Donny Osmond - SOUNDTRACK OF MY... |

Personnel: Donny Osmond (vocals).
Audio Mixer: Eliot Kennedy.
Liner Note Author: Donny Osmond.
Recording information: Parr Street Studios, Liverpool, UK; Steelworks Studios, Sheffield, UK; Studio Smecky, Prague, Czech Republic; The Box, Las Vegas, NV.
Photographer: Brandon Osmond.
A case where the title says it all: the 12 songs on The Soundtrack of My Life are the songs that Donny Osmond holds dear, the songs that say something to him about his life. Note that this does not mean these are tunes he's sung before (although he did wind up singing Steely Dan's "Peg" at a 1979 Miss Universe pageant). These are songs that meant something to Donny. Often, they are Motown songs -- Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" was the first 45 Osmond ever purchased, but "Ben" and "Baby Love" are here too -- and there are other MOR staples that have been frequently covered since the late '60s/early '70s: "Moon River," "Your Song," "The Long and Winding Road." Osmond delves back into Sinatra via "I've Got You Under My Skin," flirts with contemporary music with Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" (a song that's nearly 30 years old, but the intention counts), and finds a few songs that aren't as well known ("The Gift of Love," "Could She Be Mine," "Survivor"), but at a certain point the songs don't matter as much as the delivery. Everything here is pitched toward a Vegas revue -- cool, slick, and schmaltzy with just a hint of modern sheen -- most apparent when he gives "Peg" a mild makeover via Robin Thicke. It's this tone, eager to please and happy to be on the stage, that says as much about Osmond as the songs he's chosen to represent his life. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock
• Released: 2015-01-13