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Kenny Rogers Album: “They Don't Make Them Like They Used To”
| Album Information : |
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| Title: |
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To |
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Release Date:2003-08-05
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Country, Soft Pop, Soft Rock
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Label:RCA
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:5050159177325
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| Track Listing : |
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| 1 |
This Love We Share |
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| 2 |
If I Could Hold on to Love Video |
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| 3 |
You're My Love Video |
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| 4 |
Time for Love |
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| 5 |
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To (Theme from Tough Guys) |
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| 6 |
Life Is Good, Love Is Better |
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| 7 |
Just the Thought of Losing You |
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| 8 |
Anything At All |
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| 9 |
After All This Time |
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| 10 |
Twenty Years Ago Video |
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Review - :
{$Kenny Rogers}' {^They Don't Make Them Like They Used To} album's title track does what one critic said of {$Neil Young}'s {^Time Fades Away}: remove the word "time" and the album reviews itself -- "Neil Young Fades Away." The {$Burt Bacharach}/{$Carole Bayer Sager} song and production feels forced -- the only track sounding like classic {$Kenny} and kicking in as it fades. With five producers total it may have been a case of too many cooks, the music here a far cry from the string of hits put together by {$Larry Butler} on {@Liberty Records} for the former lead singer of {$the First Edition}. No, they don't make 'em like they used to, but that doesn't mean this is a bad record; in fact, it's a very good album from a {\country-pop} singer trying his hand at the slick {\adult contemporary} associated with {$Whitney Houston} and {$Celine Dion}. Either of those artists could have sang {$Dave Loggins}' {&"Anything at All,"} and it may have hit, same with {&"You're My Love,"} which features {$El Debarge} on backing vocals. For {$Rogers} it is a wonderful experiment that sounds good but may have been too much of a paramorphism -- there's just not the balance that {$the Bee Gees} struck with {$Kenny} on {^Eyes That See in the Dark}. Not including songwriters, almost four dozen individuals lent their talents to this underrated and pretty much forgotten 1986 album, {$Jay Graydon} picking up where his colleague {$David Foster} and {$George Martin} left off on other {@RCA} releases. The label didn't seem to be the company to keep this artist at the forefront, despite its fine work with his friend {$Dolly Parton}. You'll find {$Rogers}' co-hort {$Kin Vassy} singing backing vocals on {&"Life Is Good, Love Is Better,"} {$Mike Boddicker} on the title track, and {$Steve Lukather} on the tune he co-wrote with {$Randy Goodrum}, {&"If I Could Hold On to Love,"} but somehow quasi-{\disco} wasn't going to work for an {\adult contemporary}/{\country} artist. Despite {$Rogers}' friend {$Kim Carnes}' success with {&"Bette Davis Eyes"} at the beginning of the decade, {$Jay Graydon}'s guitar work with {$Alice Cooper} and proficiency on {$Earth, Wind & Fire} albums are where the producer leans towards here rather than drawing from his skills with artists like {$Parton}. Make no mistake, this is {$Graydon}'s baby and it is admirable, from the stunning portrait of the star surrounded by pastels on the cover to the superbly slick presentation. {$Rogers} is a total professional and pulls it off somewhat, but he does feel out of place. A reunion of {$the First Edition} or {$the New Christy Minstrels} may have been more interesting for the mid-'80s. Those voices would be certainly able enough to bring the title track home, the song {&"They Don't Make Them Like They Used To"} the biggest disappointment here as it has so much to offer. It feels like {$Bacharach} and {$Sager} were going through the motions, and that's the pity, as the success of that soundtrack tune might've given the rest of this {\adult contemporary} work a better chance. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
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