopes to gain a new and more contemporary following.
To this end, the new album mixes old standards with new songs such as "Lost" - a melancholy tribute to a break-up - and the first single from the album," Everything".
While fellow artists trying to emulate the sounds of Ol' Blue Eyes and his gang may stick to the tried and tested formulas of Rat Pack songs, Buble's new album departs from the crooner age, choosing classic songs that are not from the expected genre, including "Me and Mrs Jones", Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" and "Always On My Mind" - the love song made famous by Elvis Presley.
There is almost half a really good record on this studio album. But, once again, glossy David Foster productions of overly-exposed songs associated with Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett dominate.
The backing band is top-notch. "Call Me Irresponsible" was certainly not cheap to make. Buble's voice has body and he can carry a tune well but he's not a particularly expressive singer. Thus, his Las-Vegas-style version of Billy Paul's smoldering classic "Me and Mrs. Jones "strips all the sex and conflict and lyrical pathos out of it. Buble's British actress girlfriend Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada") coos the closing lines.
Woozy, lispy renditions of "The Best Is Yet to Come", "I've Got the World on a String" and "That's Life" are even worse; they are smarmy -- like a boozy Bobby Darin come back to life.
When Buble isn't cynically pandering to grandmas and their granddaughters with his predictable standards, he's improving. There's a charm to his original pop composition "Everything" (surprisingly produced by Bob Rock, a man better known for working with hard rockers Metallica and Motley Cruee). Oldies by Henry Mancini and Mel Torme that haven't been beaten to death through countless covers also stand out. Mancini's The Ultimate Pink Panther song "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera--in Italian)" is terrific, boasting an exciting Italian-salsa arrangement.
If Buble would worry a bit less about demographics and take this album's title to heart by taking more chances and ditching the safety net of Foster, he could become more than just a sales phenomenom. Buble could maybe approach the artistry of those he emulates.
Buble wows the most when he departs from the Rat Pack-esque tunes and brings something different to other classics. His 1970s cabaret-style "Wonderful Tonight" presents a totally different take on the classic Clapton ballad, transformed in a delightful bossa nova duet with Brazilian legendary singer/songwriter Ivan Lins, while "Always on My Mind" is a more intimate and understated version than the King's, but still hits the spot.One of the album highlights is the jazzy version of Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" - wrought with dramatic pauses, crescendos and key changes but still succeeding in being an intimate ballad.
A collaboration with the harmonic Boyz II Men on "Coming Home Baby" may seem like an odd pairing, but it's just good... However, the Boyz act as mere background to Buble's warbling. And as if "Everything" wasn't rousing enough already, the album includes the singer pairing with a gospel choir on the track creating a truly uplifting version.
All in all...Unlike those who have tried and failed before him, the young star does not fail to disappoint. There are not many artists - especially in today's Pop Idol conveyer belt of a music scene - who can be mentioned in the same breath as Frank Sinatra. And NOT just as a mere epigon on the Sinatra's footsteps.
Which is pretty darn good.
 Michael Buble Finally Finds His Own Voice May 1, 2007
Alan Dorfman (DELRAY BEACH, FL United States)
123 out of 230 found this review helpful
Though the ghosts of Frank Sinatra and Peter Allen still battle for his soul, in his new CD "Call Me Irresponsible" Michael Buble has finally found his own voice and personality. For those who doubt that his channeling Harry Connick Jr. channeling Frank Sinatra schtick is done, jump to his rendition of the Sinatra signature song "That's Life" and listen to his unaffected vocal amid the combination of both gospel choir and big band.
Looking for other sources of inspiration has led Buble to Billy Paul for "Me And Mrs. Jones" which is done in a more matter-of-fact manner than the hand-wringing original; to Jack Jones for the title cut "Call Me Irresponsible" which is more laid back than the original despite the big band arrangement; to Eric Clapton whose "Wonderful Tonight" becomes a lovely Latin love song with assistance from the great Ivan Lins; and to Willie Nelson whose "Always On My Mind" is a beautiful song which gets the beautiful voice it deserves. A wide variety of sources and styles that Michael masters and makes his own.
Two polished diamonds that cement the new identity are "Everything" in which all previous influences are absent and it is Michael Buble emerging as his own man and the tender and laid back "I'm Your Man."
