Bobby Darin - Ultra Lounge Wild Cool Swingin Artist Series Vol 2 (20 tracks) +Album Reviews

A finger snappin' toe tappin' experience!

11/02/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The very best in lounge music. Bobby makes every cut his own. His interpretation and style are truly original. Lots of brass and a great beat. Listening to this CD made me want to smoke a cigarette and drink something on the rocks (neither of which I do but it made me WANT to!)"

The best Darin album available

Michael J. McVay | 02/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the swingin'est Bobby Darin album on the market today. I usually try to avoid compilations, because I like to hear whole albums in their original forms, but this is a terrific collection of some of Darin's best from the Capitol years (1962-65). This CD keeps the momentum from beginning to end, and is reminiscent of Sinatra's exuberant swing albums, with Darin clearly enjoying himself on every single track. The Billy May arrangement for Once in a Lifetime is one of the most astonishing I have ever heard, and Darin is at his enthusiastic best. The previously unreleased tracks are all excellent as well. Since this collection contains most of the Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie album, one has to wonder why Capitol is so reluctant to release Darin's albums in their entirety. As it is, two other great tracks, Goodbye Charlie and Lonely Road, are buried in the Capitol Collector's Series CD, and BELONG with these great swing tracks (there's room!) Also, 10 out of 12 tracks from Oh! Look at Me Now are found on the Spotlight on Bobby Darin CD. Why not just release the entire album on one CD with "bonus tracks"?"

Answer to reviewer's question

Michael J. McVay | 07/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm writing to answer Melissa's question. She wonders why Darin's hits like "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea" are not in this compilation. He recorded those tracks on his album "That's All" for the Atco label (Atlantic records). Later, he switched to the Capitol label, which sponsors these Ultra-Lounge CDs. These labels obviously don't share material. "That's All" is available on CD, as well as many compilations containing his hits. Also, to update a previous review I wrote, Darin's Capitol albums "Oh! Look at Me Now" (arranged by Billy May) and "Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie" (arranged by Richard Wess),where many of these tracks originated, have finally been released on one CD. Look for it!"

Great album, I've been listening to it constantly

Daniel Berger | Atlanta, GA USA | 02/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Even disregarding the rock he began with and the folk he did later in his career, Darin sang a broad range of music. This album features show tunes, standards, at least one of his own songs ("Gyp the Cat", too much a "Mack the Knife" knockoff to be taken too seriously), and current pop. I find his treatment of the last most compelling. The Sixties were a period when the old songwriting lions were beginning to pass from the scene, and when too many pop ballads, their writers striving too hard for relevance or romance, delivered overripe songs not up to the standards of the previous few decades. (All that "I Gotta Be Me" stuff. Yecch. Or songs full of strings no longer leavened by Cole Porter-style wit.) Darin here performs, with few or no strings, songs like "A Taste of Honey" and "More" - saccharine in most singers' hands - with enough punch to make them not only worth listening to but genuinely good. This album features cleaner arrangements than some of his others like "Swingin' the Standards", and these songs are genuine as a result. Every song here, depending on the listener's taste, is good. My favorite cuts include "As Long As I'm Singin' "; "Sunday in New York"; "The Good Life"; "Call Me Irresponsible"; "I Got Rhythm"; and "More." On "Hello, Dolly" - not generally one of my favorite songs - check out his final high note. But really, I like them all. Bobby loves to find new ways to do songs; his swinging version of "This Nearly Was Mine" from "South Pacific" is meritorious. Damn, he's good."

Hello, Bobby!

Matthew Giuliano | Philadelphia, PA | 05/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love lounge music, especially swing, and in my opinion, few do either better than Bobby Darrin. My interest in Bobby Darrin's music began while I was in high school--having heard "Dream Lover" on an oldies station, I went to buy the album. Now, as my tastes have matured, I have grown much more fond of Darrin's later works. This great disc has a plethora of sweet, smooth laments ("Sweetest Sounds," "Look at Me") and some of the best, jazziest swing that he's ever done: "As Long as I'm Singing" was a terrific choice for the first cut and really gets the mood started; "Hello, Dolly!" rises from a tepid whisper to blaring brass and wailing vocals. Two of the previously unreleased tracks are also fantastic. "This Nearly was Mine" is a great song to listen to when reflecting on lost love, yet the beat picks you up at the very same time. "Gyp the Cat," the disc's final song, is thematically very similar to Mack the Knife, and the music is unabashedly lifted from "Hello, Dolly!" but those are both great songs, and Gyp is no exception. The real gem on this album, though, is "More." Without a doubt, the best love song I've ever heard. I really believe my girlfriend fell in love with me when I sang her this song while on the way to a swing bar (where we heard it performed live that evening)-of course, I had Bobby D. backing me up on the car stereo. But don't take my word for it, go hear the sample from the disc, "Ultra Lounge, Vol. 5: Wild, Cool & Swingin'". The song is phenomenal, and standing alone makes the album worth buying, but the other tracks have enough strength in their own right to warrant a much-needed compilation of Darrin's work at Capitol Records."

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