Chris Isaak: Christmas : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Chris Isaak will be eternally indebted to Frank, Dino and those other Rat Pack types who created lounge music, bachelor-pad keys and highballs in hand. And sometimes he sounds like the very reincarnation of Elvis Presley. So when he decided to do a Christmas album, Isaak cherry-picked from their repertoires, including "Blue Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Let It Snow." Opening with a disarmingly sweet intro to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," he glides through eleven covers and five well-blended originals with a voice as smooth as an ice-coated lake, but a lot warmer. It's easy to drip schlock into these sorts of songs, but Isaak rides above the norm with his classy takes on these classic tunes. And Stevie Nicks' vocals on "Santa Claus Is Coming Town" are a nice touch. But Isaak specializes in conveying the ache of loneliness, and with his velvet-voiced take on Willie Nelson's "Pretty Paper," he nails it.