reviews / 2007

MARC ALMOND - Stardom Road

Name: MARC ALMOND – Stardom Road
Item: Stardom Road
Rating: 6
Author: Marco Bercella

2007 (Sanctuary records)

pop

by Marco Bercella

Marc Almond had a close call. A car accident, three years ago, nearly took away one of the most beautiful voices in British pop history. But a few months later he was already back out doing club DJ sets, and then back on stage weaving together his various collaborations. The result of this decidedly troubled period is a covers album (with the exception of "Redeem Me", which bears his own songwriting credit), on which he runs through, with a crooner's poise and retro orchestral arrangements, some of his countless infatuations: from Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten" to Charles Aznavour's "I Have Lived".

What stamps the operation is no shortage of taste, nor of his undisputed vocal talent, and unfortunately not even a shortage of over-the-top moments (the Sinatra-esque "Strangers In The Night" could frankly have been spared), nor the inevitable flirt with Antony Hegarty, who by now has made duets his reason for living. A record with no particular infamy to it, if anything prone to undemanding listens, and deserving the praise due to a welcome return.

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08/11/2007

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Marco Bercella, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition

Tracklist

1. I Have Lived
2. I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten - (with Sarah Cracknell)
3. Bedsitter Images
4. The London Boys
5. Strangers In the Night
6. The Ballad Of The Sad Young Men (with Antony Hegarty)
7. Stardom Road
8. Kitsch
9. Backstage (I'm Lonely) - (with Jools Holland)
10. Dream Lover
11. Happy Heart
12. Redeem Me (Beauty Will Redeem The World)
13. The Curtain Falls

MARC ALMOND online

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Monograph

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