Danny Aiello Albums (2)
'Live from Atlantic City'
Release Date 7/22/2008
Tracks 12
Label Dreammakers
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Jazz-influenced traditional pop has a long history of being performed in the U.S. gambling centers Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The Rat Pack spent a lot of time in Vegas, and from the late '70s on, Atlantic City has followed Vegas' lead and had a love affair with traditional pop. So it isn't surprising that actor/singer Danny Aiello (who is better known for his acting than his singing) would record a live album in Atlantic City. This 53-minute disc, which was recorded in the Sands Hotel & Casino's Copa Room on February 18, 2006 (about 18 months before the Sands was demolished), doesn't pretend to point traditional pop in any new directions; Aiello's prominent influences include Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, and Dean Martin (especially Sinatra), and his performances of well-known standards such as "All of Me," "Pennies from Heaven," "I'm Confessing (That I Love You)," and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" are consistently mindful of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s (the glory years of traditional pop). Aiello's performance of Harold Arlen's Sinatra-associated "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)" is an obvious salute to Old Blue Eyes, and he pays homage to Darin on "Beyond the Sea" (a major hit for Darin in 1960). But while Aiello (who was 72 when this album was recorded) is hardly the most original or distinctive singer in the world, he doesn't lack either charisma or vocal chops -- and even though nothing the least bit groundbreaking or expansive occurs, Aiello's performances never fail to be likable. It would be nice to hear Aiello broaden his repertoire instead of performing so many warhorses and playing it so close to the vest; even so, Live from Atlantic City is a pleasant, if predictable, document of Aiello's Copa Room appearance. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'I Just Wanted to Hear the Words'
Release Date 4/20/2004
Tracks 14
Label Trauma
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What The Critics Say
Given the track record of actors-turned-singers, it's easy to be suspicious that Danny Aiello's 2004 album I Just Wanted to Hear the Words is nothing but a vanity project, which he himself admits in the liner notes. But in those very liner notes he argues against that idea, claiming that he's been singing for years, long before he became an actor, and he just never had the "guts" to make a go of it professionally until now. Instead, he sang at family parties and weddings, or afterhours at the nightclub where he worked as a bouncer, which gives a pretty good indication of what I Just Wanted to Hear the Words is. It's a mellow, likeable, and not particularly remarkable set of standards sung in the style of Sinatra, and it gets by on personality as much as skill. Which isn't to say that Aiello doesn't have skill, since he does, but his choice of material, his arrangements, and his phrasing are so safe, so familiar that the only thing that distinguishes the album is Aiello's personality, how he inhabits the songs. And that's where it gets tricky, because if you listened to the album without knowing it was Aiello the actor, you'd likely think that it's the work of an ingratiating wedding singer. When you know it's Aiello the actor, you tend to view it a little more kindly, impressed that it's not embarrassing like some other records by actors, yet mostly cutting it slack because you already like the guy. Even so, I Just Wanted to Hear the Words is unlikely to gather too many repeat plays since it's so similar to other albums by better singers -- namely, Sinatra -- that there's little reason to put it on at home. But it does suggest that it would be fun to see Aiello sing in a club sometime. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