Special mention must go to the arrangements which swing when they need to and modulate for the tender moments such as "Lost." The upbeat arrangements of "It Had Better Be Tonight" (which can only be described as big band Italian salsa) and "Comin' Home Baby" (with it's backing vocals from Boyz II Men) are just brilliant.
A must for fans and a step towards world dominance by this Canadian superhero, this is a wonderful leap forward for an artist who in the past has been weighed down by his influences. But as he warns us all with the CD opener, "The Best Is Yet To Come."
 Lisp/slur is a big problem May 11, 2007
MusickMaven (Los Angeles, CA USA)
86 out of 120 found this review helpful
I've listened to the CD a few times and like it - IF I don't listen too closely. "Everything" is great and is getting some radio airplay - nice for MB! This guy KNOWS how to swing! BUT the lisp/slurring on "I've Got The World On A String" is completely weird and really interferes with enjoying the song. The same problem is present on other tracks but not as prevalent.
This is completely baffling! How did they let these tracks out of the studio like this? Were the producers asleep in the headsets? If he has a speech impediment, I haven't noticed it before AND it isn't consistent throughout the album. Punch in, guys. (Now his slurry, sub-par American Idol performance makes more sense......)
I really like MB - "Home" is one of my favorite songs - but this album isn't as good as It's Time and now, with "World on a THTWING" (ETC.), I can't listen with much pleasure. Sorry, Michael.
 The Thinger Thtumbles... May 4, 2007
Eric Holck (Los Angeles, CA (USA))
72 out of 88 found this review helpful
For the most part, I am a Michael Buble fan. He has a very pleasing tone, a good range and an excellent sense of swing. He is also one of the few young male singers around who clearly has a genuine affinity for the Great American Songbook, and the vocal chops to pull it off. Usually, the only demerits I give Buble are for lifting arrangements directly from other singers' (namely Sinatra's) recordings. "Call Me Irresponsible" is a bit of a misstep, however. Buble's recordings typically include a sampling of numbers from the past along with more contemporary material, and he generally succeeds in bridging the gap between the two genres. On this recording, however, the differences between old and new feel more pronounced, giving the album a more uneven, less cohesive feel. Most surprising - as another reviewer has correctly noted - is the rather pronounced lisp Buble appears to have developed since his fine "It's Time" release two years ago. It does indeed sound like Buble burned or pierced his tongue prior to recording what now comes out as "The Betht ith Yet to Come" and "I've Got the World on a Thtwing". (One can only hope he finds a speech therapist before attempting "Stella By Starlight" or "Stairway to the Stars".) Finally, while Buble is to be commended for trying to infuse new life into old tunes, I have some concerns that he may be veering a little too close to Harry Connick Juniorville (an unhappy place where bizarre arrangements and inappropriate orchestrations are used to distract the listener from serious vocal limitations) on his versions of "That's Life" and the aforementioned "I've Got the World on a String". Buble is too talented a singer to have to reach into Harry's bag of tricks, and one hopes that he doesn't wander too far astray on future releases - of which there are sure to be many, given his popularity and relative youth. I could be wrong, but despite the generally positive reviews this release is currently receiving, I just don't think "Call Me Irresponsible" is going to end up being one of the more significant recordings in Buble's catalog. Better luck nextht thtime, Michael.
not very irresponsible May 6, 2007
kanakaris nico (belgium)
56 out of 62 found this review helpful
i bought his first and his second and his cd/dvd and this and that but this album is a bit of a dissapointment to me.
it's way too predictable,it's like they were afraid to take any chance and just leave things as they were,witch is boring i guess,i love the americain songbook but i really think most versions of the swingtracks he did are lifeless.
i like
-it had better be tonight
-me and mrs jones
-lost
-i've got the world on a string
-i'm your man
-comin'home
they are pretty decent versions not allway new and exiting but they are good but the rest of the album is uninspiring i think,everything sounds a bit too poppy for my taste nice song but that's it,as for the other interpretations,well they lack that certain something,i can't explain but overall this album doesn't exite me as his first did,it sounds just like i expected it to sound and that's predictable.his voice is like allways superb that's why i allready ordered tickets to see him live but this cd i'm not crazy about shame,next time michael be really irresponsible!!
|
|
|
