              |
 |
 October 2006 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Arts & Letters The Quietest Storm By Ron Emke
In fact, he first recorded some of the chestnuts on Timeless Love way back in the early 1960s, and many early LPs by Motown acts contained a show tune or two. Robinson’s fondness for the material makes perfect sense: blessed with one of the smoothest voices in the biz, he’s a natural for ballads like “Our Love is Here to Stay.” Having written far more than his fair share of utterly beloved songs (not just for himself but for legions of other artists as well), he’s been taking it easy in the twenty or so years since his last chart hits, playing casinos and releasing modest-selling albums every now and then. Timeless Love could spark a comeback for one of the twentieth century’s major pop artists, but I doubt it. It’s not unlistenable, but it’s not particularly attention-grabbing, either. It is what it is: a dozen songs you probably know by heart, plus one Robinson original. (The new one — “I Love Your Face” — fits the feel of the CD quite well. It hardly ranks with Robinson’s best work or the other songs on the disc, but that’s asking a lot. It may not exactly be as “timeless” as “The Tracks of My Tears” or “You Go to My Head,” but I can envision it becoming a popular slow dance at weddings.) The biggest letdown is the arrangements, which tend toward easy listening; most of them are a little too saccharine for my taste, but then I was never a big fan of Robinson’s “Quiet Storm” period, when the propulsive rhythms of his Motown hits got replaced by a bland, middle-of-the-road aesthetic heavy on the strings and flutes. Timeless plays it straight for the most part. The music doesn’t get particularly adventurous except in a few rare spots toward the end of the album, like a percussion-driven version of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” played at the tempo of 70s disco. That one is followed up with a breathy, sultry “Tea for Two” — surely the first time I’ve ever heard the G-rated ditty delivered as heavy-duty make-out music. Lyrically, there are a few supper-clubby juxtapositions, as when Robinson works James Moody’s additional lines into “I’m in the Mood for Love” or breaks into Spanish midway through “Night and Day.” Then there’s “Time After Time,” which starts out as Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne’s standard and then morphs into Cyndi Lauper’s completely different song of the same name. The most striking moments on Timeless Love come in the selections that draw on Robinson’s still-considerable vocal strengths. “Speak Low,” for instance, gives full reign to his arresting falsetto, and on “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” his voice soars so high it recalls the unearthly croon of jazz/R&B legend Little Jimmy Scott. Nothing here is so earth shattering that it causes you to re-hear a song in a wholly new light, but then that’s not the way Robinson’s talent generally works. At his best, Smokey has always been a master of making his craft look effortless — as if working his particular brand of miracle came as easily as breathing. Timeless isn’t exactly a peak moment in his career, but it’s a handy reminder of what Robinson has always done so very, very well. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |
