Thanks to
Clive Davis
,
Rod Stewart
found a career revival in 2002 with
It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook
, the album that refashioned the lovable rogue into a swanky swinger.
Davis
' gamble paid off -- he figured that the public, already aware of
Stewart
's status as a great singer, would believe that he could sing classic
pop
songs as well as he sang
rock
soul
, and
folk
, and he was right: the public did buy the record. But just because a record sells doesn't necessarily mean that it's all that good, and
It Had to Be You
suffered from one simple thing:
's talents and skills are not well-suited for
traditional pop
. Still, the concept was a good one so the record sold and spawned a sequel,
As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2
. Released a year later, nearly to the day,
As Time Goes By
is basically the same album as
, relying on a similar song selection of well-worn warhorses and adhering to the same simple, straight-ahead cocktail-bar arrangements as its predecessor. There are some slight differences, most notably the presence of two duets: a version of
"Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered"
with
Cher
, while
Queen Latifah
joins in on the title song (neither cut is very good, but
Latifah
is much better than
, who is less-suited for this material than
Rod
). Then, there's the slight upper hand of producer
Richard Perry
, who helms more tracks this time around than the other two producers,
and
Phil Ramone
, who are also returning from
Overall, the album has a looser feel, but that doesn't mean more relaxed; it means sloppy -- to the point that the producers failed to correct a glaring computerized vocal correction error at 1:20 on the opening track,
"Time After Time."
's delivery is lazy and unfocused; his asides and offhand turns of phrase work wonders on
, where it's more about being in the moment than being in the song, but on finely crafted songs like these, precision is needed and
's delivery makes it seem like he just doesn't have his heart in it. He never sounds bad; he merely sounds awkward on occasion, but the record is so casual that it doesn't make much of a difference.
just coasts by on its style and concept, which is about as satisfying and pleasant as it was the first time out, but the slight differences -- the duets, the sloppiness -- make the artifice more apparent this time around. It still works as background music, though, for those who buy into the concept. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine