Customer Reviews

Reload

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been an admirer of Tom Jones since he took Prince's dull song "Kiss" and turned it into something fun with Art of Noise. Any performer who can approach his art with such a sense of humour both about the music and himself is worth my respect.

With "Reload+2," Tom Jones serves up an entire album of such cover tunes. While few of the tracks have that tongue-in-cheek feel of the "Kiss" song, they are all interesting interpertations of other people's hits.

"Reload+2" is even more remarkable in the fact that Jones has teamed up with a wide range of collaborators for this album, many of whom are somewhat shocking. I'd never been able to conceive of Jones performing with The Cardigans, Divine Comedy, or Barenaked Ladies, yet on "Reload+2" he does. There are 15 additional oddball team-ups, all of which have produced exceptional covers.

Stand-out tracks are "Burning Down the House" (with the Cardigans), Lust for Life (with the Pretenders), Little Green Bag (with Barenaked Ladies), She Drives Me Crazy (with Zucchero), all of which display that sense of fun that I loved about the old "Kiss" cover. "All Mine" (with Divine Comedy), "You're Right, I'm Left, She's Gone" (with James Dean Bradfield), and "Sex Bomb" (with Mousse T.) are just damn cool covers by any standard.

Finally, I recommend the import "Reload+2" over the regular album, which is simply "Reload." The +2 are live recordings of "Unbelievable" and "Come Together." Both are as fun-filled and worthwhile as the "Kiss" cover that first turned me onto Jones, and they are well worth the additional expense.

Finally, the full European version of RELOAD is available on this side of the Atlantic! For perhaps a year, I've been trying to get this version of RELOAD that has the Peppermint Jam Mix of "Sexbomb" on it, and my wait is over. Having heard this cut on "Wright Around the World" on the BBC WorldService, I had searched high and low, Internet and otherwise, for this CD. And while Amazon did list it, it never arrived. Now, however, it ships in 24-hours.

Up until this expanded version arrived, I had to make due with the RELOAD that did not have "You Need Love Like I Do (Double Click Remix)" either. Perhaps "make due" is too strong of a phrase for the tune selection, parnerships on duets and arrangements are first class. Not all are true winners, otherwise the CD would be rated 5 stars, but six of the tunes are GREAT with "Burning Down the House (with the Cardigans)," "She Drives me Crazy (with Zucchero)," "Lust for Life (with the Predenders)," "Little Green Bag (with Barenaked Ladies)" and the aforementioned "Sexbomb (with Mousse T.)

If you have ever liked Tom Jones, and are looking for a good "dynamic" CD of covers with interesting duets, this is the CD for you. Be sure to try to get the version with 19 tunes on it.

I always thought Tom was a cool dude, but this CD just proves it for once and for all.

I was on a Qantas flight from Perth to Sydney last month, and they played a live concert of his on the plane. He blew me away with how much energy he still has, and how good his voice is after all these years.

Now, I'm over here in England on business and I drop into an HMV. I see this CD on sale, and I am like "what the heck, it looks interesting..."

Get it back to my friend's house here, pop the CD in and BAM!!!

Every song a winner here, folks. "Are you gonna go my way", "I'm left, you're right, she's gone", You need love like I do", all are standouts for sure.

One caveat - somebody PLEASE remix this one and get Chrissy Hynde out of "Lust for life". Tom has a strong voice, and she sounds like she's sleepwalking through the song. Tom does a bang up job on this one though - just like he does on every other song here.

Tom, you ROCK, dude!

Buy this CD, folks. Your ears will love you for it.

Frank

I bought this CD in Spain, and cannot be less than thrilled to check how wonderfully is Tom Jones still singing If you are a fan of him, don't doubt for a second and add this one to your collection

It's really great to see Tom Jones is still in action after all these years. I saw him in concert a little over a year ago, and he put on one heck of a show. The ladies still throw their panties at him! Very cool."Reload" is a great Tom Jones album. He sounds like he & his singing partners are all having a great time, and the whole fun feel of the album translates very well to the listener. "Burning Down The House" pairs Tom with The Cardigans, and the result is a very catchy version of the old Talking Heads hit. "Sexbomb," an original tune, is one of Tom's most fingerpoppin' best. He & Robbie Williams tear through "Are You Gonna Go My Way" with relish, Tom & Cery's "It's Cold Outside" is a hoot, and the powerful "Motherless Child" is another great showcase for Tom's still-commanding voice. And these are just a few examples of how good this album is!Just one question: "Reload" is a huge hit in Britain and other parts of Europe, so **WHY** can't it get released here in North America? Absolutely puzzling. I'm telling ya, Tom Jones would have hit singles galore lined up & ready for him over here if "Reload" ever gets a U.S. release. In the meantime, buy it on import. It's totally worth it!

On a business trip to Sweden in October, 1999, I was totally jet lagged and surfing television to find some entertainment. I saw the video "Burning Down the House" and did a double-take. Was that *Tom Jones* singing the Talking Heads' song?

