'To Be Loved,' A Michael Bublé Album Review

Where have all the crooners gone? There's at least one left in North America and his name is Michael Bublé. Bublé's latest album, To Be Loved,  is an album full of cover songs and a few originals that will have you at least tapping your toes. One of my favorite things about it is that I already knew some of the songs, so I could sing along.

When asked about his latest album, Bublé said:

"I want to take you on a wonderful journey about love—all different kinds of love. The album swings big time: it rocks, it’s soulful, it’s happy, sometimes a little sad. It’s romantic, it’s yummy, and it’s heartfelt... 

"...Do not think I take my success these last ten years for granted. I was anything but an overnight sensation, which inspires me to deliver big time for my fans—maybe even make some new ones this time out. I labored over every song, every note and every arrangement because I can’t resist trying to make each record better than my last one... 

"...I wrote 'Close Your Eyes' about my wife and about the power of all the women in my life—my sisters, my mom, my grandma and all women in general. Let’s face it, where would we be without them? 'I Got It Easy,' another original, is basically a song where I count my blessings and is a reminder to me and everyone to appreciate all the good parts of life. I’m a very lucky guy and I never want to forget it."

What I Liked

Among my favorite songs are: 

• It's a Beautiful Day
• Something Stupid (featuring Reese Witherspoon)
• Come Dance with Me
• I Got it Easy

"It's a Beautiful Day" is a positive song with a dangerously catchy tune. I recommend it to anyone who is having a bad day. "Something Stupid" with Reese Witherspoon  is a song that kind of caught me by surprise. At first, I thought I was going to feel so-so about it; then I found myself wanting to memorize the lyrics so I could sing along. "I Got it Easy," like Bublé says, is about counting your blessings. It's a nice, humbling bluesy hymn. 

My favorite song is "Come Dace with Me." It has a cha-cha beat that made me literally dance in my chair. 

On a side note, the song "Have I Told You Lately that I Love You?" is not the same as the song that Rod Stewart sings. Bublé's voice kind of reminds me of Bing Crosby in it. 

What Could Be Better

One of the things that I find no excuse for in professional singers is a lack of enunciation, which is something that I noticed throughout the album. Bublé doesn't pronounce the last consonants on some of the words here and there, or he doesn't emphasize them well. ...Anyway, this is just me being picky. 

Check out "To Be Loved" for yourself: 

• iTunes
• Amazon

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the album to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

Rod Stewart's Latest Album, 'Time!'

Thanks to Capitol Records and the One2One Network, I recently had the opportunity to review Time! by Rod Stewart. Time! is the first album that Stewart has created with new music in over 20 years. For this album, Stewart wrote and produced 11 of the 12 songs. He explains that his songwriting spark came back as he wrote his recent memoir.

"Suddenly ideas for lyrics were piling up in my head. Next thing I knew, I had a song called 'It's Over' about divorce and separation. And now I was getting up in the middle of the night and scrambling for a pen to write things down, which has never happened to me. I finished seven or eight songs very quickly and I still wasn't done, and it became apparent that I would eventually have a whole album of material to record."

My Take on Time!

Overall, I enjoyed Time! You hear the classic sound of Stewart's voice (and see that his signature hairstyle is still the same). One of my favorite things is that the album has a lot of positive songs. "She Makes Me Happy," "Beautiful Morning" and "Live the Life" are all fantastically upbeat. "Beautiful Morning" is a song that everyone should wake up to, and it makes a great song for workouts. "Live the Life" is a nice, uplifting song. Other songs that I enjoyed include "Brighton Beach," "Picture in a Frame" and "Pure Love."

One of the songs that Stewart's camp is pushing is "It's Over," which is about the singer's divorce experiences. Personally, I found this song depressing and too sad. However, I can see how it could be cathartic for those who have had this experience.

Check out Time! for yourself:

• iTunes  
• Amazon 

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

Tubular Beaded Bracelet

This is a simple, elegant-looking tubular bracelet that I made with size 8 and size 11 seed beads. I added bead caps to the either end of the bracelet and a charm at the clasp.

Here is a tutorial to help you make your own tubular beaded bracelet:

Learn a New Langage

The BBC offers BBC Languages, a section of its website that has free tutorials to help you learn and practice 40 languages. The languages offered include:

• Spanish 
• French
• Italian
• German 
• Japanese
• Greek 
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Arabic
• English

 After looking around on the site a bit, everything looks legit and of high quality. Check it out for yourself.

Wavy Peyote Stitch Beaded Bracelet

I took up beading last summer because I like to have nice things, but don't want to spend the cash on them. Why spend the cash if you can make it yourself?

One of my most recent creations is this peyote stitch beaded bracelet.

 

To make this bracelet, I used the following tutorial: