Richard Marx recently headlined at London’s Royal Albert Hall, armed only with guitar, voice and a hatful of anecdotes. The enduring appeal of his ballads Right Here Waiting, Now And Forever and Hazard may have made him a cosy housewife’s favourite, but the man has balls.
Besides 11 solo favourites, Marx’s first acoustic album adds seven band-performed interpretations of material written for other artists.
Marx won his first Grammy in 2004, long after his star was perceived to have faded, and it’s interesting to hear his personal slant on tunes donated to N’Sync, Lifehouse, Chris Daughtry, Travis Tritt, Keith Urban and even Cliff Richard, though his collaboration with Vixen on Edge Of A Broken Heart is a gross omission.
Although it made yours truly dash off to revisit his sublime self-titled debut album, Stories To Tell is sufficiently uplifting and heartfelt to be one of Marx’s very best records.
