02-10-2014, 19:36
enters the Billboard chart this week at #1
Spotify online listen
3.0 of 5.0 from allmusic
kind of skimpy with 11 tracks
too much anticipation for this after The Lady Is A Tramp
nothing on here stands up to that for me
love hearing the old standards though
and Tony's about the only living legend that's been there
decent album I guess
no bio for this one
Album Review - from consequence of sound
![[Image: MI0003782053.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/782/MI0003782053.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
In the earliest years of this decade, it could be hard to remember that Stefani Germanotta was a person at all. I say Lady Gaga, you think:
Alexander McQueen hoof shoes. Raw meat dress. The SXSW performance with a âvomit artist.â Born This Way. A collection of concepts, a string of
controversies, and some seriously infectious hits (âBad Romance,â always). But you donât necessarily think of a human being.
Perhaps resigning herself to the fact that itâs hard to see her doing anything shocking without causing harm to herself or others, Gaga has
decided to turn the tables yet again and make a jazz standards album with the 88-year-old Tony Bennett. Itâs not as far-fetched as it sounds:
Gaga has been playing piano since the age of four, and underneath the layers of Auto-Tune, she has a set of pipes worthy of the smokiest lounge
singer. These two New York Italians seem to understand each other very well, having first joined forces on âThe Lady Is a Trampâ for Bennettâs
2011 album, Duets II. There are really no gimmicks here: no synth beats, no club-ready hits, and no incendiary religious imagery, just two
artists taking their craft back to its bones and clearly having a lot of fun in the process. Itâs pretty damn refreshing, a clean slate and a
palate cleanser after the Gaga media fatigue of the past few years.
Itâs doubtful that the majority of Lady Gagaâs millennial fans will recognize even half of the tunes on the 11-track Cheek to Cheek, and thatâs
OK. These well-worn standards, written by the likes of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin, are getting the chance to be new again
despite clearly bearing the stamp of a different era. In an interview with NPR, Gaga said that some of her fans seemed to already know at least
some of the tunes, and âitâs becoming cooler for them to talk about who wrote what.â While there doesnât seem to be any empirical way to back
this up, itâs a nice image â an army of costumed Little Monsters swooning over Cole Porter as sung by their idol.
In the context of Cheek to Cheek, the contrasts between Gaga and Bennett are interesting: He stays straightforward in his delivery, while she
sometimes adopts an old-timey affectation thatâs never overpowering or obnoxious. Their voices complement each other and mesh together almost
seamlessly, and on tracks like the big-sounding âI Wonât Danceâ, itâs hard not to smile at the perfectly executed harmony. Covers of slower
tunes like âNature Boyâ donât really offer much thatâs different or new, but theyâre beautiful and engaging nonetheless.
Tony Bennett has always seemed like an amicable guy, someone it would be easy to strike up a conversation with over a tumbler of scotch in a
bar. Whatâs perhaps the most surprising about Cheek to Cheek is its ability to bring the aloof and complicated Lady Gaga down to earth. She goes
solo on âLush Lifeâ and predictably kills it, every word dripping with passion, regret, and vulnerability. You remember why she sells out
stadiums and inspires legions of dedicated fans, but at the same time, youâve never been more aware that the meat dress hides a beating heart.
nice studio video
[video=youtube;NNh7xyLwwLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNh7xyLwwLc[/video]
Track Listing
1. Anything Goes
2. Cheek to Cheek
3. Nature Boy
4. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
5. I Won't Dance
6. Firefly
7. Lush Life
8. Sophisticated Lady
9. Let's Face the Music and Dance
10. But Beautiful
11. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Spotify online listen
3.0 of 5.0 from allmusic
kind of skimpy with 11 tracks
too much anticipation for this after The Lady Is A Tramp
nothing on here stands up to that for me
love hearing the old standards though
and Tony's about the only living legend that's been there
decent album I guess
no bio for this one
Album Review - from consequence of sound
In the earliest years of this decade, it could be hard to remember that Stefani Germanotta was a person at all. I say Lady Gaga, you think:
Alexander McQueen hoof shoes. Raw meat dress. The SXSW performance with a âvomit artist.â Born This Way. A collection of concepts, a string of
controversies, and some seriously infectious hits (âBad Romance,â always). But you donât necessarily think of a human being.
Perhaps resigning herself to the fact that itâs hard to see her doing anything shocking without causing harm to herself or others, Gaga has
decided to turn the tables yet again and make a jazz standards album with the 88-year-old Tony Bennett. Itâs not as far-fetched as it sounds:
Gaga has been playing piano since the age of four, and underneath the layers of Auto-Tune, she has a set of pipes worthy of the smokiest lounge
singer. These two New York Italians seem to understand each other very well, having first joined forces on âThe Lady Is a Trampâ for Bennettâs
2011 album, Duets II. There are really no gimmicks here: no synth beats, no club-ready hits, and no incendiary religious imagery, just two
artists taking their craft back to its bones and clearly having a lot of fun in the process. Itâs pretty damn refreshing, a clean slate and a
palate cleanser after the Gaga media fatigue of the past few years.
Itâs doubtful that the majority of Lady Gagaâs millennial fans will recognize even half of the tunes on the 11-track Cheek to Cheek, and thatâs
OK. These well-worn standards, written by the likes of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin, are getting the chance to be new again
despite clearly bearing the stamp of a different era. In an interview with NPR, Gaga said that some of her fans seemed to already know at least
some of the tunes, and âitâs becoming cooler for them to talk about who wrote what.â While there doesnât seem to be any empirical way to back
this up, itâs a nice image â an army of costumed Little Monsters swooning over Cole Porter as sung by their idol.
In the context of Cheek to Cheek, the contrasts between Gaga and Bennett are interesting: He stays straightforward in his delivery, while she
sometimes adopts an old-timey affectation thatâs never overpowering or obnoxious. Their voices complement each other and mesh together almost
seamlessly, and on tracks like the big-sounding âI Wonât Danceâ, itâs hard not to smile at the perfectly executed harmony. Covers of slower
tunes like âNature Boyâ donât really offer much thatâs different or new, but theyâre beautiful and engaging nonetheless.
Tony Bennett has always seemed like an amicable guy, someone it would be easy to strike up a conversation with over a tumbler of scotch in a
bar. Whatâs perhaps the most surprising about Cheek to Cheek is its ability to bring the aloof and complicated Lady Gaga down to earth. She goes
solo on âLush Lifeâ and predictably kills it, every word dripping with passion, regret, and vulnerability. You remember why she sells out
stadiums and inspires legions of dedicated fans, but at the same time, youâve never been more aware that the meat dress hides a beating heart.
nice studio video
[video=youtube;NNh7xyLwwLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNh7xyLwwLc[/video]
Track Listing
1. Anything Goes
2. Cheek to Cheek
3. Nature Boy
4. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
5. I Won't Dance
6. Firefly
7. Lush Life
8. Sophisticated Lady
9. Let's Face the Music and Dance
10. But Beautiful
11. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
