Like any baby boomer is no stranger to . Arguably, he has a deeper connection than most, having scored a hit with a cover of ' back in 1982 and then proving he was adept at writing his own bounce with 1988's so devoting a full album to songs is not a huge stretch, but 2010's -- his first studio album since 2002's and only his fourth record since 1990 -- is nevertheless mildly surprising in its fidelity to its source material. hired three of the surviving as instrumental support and set about replicating a bunch of classics -- 18 in its standard edition, a whopping 25 in its deluxe edition -- in a studio in Switzerland. Replication is not an exaggeration: these are not interpretations but re-creations of the original arrangements and productions, the only difference being ' vocals. He is too in love with the originals to change even tiny inflections but he's also enjoying the process of making music with some of his idols. For a listener, this can be a shared fun, particularly when explores some of the lesser-known songs, like and Most of is devoted to the tried and true, though, the hits that remain staples on oldies stations across the globe, and whenever is singing or the album inches away from being a labor of love and into pure nostalgia trip, but even then the album is pleasant enough that it's hard to complain. [ was also released with eight bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine