Search - Don Mclean :: Starry Starry Night

Better than I expected

A. Butterfield | UK | 05/04/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Don's recent albums have been pretty terrible, in all honesty, so it was with trepidation that I ordered this one. His performance on this TV special has received a certain amount of acclaim, but it has to be said, mostly from his die-hard fans.Still, I was fairly pleasantly surprised, despite was has to be one of the all-time worst album covers. If that's the most flattering photo they could find of Don, heaven help him. The design is awful too.You get 2 CDs, so it's a lot of music, and Don is clearly enjoying himself, and is in pretty good voice. I enjoyed the less familiar songs more than the old favourites (he does a whole lot of each) because I know the originals too well and his performance of them now is a little variable. Nanci Griffith helps out on a couple of songs, but she seems curiously unlike herself. You probably need to see the video. She doesn't really add anything to `And I Love You So', but `Raining in Your Heart' is nice.I especially like Don's rendition of `Tulsa Time/Deep In The Heart Of Texas', which seems to suit his voice pretty well. In fact, it's the newer material that often sounds best, which is curious, because the studio versions are dreadful, plodding affairs.For those whose like that sort of thing (and I do), Don's left in all the asides, the mistakes, the in-between-song banter, and so on. He even does `Castles in the Air' twice because they didn't get it right the first time! "If he wants me to do it again he'll have to sing it himself," he remarks to the audience. Having also ordered Don's new Marty Robbins CD, I was disappointed to find that the Marty Robbins song Don does here is easily the worst on the album. And Don's voice is not so good these days. Inevitably he's lost that vocal athleticism that was a trademark of his younger days, but he now seems to have also lost the smoothness that he developed later on. But at least he doesn't sound almost `doped' like on one or two recent albums. His annoying habit of delivering each line of a song a split second too late, then catching up, remains. When did he start doing this? It's irritating.But on the whole, Don McLean's fans will probably appreciate this album."

An enjoyable listen

roadrunner1 | Delray Beach, FL United States | 04/30/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a don't miss recording for Don McLean fans and for people who have heard the hits and are ready for more. A great mixture of Don's singing and his interaction with a live audience. He plays all the big hits but he also plays some of the Don McLean fan favorites that we never get to hear on the radio like If We Try, Jerusalem and Superman's Ghost. The duets with Nancy Griffith are really a treat.This album does not dissappoint."