Chris Isaak Albums (12)
What The Critics Say
Mr. Lucky is the first album Chris Isaak has released in seven years but it's hard to call it a comeback: it's been so long since Isaak had something approaching a crossover hit that it's hard to say that he's been away, that he has something to come back from -- he just appears every few years, such as in March of 2009, when Mr. Lucky appeared as part of a coordinated multimedia attack. In addition to this new album, Isaak has a new talk show on A&E -- like Elvis Costello's Spectacle but on basic cable -- and Mr. Lucky isn't strictly a soundtrack for the show, but it's fair to say that the show gives Mr. Lucky a larger potential audience than any Isaak album in a long time, probably since the last time he had a television show in the early-2000s sitcom The Chris Isaak Show. Given this bigger platform, it makes perfect sense that Mr. Lucky feels carefully considered: from its production to its construction, it's a deliberate attempt to modernize Isaak's retro obsessions without abandoning them. Usually, this modernization surfaces in echoey atmospherics partway between U2 and Coldplay, textures that suit his melodramatic Roy Orbison tributes. Mr. Lucky works because Isaak and crew don't overplay their hand -- he's never swallowed in waves of digital delay, the way Roy himself was on his swan song, Mystery Girl -- but tweak subtly, then alternate these coolly romantic mood pieces with swinging rockabilly, sly low-key grooves, duets with Trisha Yearwood and Michelle Branch, breezy pop that harks back to a time prior to the British Invasion, and a big, glitzy Vegas number to close the whole show. As a sensibility, it's no different than anything Isaak's done, so the difference is the execution, not just in the light, fresh touch of the production but the songs, which are his strongest in a long time -- and that's good enough to please his longtime fans as well as anybody whose interest might be piqued by the new show. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Chris Isaak Christmas'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 16
Label Mailboat
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
If you're going to invite a hipster recording artist into your home for Christmas, it may as well be Chris Isaak -- he's cool but he's also well-mannered, and can act sly enough for your thinks-she's-bohemian sister without scaring your Grandmother in the process. Like no small number of veteran recording artists, Isaak has cut an album of holiday tunes, cleverly called Chris Isaak Christmas, and while like most similar projects you get the sense that Chris didn't put quite the same amount of work into this that would of gone into a "real" album, he thankfully didn't skimp on quality control along the way. Isaak wrote five new tunes for this project, and "Washington Square" and "Christmas on TV" are solid contributions to his catalog of bummed-out love songs, while "Gotta Be Good" is a likable nugget of blues-flavored growl. Elsewhere, Isaak has thrown in a solid selection of Christmas standards, which he and his band have given an easygoing but full-bodied treatment that's solidly in the style of his best work, favoring the playful over the cloying. On the cool scale, Chris Isaak Christmas sure won't replace your copy of the Phil Spector Christmas album, but as background music for your Christmas party it makes for a happening switch from treacle like Kenny G or Mannheim Steamroller, and you know you can count on a surfer to sing "Mele Kalikimaka" like he already knows what it means. Just don't let Chris get too close to the mistletoe. The guy has a reputation, you know. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
You have to admire Chris Isaak -- the guy's been making records for close to 20 years, and he's still the very model of effortless cool with pipes to match, not the easiest accomplishment for a guy who's pushing fifty. At the same time, while Isaak's gifts haven't faded a bit with time, he hasn't displayed a stunning degree of versatility, either -- he's still the same lovelorn lover man with the retro-hipster style he introduced on Silvertone in 1985. But Isaak's eighth album, Always Got Tonight, suggests that slowly but surely Isaak is learning to change with the times. Isaak actually puts a retro-funk groove on the title cut, he lets his country influences rise to the surface on "American Boy," "Notice the Ring" shows a little electronic glimmer around the edges, and "One Day" lays on a bit more of the rock juice than you might expect. Don't get the idea that Isaak is breaking radical new ground here, though -- he may have added a few new toppings to the menu, but at heart this is still the same kind of ice cream sundae he's been offering listeners for years, and as always the goods are rich and tasty and made with only the finest ingredients, and tunes like "Life Will Go On" and "I See You Everywhere" will keep fans of his trademark luxurious heartbreak very happy indeed. Always Got Tonight offers something a little bit new for Chris Isaak's fans, but not enough to really startle anyone, and while a shade more ambition might have made this a bit more interesting, this guy is still doing what he does with the same style, flair, and skill he's always possessed, and you can't fault a man for doing what works, especially when it works this well. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Speak of the Devil explores the same moody terrain as Chris Isaak's previous records, though the songs are fleshed out with more contemporary touches. The leadoff track, "Please," is unusually hard-hitting, with its acoustic/electric/soft/crash structure, Mellotron, and soundbite lyrics. "I'm Not Sleepy" is a roots rock rave-up (wherein Isaak lyrically quotes Lennon's "Oh Yoko": "In the middle of the night I cry your name"); the title cut is an eerie celebration of love lost and found; "Talkin' 'Bout a Home" is the album's tour de force. Yet, some of the loungy vocal touches in "Flying" and the final instrumental track, "Super Magic 2000," would be right at home on an indie rock record. And of course there's plenty of that thing Isaak does best: quintessential love's-gone-wrong-'n'-let's-make-it-right songs, as on the loping, country-tinged "This Time" and the teary "Walk Slow." ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Isaak's well-known surfing fixation had been referenced here and there on past album art before, but Baja Sessions gives him a chance not only to bring that out in the open but to consciously aim for a much more relaxed, gentle follow-up to the harrowing Forever Blue. Returning to the calmer but still potent romantic angst and celebration familiar from his earlier records, Isaak and his core band, with new recruit Hershel Yatovitz on lead guitar, tackle a slew of cover songs, some re-recordings of older material and a few new songs as well. It's a much more relaxed outing in comparison to his previous work, by no means raw or rough, though -- Erik Jacobsen, Isaak's producer from start to end, or so it seems, keeps the focused, sweet sadness of Isaak's singing and music as pure as one could ever want it. The emphasis is on mostly acoustic performances with soft drumming from Johnson, usually with brushes. The calm, gentle flow of the band's work here means the new versions of older Isaak cuts like "Back On Your Side" and "Two Hearts" sound especially lovely, having a serene, relaxed sparkle to them. The cover choices are a fun range, everything from bona-fide rock & roll classics to nods to country and other sources. The old Gene Autry singing cowboy number "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)" not only fits the theme of the album but seems tailor-made for Isaak's singing style, while Hawaiian standard "Sweet Leilani" gets the right touch of steel guitar twang to suit the song and then some. If there's a winner, though, it's the all-debts-paid cover of one of Isaak's obvious heroes -- Roy Orbison, whose majestic "Only the Lonely" gets a low-key but still appropriately dramatic revamp. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Without identifying who it was, Isaak made his mood clear with Forever Blue by including a farewell letter in the liner notes to the lover who had dumped him. Kicking things off with the snaky, almost guttural "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing," later made a theme song for Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, Isaak lives up to the confused, fractured message in that letter, turning Forever Blue into his own exorcism. On the one hand, he doesn't sound any less impassioned than before, but on the other, those who have criticized him for seeming to concentrate on the surface of his influences rather than the depths would probably find themselves outfoxed here. There's a stronger energy and fiercer edge to the music, as moodily beautiful as ever, to be sure, but cutting just a little more close to the bone, with even the quiet moments -- check the heartbreaking title track -- sounding truly lost and forlorn. Kenney Dale Johnson's drums hit with a harder energy in the louder moments, the more upbeat melodies have that much more of an incongruously jaunty feeling when set against the often-eviscerating lyrics, as directed as much against himself as the lost love in question. Still, the mysterious departed figure is clearly the main target, and songs like "Don't Leave Me on My Own" and "There She Goes" leave little doubt where things are headed, while "Go Walking Down There" practically explodes with bitterness, Isaak's lyrics lashing out against "the happy people" around him. The instrumental range on San Francisco Days carries over here, but with a newer emphasis on rougher edges mixed with quieter deliveries and arrangements -- a seemingly odd balance, but one that punctuates the sheen of Isaak's earlier work with aplomb, as well as forecasting ahead toward Baja Sessions. Erik Jacobsen again is the production ear behind it all, and credit to him for helping make sure those chances get taken. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Having found himself with a fluke hit single thanks to "Wicked Game," Isaak's next move was interesting enough -- namely, for a long while, nothing. Heart Shaped World's follow-up came four years later, after Nirvana and Dr. Dre rewrote the musical rules for what turned out to be the rest of the '90s. As a result, San Francisco Days more than any of Isaak's earlier albums seemed more timeless, more enjoyably out of place, than before, an effect heightened by the intentionally '60s-styled cover art and design, right down to the listing of the song titles on the front. But while the emphasis on the surface was traditionalism and continuity, in fact, San Francisco Days was the most quietly experimental collection Isaak had yet recorded, wedding his clean and classic approach, backed by his ever-reliable trio and as always produced by Erik Jacobsen, with a variety of newer musical touches and quirkier arrangements. Thus the barrelhouse piano toward the end of the swooning title track or the quietly sassy female backing vocals on "Can't Do a Thing to Stop This" and "Move Along," not to mention the dark rumble of feedback mixed with fuzzy rhythm box (!) that provides the core of "Round N' Round," the vocal growl at the end a surprising touch. The work of guest Jimmy Pugh on Hammond organ on various tracks is also noteworthy, adding some quietly funky smoke to the proceedings. This certainly doesn't describe the whole album, and those won over by "Wicked Game" and its crystalline vision of smoldering appeal and emotional sucker punch will find much to love with the deceptively gentle lope of "Two Hearts" and the slow, stripped-down "Waiting." There are also plenty of good-time numbers well suited to Isaak and company's sly style, like "Beautiful Homes," while a concluding cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" wraps things up on a fine high note. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When filmmaker David Lynch backed a disquieting scene in Blue Velvet with Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," he demonstrated the eerie atmosphere behind its pre-'60s innocence. Orbison disciple Chris Isaak played those qualities to the hilt in his shimmering, spare "Wicked Game," so it was no surprise when Lynch included the ballad in Wild at Heart. What was surprising, given the fact that it sounded like nothing else on pop radio in 1990, was that "Wicked Game" became a breakout Top Ten hit, pushing Isaak's accompanying album Heart Shaped World to platinum status. Of course, there's more than that one moody masterpiece of a single to recommend Heart Shaped World. Isaak faithfully recreates his influences with production that's infinitely cleaner than Sun rock & roll, drawing more on its form than its attitude, but he's particularly suited to the sort of Orbison/Presley-style balladry that brought him a mass audience. His rich, sobbing croon is simply a gorgeous instrument, whether he's in a sonorous baritone or quavering falsetto. And he uses that instrument to tremendous effect here, coming across as a brooding romantic with a broken heart and swoon-inducing style. Of itself, Heart Shaped World is a pretty effective mood piece, showcasing Isaak doing a whole lot of what he does best. He does attempt a couple of rockers, but they never really rock -- much like Orbison, it's clear that ballads are his true forte, and given the spirit Isaak wants to channel, the numbers feel much too tame. But aside from that flaw, the rest of Heart Shaped World is a supremely elegant late-night soundtrack, equally suited to steamy romance or solitary heartache. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
