Chris Isaak - San Francisco Days CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

whose mood still ranges from brooding to forlorn – a little light breaks through.

The Mustang-driving loner of "Except the New Girl" actually gets the girl, and the song's pace picks up like a northern wind. The first single, "Can't Do a Thing (to Stop Me)," is a sexy lounge number about willful obsession on which Isaak's voice floats in falsetto. While wallowing in regret ("I still want you, I still need you/Don't hang up and say goodbye"), "San Francisco Days" features Isaak's loveliest singing – from a low whisper to a full-throated cry, like Roy Orbison strolling down Market Street. And on "Beautiful Homes," when he quavers, "In beautiful houses with beautiful gardens where bee-yooo-tiful dreams have died," his wit shines brighter than the wax in Elvis Presley's hair. From the hokey tune and cheese-ball Hammond B3 organ of "Two Hearts" to the jazzy shuffle of "5:15" (about a train carrying a lover away) and a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man," San Francisco Days is a stunning record. These songs are swollen with real characters and real stories.

Chris Isaak may be a little old-fashioned, his considerable style out of step with the times. But he grew up in a tight, blue-collar family in Stockton, California, fractured his nose a few times when he was a boxer. It's that sort of black-and-white heroic American imagery he romanticizes with a voice that breaks like a heart. (RS 656)

CHRISTIAN WRIGHT

With a diversity of backings and a confident, naturalistic sound--even on his trademark wrist-slashers and torch songs--this ranks among Isaak's best. Strong tunes throughout (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man"), with the downbeat but dreamy lounge cut "Can't Do A Thing (To Stop Me)" bringing some dark sexual undercurrents to FM radio.