Always Got Tonight

1	One Day
2	Let Me Down Easy
3	Worked It Out Wrong
4	Courthouse
5	Life Will Go On
6	Always Got Tonight
7	Cool Love
8	Notice The Ring
9	I See You Everywhere
10	American Boy
11	Somebody To Love
12	Nothing To Say

Barnes & Noble

It would be inaccurate to say that Chris Isaak -- who's spent the past several years pursuing a film career and a leading role in the Showtime series that bears his name -- has "gone Hollywood." The retro-minded crooner has always cloaked himself in the aura of Tinseltown, and his fans would have it no other way. Always Got Tonight, his first outing since 1998's Speak of the Devil, proves that Isaak's quirky, blue-on-blue worldview hasn't changed much at all -- nor has his signature smoky croon. He's still most comfortable sitting in the dark, languidly strumming out melancholy tunes about love lost (the bittersweet "I See You Everywhere") and hearts crushed like cigarette butts (the downbeat "Nothing to Say"). Most of the disc's dozen tunes shuffle and swing in trademark Isaak fashion, but he does kick the energy level up a few notches on "Notice the Ring," a nifty bit of soul-drenched frat-rock that cries out for some onstage choreography, and "American Boy," the theme to The Chris Isaak Show. And while it's still pretty hard to accept the idea of a guy like Isaak being all that unlucky in love, he pours out his heart with enough charm and wit to make you believe just about anything. David Sprague

All Music Guide

You have to admire Chris Isaak -- the guy's been making records for close to 20 years, and he's still the very model of effortless cool with pipes to match, not the easiest accomplishment for a guy who's pushing fifty. At the same time, while Isaak's gifts haven't faded a bit with time, he hasn't displayed a stunning degree of versatility, either -- he's still the same lovelorn lover man with the retro-hipster style he introduced on Silvertone in 1985. But Isaak's eighth album, Always Got Tonight, suggests that slowly but surely Isaak is learning to change with the times. Isaak actually puts a retro-funk groove on the title cut, he lets his country influences rise to the surface on "American Boy," "Notice the Ring" shows a little electronic glimmer around the edges, and "One Day" lays on a bit more of the rock juice than you might expect. Don't get the idea that Isaak is breaking radical new ground here, though -- he may have added a few new toppings to the menu, but at heart this is still the same kind of ice cream sundae he's been offering listeners for years, and as always the goods are rich and tasty and made with only the finest ingredients, and tunes like "Life Will Go On" and "I See You Everywhere" will keep fans of his trademark luxurious heartbreak very happy indeed. Always Got Tonight offers something a little bit new for Chris Isaak's fans, but not enough to really startle anyone, and while a shade more ambition might have made this a bit more interesting, this guy is still doing what he does with the same style, flair, and skill he's always possessed, and you can't fault a man for doing what works, especially when it works this well. Mark Deming

Rolling Stone

1/2 "...Isaak, with his trop-drawer gift for singing chord changes, thrives; he pleads and bleeds, caresses and croons like he's still not over his discovering Duane Eddy and Roy Orbison." James Hunter