★★★★★
Paul Anka is a scary man. Just look at him - his face stares out from the cover of his latest album with evil, conspiratorial intent. This is a man who is surely just steps away from being recruited to play Jack Bauer's latest nemesis in the next season of 24 - and his plan to wipe out the heart of the free world is a corker...
- www.musicomh.com
2010-08-23
★★★★★
Whats going on here? An OAP recording a Billy Idol cover with a big band! Surely no financial inducement can be worth such abject loss of dignity. Paul Anka first topped the Billboard Singles Chart half a century ago with "Diana" (1957). He was never in the same league as Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly, but went on to becomea consistentperformer who scored hits well into the sixties. His first come back came in 1974 - a duet with Odia Coates titled "(You're) Having My Baby"...
- www.bbc.co.uk
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Rock Swings, Paul Anka's big band take on modern rock anthems earlier this year, was such a shock to the system for some that in several quarters it got a severe critical kicking – not least by a.n.other reviewer on this site.
Classic Songs My Way is more of the same – a baker's dozen of contemporary hits given a late-night Las Vegas casino cabaret sion bristling with peacock pomp.
Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" lends itself readily to Anka's musical accent to produce a version which i......
- www.bbc.co.uk
2009-06-12
★★★★★
So anyway, I'm stuck at work, nothing to do, totally bored, so I'm writing
this review live. I'm listening to this album right now for the first time
through as I type this. Seems to be about as much attention as this asinine
concept (old fart making "hip" rock n' roll songs sound old and unhip)
deserves...
- www.stylusmagazine.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
An appealing novelty from a former teen idol your parents may be too young to remember, Paul Anka's Rock Swings is destined to be the one big-band album in many college kids' record collections. Packed with schmaltzed-up covers of Nirvana, Oasis and Bon Jovi, Anka's bid for latter-day cool falls flat -- which is part of the appeal. The horn-y arrangements and Anka's Sinatra-isms turn "Smells Like Teen Spirit" into something surreal, replacing grunge gravitas with geezer dreaminess...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
Track Listing: It's My Life; True; Eye of the Tiger; Everybody Hurts; Wonderwall; Blackhole Sun; It's a Sin;Jump; Smells Like Teen Spirit; Hello; Eyes Without a Face; Lovecats; The Way You Make MeFeel; Tears in Heaven. Personnel: Paul Anka: vocals; Randy Kerber: piano; Mike Lang: piano; Mike Valerio: bass; VinnieColaiuta: drums; Luis Conte: percussion; Larry Koonse: guitar; Dean Parks: guitar; plusother instruments and orchestra...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2009-06-05
★★★★★
Sure "You're Having My Baby" is a cute little single. But the rest of the album is the usual abortion.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-01-05
★★★★★
On this full-fledged comeback attempt, Paul Anka hooked up with writer/arranger David Foster and writer/singer/keyboard player Michael McDonald, plus the usual complement of high-priced Los Angeles session players (Jeff Porcaro on drums, Nathan East on bass, Steve Lukather on guitar, etc.) The result is a slick, contemporary pop-rock record that sounds like what that team usually sounds like on albums by McDonald, Peter Cetera, Kenny Loggins, etc...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27