Bolton Swings Sinatra

Rod Stewart greased the wheels, and now everybody's lining up for a ride. Bolton Swings Sinatra, like Barry Manilow's The Greatest Songs of the Fifties before it, is an obvious bid to snare some of the spotlight Stewart's expertly executed Great American Songbook series generated. A recap for those who have yet to crack the time capsule: The mood of these discs is forcibly retro (nobody shows up for a CD cover shoot without a suit jacket), the pulse romantic. So if the big-belting Bolton is not exactly a natural fit--here's an artist you wouldn't go out of your way to call suave, a major prerequisite for marching along in this recycled hit parade--he's not wholly out of his element, either. Bolton can swing Sinatra, sort of. Classics like "Fly Me To the Moon," "Summer Wind," and "I've Got You Under my Skin" sneak up on the listener and reveal a quiet reverance for the departed chairman of the board; only on "My Funny Valentine" does Bolton-esque over-singing threaten to spoil the brew. "The Second Time Around," a duet with Nicollette Sheridan, also doesn't overreach, landing on the ears like an open love letter. And the arrangements work consistently. Still, there are those who will roll their eyes and call this project too ambitious, too cheeky, and they may have a point. What next, they might reasonably ask: Richard Marx Rocks Elvis? Chris Botti Scales the Brill Building? --Tammy La Gorce

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Michael Bolton swings with some Sinatra classics