Crazy Love (Michael Bublé album)

Album information

The album was recorded over a period of six months in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver, Bublé's hometown. Produced by David Foster, Bob Rock and Humberto Gatica, Bublé describes Crazy Love as the "ultimate record about the inevitable roller coaster ride of relationships." The album was named after Van Morrison's 1970 song, "Crazy Love", with a cover version included. Bublé commented on the recording process for the album: "I started this record knowing I was going to record it differently than my previous ones. I dug way deeper and was more introspective on this one. Basically, I sang the truth - made each song autobiographical - and you can definitely hear the difference. I went back to the way my idols made their records. I wanted an organic feel - so people could feel like they were in the studio with me. The musicians and I all sat in the room, recorded it right from the floor and we let the sounds all come together and bleed into one another. It's not contrived. Not too perfect. It just feels really good."

Bublé co-wrote the album's two singles, "Haven't Met You Yet" and "Hold On," with longtime collaborators Alan Chang, Amy Foster and Connor Makropoulos. The first single, "Haven't Met You Yet", was released on August 31, 2009. Weeks prior to this single, Bublé offered his audience an early glimpse at Crazy Love with a "playful" remix of "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)." The opening part for the single "Cry Me a River" was written by Bublé in a Bond-like theme because he wanted the song to sound "really cinematic, really over the top and bombastic". "Cry Me a River" was used in the BBC's advertising for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The track "Stardust" was recorded in one take. On 18 April 2010, Bublé took home four Juno Awards for Juno Fan Choice Award, Single of the Year – "Haven't Met You Yet", Album of the Year – Crazy Love, and Pop Album of the Year – Crazy Love, and two Juno nominations for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. Crazy Love producers David Foster and Bob Rock both received two separate nominations of their own for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award, with Bob Rock winning the award.

Release

The album initially was planned for release on October 13, 2009; however, it was released four days early, in order to coincide with Bublé's appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Bublé performed the album's first single "Haven't Met You Yet". On August 23, 2010, it was confirmed that a special edition of Crazy Love would be released in the fall. On October 10, 2010, the re-release was confirmed to become available on October 18, 2010, in Europe, and on October 25, 2010, in the U.S. The re-release contains three new tracks, including a further single, "Hollywood", which was co-written by Bublé and Canadian songwriter Robert G. Scott. The album also includes live versions of songs from the album's previous release. In Europe, the re-release comes in the form of a bonus disc included with the original version of the album, whereas in America, the special edition was released in the form of an EP titled Hollywood: The Deluxe EP. A special edition of the album, including a bonus remix CD, making-of DVD and 32-page photo album, was made available only through Bublé's official online store.

Critical reception

Crazy Love received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 given to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Matt Collar of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars and commended the album for being Bublé's "most stylistically wide-ranging album", adding that it is also "his brightest, poppiest, and most fun [album]". Gary Graff of Billboard commended the album's "curveballs", noting that they gave "the album some additional cheek". Graff concluded the review, writing "Crazy Love is another step in Bublé's creation of his own kind of songbook, and there's nothing necessarily crazy about that." Stephen Holden of The New York Times complimented Bublé for being "appreciative of the past but not reverential" and also noted that "he juxtaposes pre-rock, rock and soul classics without favoring one style over another." Holden concluded the review with "What the creators imparted with an edge of warning, Mr. Bublé turns into a whoop-it-up celebration of nightlife and the mating game, in which the thrill and excitement are worth the risks."

Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly gave Crazy Love a B, saying that "the neo-Rat Pack crooner makes a few too many soft-rock concessions on his new studio disc." Despite this, Wood also stated that "there's no denying the sexy-jerk swagger Bublé brings". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe claimed that the album's strength came from "Bublé's swagger, since the arrangements tend to favor the predictable, from swinging orchestras to cocktail piano fizz." However, Rodman also noted that "the Canadian singer knows his way around the retro-soul movement as well as the Rat Pack era". Music critic Adrian Edwards of BBC gave a positive review of the album, claiming that "each song on this flamboyant new CD thrills the ear as though it were a live performance" and further noted that "This wonderful album would surely have been voted 'ring-a-ding-ding' by Frank and Dean!" Chris Barton of the Los Angeles Times gave the album two out of four stars, stating that "its mix of brassy standards and tastefully done originals from the world of jazz and pop surely will give those familiar with Bublé's work pretty much exactly what they want." He went on to say that "The album's polished, middle-of-the-road approach isn't exactly for everyone, but its agreeable heart doesn't hit any sour notes, either." Kit O'Toole of Blogcritics gave a favorable review of the album, noting that "Crazy Love also marks Bublé's welcome attempt to expand his range, mostly to positive effect" and further noted that the album "contains both standards and modern songs, proving that Bublé can handle both with ease." Charlie Christenson of About.com gave the album two out of five stars, noting that "Bublé stomps all over the fine line between jazz and pop, with mixed results." Despite this, Christenson complimented Bublé for having "good timing, a sense of the lyric, and spot-on intonation."

Apart from its critical and commercial success, Crazy Love received a number of awards and nominations. In 2010, the album won a Juno Award for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year, while "Haven't Met You Yet" won an award for Single of the Year. Bob Rock, one of the album producers, won the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award for producing "Haven't Met You Yet" and "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", beating David Foster who produced "Cry Me a River" and "All of Me". At the 53rd Grammy Awards, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. "Haven't Met You Yet" was also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, but lost to "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.

Promotion

Promotion for Crazy Love began when Bublé was interviewed by George Stroumboulopoulos on the CBC Television show The Hour on October 7, 2009. Two days later, Bublé made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and later performed "Haven't Met You Yet". On October 13, 2009, he talked about the album and later performed "Haven't Met You Yet" and "All of Me" on The Today Show. Bublé then went on a series of press and television appearances in Europe, appearing on the German television show Yes We Can Dance (October 16), Che tempo che fa (October 18), Heart Radio Show (October 20), and BBC Radio 2 (October 21). He then made an appearance on the UK talent show The X Factor (October 25), where he performed "Cry Me a River". On November 3, he made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, where he sang selections from David Letterman's Top Ten List. Bublé would continue to make appearances throughout the month of November, appearing on The Rachel Ray Show (November 4), Dancing with the Stars (November 10), and Australian Idol (November 15), where he served as a mentor and a guest judge. On December 2, 2009, Bublé took part in the annual Rockefeller Tree Lighting and also served as a guest co-host for Live! with Regis and Kelly that same day. Five days later, he performed "Cry Me a River" in front of Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, as part of the annual Royal Variety Performance gala event. Throughout the month of December, Bublé also made appearances on Wetten Dass..? (December 5), SWR3 (December 9), The Late Late Show (December 11), and The X Factor (December 12), where he sang with Stacey Solomon.

Personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from AllMusic.