It was. And Burning Down the House never sounded so good. Jones interjects an almost over-the-top energy that really gets you rocking to the music. And the Cardigans don't sound too bad, either.

Each song is a good on its own, but the entire CD as a whole is an absolute joy. Not only are the songs spun in a new way by artists whom we may not have been familiar with... but it also has Tom Jones.

The man who we all remember singing "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat" -- and trying to fly a twin in Mars Attacks -- radiates enthusiasm for songs from the 70s and 80s. There are a lot of genres covered and each is impressively done.

The Voice just completely rocks on this album, and almost all of the songs are gems -- especially the cover of the old Three Dog Night classic "Mama Told Me Not to Come" with the Stereophonics, "You Need Love Like I Do" with Heather Small, the gorgeous "Sometimes We Cry" with Van Morrison, and "Lust for Life" with the Pretenders, never sounding better. Even if this one takes a while to be released in the United States, pick up the import. I live in Latvia where this CD has been sold out solid for weeks, and that ain't no surprise!

I grew-up being sightly revolted by Tom Jones. I didn't like how he looked (all hairy chest and weighted down with gold), sang, or conducted himself offstage, but alas I've changed my opinion. I heard "Burning Down the House" while on holiday in the UK in late 1999 and found myself rocking to the music. Then I heard "Sexbomb" and liked it even better, and that made me buy the album (or rather request it as a Christmas gift). "Reload" is all about fun! I love how this icon has combined his talents with some of today's hottest music acts (Robbie Williams, The Cardigans, Barenaked Ladies). It's a hip sounding musical effort that would be perfect party music. Anytime you need a lift from the doldrums, pop in "Reload" and develop a "Lust for Life."

here's MY experience with this album: the guy at the record shop told me: buy this for your old lady. he knew she liked elvis and other acts of that kind, so i did. i brought it home, she listened to it and every track she heard she said: aw i don't know, this isn't quite what i like. this isn't the tom jones i remember. and her fifteen-year-old daughter sitting beside her was going: oooh tom jones- cool. and every track she was listening to she was going, oooh i must have this -- so naturally she made about 15 copies for herself and all her friends. my old lady never warmed to the thing, and gave it back to me. i could never STAND tom jones, so i didn't listen to the record all that often, if at all. then i got mick jagger's "angel at the doorway", and i thought: what a let-down. tom jones did a better job than this. i mean, EVEN tom jones. so i picked the cd back out from the never-listen-to-this-****-bin i'd consigned it to and hey, bingo! it really gooo-roooved. i've been enjoying it tremendously ever since, i've got the whole thing inside my imac and come across it frequenly without ever pressing the "get rid of this"-button. mick jagger will have to try really hard to catch up! so if you guys in america haven't got this cd on the market as a regular day-to-day available everywhere item, boy, you're really missing out on something. it's the only one of its kind that i know that actually works, where a semi-past it male bullfrog type of singer gets a new lease of life through a cooperation with younger artists. the music, the arrangements, and the actual songs are great too, ranging from an obscure elvis track to gospel, from modern pop to frivolous tin pan alley. and it actually works, it's fun to listen to. i could never understand why frank zappa, of all people, the most exacting task-master of american pop, liked tom jones but here it's obvious: he's a tremendous musician and singer, not just a shlock artist!

I can't understand why this hasn't been released in the United States, given it was such a big hit in Europe, but there you go. I'd heard "Burning Down the House" on an alternative radio station, and picked up this CD for the wonderful kitsch factor on that alone. Now it's become one of my favorite discs. I get the impression that all these younger artists were recruited with maybe a hint of irony, but ended up having too much fun in the process. Cover albums, for me, work best when the artist makes the songs his own, while retaining the original soul of the song being covered and in almost all cases, that's exactly what happens here. "Burning Down the House" is definitely the hook, but then he brings me back to my childhood with "Mama Told Me", sounding like it could have been released the same year as Three Dog Night's. OK, there's a few duds (neither he nor the Pretenders can save the awful arrangement of "Lust For Life" -- Chrissie Hynde sounds like she's trying to upstage him, and he's just phoning it in) but you will forgive him once you've heard him wail out on Portishead's "All Mine" like it was the Bond movie theme it should be. That took moxie, (something Jones has plenty of) and whod've thunk anybody could improve on Portishead? Barenaked Ladies' kind of miss the point on "Little Green Bag", (but later throw in the bass line as it should be done) but Jones covers that up with a spendid performance that almost makes me forget how the original went. And I think that Jones takes "Sunny Afternoon" with the dance hall bombast contrast with lazyness that has British Musical Theatre written all over it, capturing the essense of the Kinks but signing his name to it. It's albums like this that define the difference between simply a singer and an intrepreter, and has convinced me that Jones is more than kitch. I am now a genuine fan.