Cleopatra Records [Release date : 28.08.26]

The whole idea of taking on a striking stage name has been with us since the beginnings of show business.

From the of early days of popular music to the modern era, singers like Al Jolson, Patsy Cline, Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, Chappell Roane and Calvin Harris all started life as somebody else.

In the sixties, music impressario Gordon Mills turned the idea into a contractual commitment, rebranding his stable of singers with names like Tom Jones, Gilbert O’Sullivan and indeed, Engelbert Humperdinck, named after the 19th century German classical composer.

Known originally by his own name, Gerry Dorsey, Humperdinck and his manager showed an inspired choice of cover songs to kick start his career. ‘The Last Waltz’, ‘A Man Without Love’, ‘There Goes My Everything’ and of course his signature hit song, ‘Release Me’, were all Top 5 hits in the year 1969.

Two generations later, Engelbert brings himself “up to date” by dabbling in the sounds of eighties’ AOR.
And again, he has chosen well.

It’s a whopping 15 track tour de force, where every song that can remotely sound like “country” gets the right treatment.

Guest guitarists include George Lynch (yes, honest), Eric Gales, Steve Morse, Al Di Meola and Marcus Nand. But you wouldn’t know it. None of them want to be the star, and consequently they just blend in. (but you can hear them if you listen).

The controlled power isn’t there in Humperdinck’s voice any longer and the three-and-a-half octaves have been diminished, but the emotion and expression and tone remain, moreso in the slower songs.

This works really well on Journey’s ‘Faithfully’ and The Cars’ ‘Drive’, with a treatment nicely enlivened by a cool strings’arrangement.

Further down the tracklist, his emphatic vocal style brings new life to Harrison’s ‘Something’ and he brings a strong, driven sense of yearning to ‘Heaven’, glam rock band Warrant’s atypical Top Forty hit, back in 1989.

Ironically, the ageing symptoms show up on Berlin’s ‘You Take My Breath Away’ and Extreme’s ‘More Than Words’. No surprise, considering he’s in his ninetieth year, but he succeeds because for nearly sixty years he’s entertained people in their thousands.

You don’t succeed like that without knowing how to handle even the most challenging melody, and indeed lyrics that demand the kind of honesty that only experience can deliver. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 3 August 2026

STORMBRINGER Dirt And Bone (Attic Records)
SARI SCHORR Mr. In The Middle (Provogue Records)
JAMES KENNEDY & THE UNDERDOGS Shadows (Konic Records)
KATH & THE KICKS Sleep (indie)
VELVETEEN QUEEN Too Far Gone (Silver Lining Music)
SESAME GIRL Prettiest Girl In The World (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 3 August 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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