Published on Jul 4, 1999
Chris Isaak may be one of the biggest cons in rock music. Every
girl I know swoons over his looks. His seductive voice and smooth
delivery makes him at the top of anyone’s “make out” collection of
CDs. But in practically all of his albums, he’s all by his
lonesome.
The 90s have been fairly kind to Mr. Isaak. He enjoyed a taste
of success with his song, “Wicked Game” in 1991. After that, he
enjoyed critical acclaim with the beautful album,
San Fransisco Days.
Now, he’s back in the public light as one of his songs is
playing in the trailer for one of this year’s most anticipated
movies,
Eyes Wide Shut. The song, “Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing” is
played in the background as Tom Cruise and Nichole Kidman go at it
heavily in front of a mirror.
Damn, and that song kicks off what possibly could be his finest
hour so far with
Forever Blue. In case you haven’t seen the trailer, “Baby
Did A Bad Bad Thing” is a clear, angry, blusey blast from Isaak. He
has always incorporated elements of rockibilly into his forte, but
with this song, he digs so deep into the blues, it sounds like he’s
singing with a bruised, broken heart. As he assaults his guitar, he
shouts “Feel like crying!/Feel like crying!” and dammit, you
believe it.
There’s nothing more rocking than that song on
Forever Blue, so it could be thought of as a cheap way to
lure the listener in and then taper off with filler material. But
that song serves as a nice slap in the face. He has your attention,
now he proceeds to keep it throughout the rest of the album.
The minor hit “Somebody’s Crying” lays out the theme of loss on
Forever Blue. Indeed, just look inside the CD case and
you’ll see a rather nasty, yet affectionate letter Chris has
written to a potential soon to be ex.
Songs like “Don’t Leave Me On My Own” and “Changed Your Mind”
focus on relationships at their most desperate stages. Musically,
there really isn’t much I can say about Isaak that hasn’t been said
before. If there were to be a successor to Buddy Holly, Isaak would
definitely be in line for auditions. His guitar work stays true to
the rockibilly form, but he allows himself to slow down for more
pensive ballads like “Graduation Day.”
While
Forever Blue is very much etched in black, Isaak makes sure
to insert a couple of playful ditties to keep listeners from going
off the emotional deep end. “Goin’ Nowhere” is a great example. It
starts off like a song that you would dedicate to your best girl,
“Like your lips/like the way you shake,” but he quicky turns the
affection to a slap when he says, “You’re the type of girl I would
say is going nowhere.” He even includes a cowboy yell during the
song to back up his talk.
Isaak has never been known to explore new sounds, and much of
Forever Blue is stuff that he’s done before. But on
Forever Blue, the lyrics seem more genuine and the music
just has a much smoother flow than his past releases. If you
haven’t discovered
Forever Blue yet, do it before
Eyes Wide Shut. At least then you can say you got in on an
artist who will no doubt profit in a huge way when that movie hits
the theaters.