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| Bette
Midler, Cool Yule |
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| REVIEWED
BY ROBERT BALLANTYNE, POSTED ON DECEMBER
9, 2006 |
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Bette Midler's
first holiday effort sticks to the classics, but still manages
to sound fresh and vital, thanks to Midler's sassy and emotive
vocals.
Cool Yule is also a great party record to play
from beginning to end, as it's intelligently sequenced, balancing
the ballads and uptempo tracks perfectly.
The most distinctive
tracks are the jazzy uptempo cuts, including the swinging title
track, "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," and the peppy "Mele
Kalikimakaso."
However, the ballads are more ho-hum, as Midler's
renditions stay pretty faithful. But plug your ears when
the rewritten "Christmas
version" of her 1990 hit "From a Distance" starts, which is tacky,
and the album's sole embarrassment.
Fortunately, Midler spared
us a Christmas version of "The Rose" (just imagine: "Some say
love it is a razor/That cuts into your Christmas tree"). (Columbia/Sony
BMG)  |
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