Chris Isaak
Album: Mr. Lucky
Label: Wicked Game/Reprise
Rating: ***
Chris Isaak is lucky to have a voice as big as the late Roy Orbison. And we’re lucky that Isaak hasn’t forgotten how to use it during his seven year recording absence. Isaak will never be able to match the success he scored early on with his haunting masterpiece, Wicked Game (although he comes close on the Mr. Lucky’s single, We Let Her Down). And he’ll never be able to shake the comparison’s to the Big O. But why should he? There’s very few alive today that can match the incredible vocal range Isaak demonstrates on You Don’t Cry Like I Do. Just to keep things interesting, Isaak tosses in a couple of heart-melting duets with Trisha Yearwood and Michelle Branch. Among the 14 original tracks, there’s unquestionably some lightweight stuff. But even the three or four weaker tracks stand up well compared to the overproduced pablum that Nashville far too often serves up as country rock.
On the web
www.myspace.com/chrisisaak
