Paradise, Once Lost, Returns
Jon Oye | IL, US | 06/10/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There's really nothing to which "Return to Paradise Islands" can be compared. It defies any type of in-a-nutshell description, and it evokes no other album that comes immediately to mind. Looking at the undistinguished cover, one could easily dismiss it as a musical travelogue, or perhaps a paean to the then-newly admitted 50th state, or maybe just another collection of Hawaiian tunes. But this shimmeringly tranquil and mesmerizing Bing Crosby-Nelson Riddle collaboration transcends the genre of "Hawaiian" (a musical province Crosby had been no stranger to since virtually creating it in the 1930s), or any other genre for that matter.
Originally issued on Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in 1963 but never released to CD, nearly 50 years of dormancy had brought about the unjust interment of "Paradise Islands" into the nether world of forgotten albums. Thankfully, and finally, Bing Crosby Enterprises has resurrected it, and we are all the richer for it.
Despite its indisputable attributes and A-list pedigree, the original vinyl release suffered audibly from the accompaniment engulfing Bing's vocals. This has been remedied in a meticulous remixing/remastering job by producer Robert Bader, resulting in a near-perfect listening experience. (One of the album's predecessors, "El Señor Bing," had the opposite problem - that is, the accompaniment was overwhelmed by the vocals - which has also been repaired.)
Augmenting the original LP material are a "Paradise" session outtake and five previously unreleased Hawaiian-themed tracks recorded by Bing in 1961 that are thematically appropriate but musically somewhat incongruous. They are topnotch performances though, and quite enjoyable when listened to separately from "Paradise.""
Finally! Another Crosby favorite....
Arnold L. Fogel | 07/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've always loved this album, and I love it even more now. Because of the way in which the album was remixed for this CD release, it now more fully sounds like a "BING CROSBY ALBUM" in a way that it didn't quite before on the original LP: Less effects & better EQ on the voice is partially what makes the difference. Bing is front and center, and rather than sounding uncertain and somewhat overpowered by the backdrop as he did on the original release, he is revealed to have been in full command of his vocal equipment here at age 60: Rich, nuanced, and committed to the mood and the material.
Recently, I read somewhere ( I think it was in Levinson's fascinating Nelson Riddle biography) that Nelson Riddle was particularly fond of writing film scores, and always lamented that he didn't get the opportunity to do more of this kind of work. Well, apparently, he used the "RETURN TO PARADISE ISLANDS" assignment as a chance to create the type of music that could at least partially satisfy his longing to do this type of work. Riddle's musical backdrop for Bing on this album is highly cinematic in style, creating not only "accompaniment", but setting a lush, exotic, nearly visual scene. His work is quite gorgeous here.
... This fresh remix gives us a newly revealed full-bodied Crosby, without losing the lush, film-score quality of the Riddle arrangements I've always enjoyed. Fun bonus tracks, too, featuring Bing with the Buddy Cole Trio doing some cute Hawaiian songs in performances originally recorded for radio broadcast only. These Cole performances predate the original LP by just a few years."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1