ONLY DREAMING – Matt Croke (MJB Records – MJB001)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Croke, star of Disney’s Aladdin in the West End, has released a solo album to showcase his vocal talents – and that is exactly what it achieves.
There is quite a selection of musical styles included in this album: Godspell, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Aladdin, Singin’ in the Rain, Moulin Rouge, Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can, etc. The thing is, Croke seems to take it all in his stride and these aren’t carbon copies or karaoke versions – they have been thoughtfully given new life with new arrangements, etc. For instance: ‘Come What May’ is sung as a solo; ‘Beautiful City’ stripped down to piano and voice and an absolutely haunting rendition of ‘Not While I’m Around’.
The other tracks on the CD include: ‘Proud of Your Boy’, ‘Fight the Dragons’, ‘Go the Distance’, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, ‘Something’s Coming’, ‘Somebody’s Got Your Back’, ‘Who Better Than Me’, ‘A Whole New World’, ‘This Is Not Over Yet’, ‘Home’, ‘Goodbye’ and bonus track: ‘Proud of Your Boy/Endless Night’ (That is something I don’t understand – why do record labels put bonus tracks on a new release? It can’t be a bonus if it has not been added to something that already exists! Weird!).
Anyway, this is five stars from me and hopefully we get another album from Croke in due course – fantastic.
Nick Wakeham
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