Thursday , March 28 2024
Michael Bolton brings his live show to the legendary Royal Albert Hall.

Music DVD Review: Michael Bolton – Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Michael Bolton’s place in music history is secure. He has had albums and singles top the American charts and has sold over fifty million CDs and LPs.

Now close to thirty-five years into his career, Michael Bolton is who he is. While he drifts in a soul direction from time to time, he is at heart an adult contemporary, pop performer.

His style, look, and sound have always elicited a strong reaction. He has built up a huge fan base centered on females of all ages who have embraced his balladry and sex appeal for years. On the other hand he has irritated the rock audience as he is far removed from that genre. It all comes down to the fact that if you are a fan, you will enjoy Live At The Royal Albert Hall and if you are not you will want to pass on this.

This DVD finds him in fine vocal form. He also looks good and I was pleasantly surprised that he did not try to look young on this DVD but rather appears and acts age appropriate for an artist who is approaching sixty.

This release is an excellent live retrospective of his career and the nearly two hour performance is an accurate presentation of his present day live act. Most of his hits are present as “Soul Provider,” “To Love Somebody,” “Dock Of The Bay,” “When A Man Loves A Woman,” and “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” are presented similar to his originals. His trilogy of older great American songbook tunes, “Summertime,” “Fly Me To The Moon,” and “That’s Life,” are all well done. Also seeing the light of day is “Steel Bars” which he co-wrote with Bob Dylan.

Bonus features include the track “Nessun Dorma,” an interview, and a countdown documentary to the concert.

The DVD has good clarity and the concert is framed well. There is also a nice booklet with an array of pictures from the performance.

So all fans of Michael Bolton should mark their calendars asLive At The Royal Albert Hallwill arrive at a store near you on May 4th.

About David Bowling

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