Timeless: The Classics, Vol. 2

1	Sexual Healing 4:39
2	Tired Of Being Alone 3:54
3	Let's Stay Together 4:29
4	My Girl 3:23
5	Ain't no Sunshine 3:36
6	(What A) Wonderful World 4:07
7	Like A Rolling Stone 4:51
8	I Can't Stand the Rain 3:43
9	Try A little Tenderness 4:49
10	What You Won't Do for love 4:22
11	A Whiter Shade of Pale 4:44

Barnes & Noble

Other than "new Coke" -- or perhaps "Marilyn Manson" -- it's hard to think of two words that, when uttered together, divide folks so distinctly as "Michael Bolton." To some, Bolton's a soul stirrer, to others, a soulless sham; but truth be told, he's just a regular guy with a mighty strong set of pipes -- and an increasingly adept notion of how to use 'em. On this collection, Bolton reprises an array of venerable classics, culled mostly from the cooler end of the R&B spectrum, a territory where he's most comfortable. This time around, Bolton sounds more relaxed than usual, which helps create just the right mood on a surprisingly subtle take on Bill Withers's "Ain't No Sunshine" and a stylized-but-successful rendition of "Let's Stay Together." Yes, there are a couple of missteps here, including an overwrought reading of Procol Harum's prog-pop epic "A Whiter Shade of Pale." But when Bolton plays to his strengths -- and doesn't try to huff and puff and blow your house down -- he's a perfectly palatable pop purveyor. David Sprague

All Music Guide

For his second collection of pop standard covers, Michael Bolton doesn't really change his course of action, choosing to sing the songs everybody knows ("Sexual Healing," "Tired of Being Alone," "Let's Stay Together," "Try a Little Tenderness," "(What A) Wonderful World," "A Whiter Shade of Pale," etc., etc.). There are two surprises here, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love" and Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," but they're done up in the same adult contemporary arrangements as everything else on the record. So, Timeless: The Classics, Vol. 2 delivers exactly what you expect: predictable songs, as done by Michael Bolton. In one sense, that makes it stronger than some Bolton albums, since the material is all good, but it also highlights the fact that he isn't as subtle or nuanced a singer as his idols, even though he's grown more powerful over the years. Still, by 1999, that was hardly a revelation, and it seems churlish to complain about Bolton's singing or the predictability of the material, since that all comes as no surprise. Thus, that leaves Timeless: The Classics, Vol. 2 as a solid Bolton album. No revelations, no surprises -- just pure Bolton. Stephen Thomas Erlewine