Gems: The Duets Collection [Digipak] by Michael Bolton (CD, Jun-2011, Montaigne)

Album Features
UPC:	886979230729
Artist:	Michael Bolton
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2011
Record Label:	Montaigne
Genre:	Pop Vocal

Track Listing
1. Love Is Everything
2. Fields of Gold - (featuring Eva Cassidy)
3. Sajna - (featuring A.R. Rahman)
4. Pride (In the Name of Love)
5. I'm Not Ready
6. Over the Rainbow
7. When a Man Loves a Woman/It's a Man's Man's Man's World - (featuring Seal)
8. Prayer, The - (featuring Lara Fabian)
9. You Are So Beautiful - (featuring Chris Botti)
10. Make You Feel My Love - (featuring Helene Fischer)
11. Hallelujah
12. Steel Bars - (featuring Orianthi)

Details
Playing Time:	51 min.
Contributing Artists:	A.R. Rahman, Rascal Flatts, Seal, Chris Botti, Delta Goodrem, Lara Fabian, Orianthi, Eva Cassidy, Helene Fischer, Paula Fernandes, Anne Akiko Meyers, MB's Childrens Choir
Distributor:	Sony Music Entertainment
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Recording information: Beach House, Miami Beach, FL; Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Blues Alley, Georgetown, VA; Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Chartmaker Studios, Malibu, CA; Dragonfly Studios, Hollywood, CA; FunDeMental Studios, Dusseldorf, Germany; Hound's Ear Studios, Nashville, TN; Lava Room Recording, Cleveland, OH; Panchathan Hollywood Studios, Hollywood, CA; Studios Guillaumetell, Paris, France; The Grip, Nashville, TN; Westlake Recording Studios, West Hollywood, CA.Gems: The Duets Collection may bear a title that suggests it's a compilation, but this 2011 effort is a brand-new album containing nothing but new collaborations between Michael Bolton and similarly minded travelers of the middle of the road. It is new but it feels old, faithful to the early-`90s adult contemporary hits that made Bolton a superstar, and its biggest missteps arrive whenever Gems strays too far from that slick template, particularly when Bolton and Anne Akiko Meyers stumble through a strident reading of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)." Moments like this don't arrive all that often, fortunately. Most of the time, Bolton stays in his comfort zone, turning in a surprisingly understated version of "You Are So Beautiful" with trumpeter Chris Botti, going toe-to-toe with Rascal Flatts on "Love Is Everything," sounding as big as the children choir on "Hallelujah." There are no surprises here, but there don't need to be: this is Bolton doing what he does best, and doing it so well that anybody who picks this up thinking it's a compilation won't be disappointed with what resides inside. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine