Frankie Laine Call Of The Wild/Wanderlust CD

 At His Peak
These are Frankie Laine's final two albums for Columbia (where he had many of his biggest hits). Many fans believe that his always magnificent voice reached its peak on these albums. Laine himself considers DE GLORY ROAD to be one of his best performances. My favorite track here is SERENADE, a swinging version of the Sigmund Romberg operetta. Laine brings a novel approach to RIDERS IN THE SKY as well, delivering the song in a driving, upbeat tempo that, coupled with the brass-laden score, lends the song a hot, desert aura perfect for the hellish cattle drive it depicts. Vaughn Monroe had the hit version of this song 15 years earlier, but Laine's is the version many people remember. These albums also feature stereo remakes of several of Laine's own earlier hits: SWAMP GIRL, TUMBLING TUMBLEWEEDS, THE GIRL IN THE WOOD, I'M GONNA LIVE TILL I DIE and THE ROAD TO MANDALAY (from the poem by Rudyard Kipling, and often featured in his nightclub act). The suberb arrangements by legendary film composer John Williams do not attempt to recreate the sound of the originals and compare so with them that it's impossible to choose a favorite version. The CALL OF THE WILD album has a sweeping, grand, poetic feel to it on many of the songs -- the aural equivalent of riding a horse through Monument Valley or the Grand Canyon, which perfectly fits its theme. The WANDERLUST album often has a jazzier feel, although it breaks from its similar theme on WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I and others. Both albums complement each other nicely.
Submitted by Michael (New York, NY)
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