Usually, big-band arrangements of rock songs are played for laughs: think
Pat Boone's 1997 LP
In a Metal Mood. But not
Paul Young's 2006 album
Rock Swings, a record that just happens to share a title with
Paul Anka's 2005 attempt at a similar style.
Young may be having fun with his sometimes radical rearrangements -- surely he knows that the very inclusion of
Eminem's "Lose Yourself" is bound to raise eyebrows -- but he's not merely having a laugh: he's attempting to see these modern standards in a new light. Although the brassy ring-a-ding-ding can seem odd -- again, turning "Lose Yourself" into a finger-snapping showstopper is a shining example -- as the record unfolds, the cleverness of the arrangements begins to sink in, as do
Young's wry vocals. Make no mistake,
Rock Swings still veers toward the silly: it's steeped in Vegas-era
Sinatra, some of the songs hit the showbiz pizzazz too hard, and there's a cheeseball air to the whole proceedings. Nevertheless, the corn is its charm: it sounds like something played in the early hours of a
Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon in 1981, something you're never quite sure if you dreamed or saw. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine