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“Stoned In Love” Reviews Are Starting to Come In. What Do You Think?
Friday, March 31st, 2006
The first review is from the BBC Wales. As you can see, it’s not wonderful, although it is sort of funny.
Stoned In Love
Universal/Globe: 24 April 2006
“Tom Jones’ vocal chords get hijacked by upstart danceteer Chicane.
“Foghorned-voiced, armadillo-panted sexagenarian Tom Jones joins forces on this four-four techno number with crossover dance act Chicane, aka Nick Bracegirdle.
“While it does the business in builds and breakdowns, providing the cheap tech-house thrills, it’s a mystery what Chicane has done with Tom’s vocals. He’s simply not used Tom’s voice as it should be. Like buying a Versace suit and using it as a dressing gown.
“Instead, he’s compressed and fiddled with The Voice to such an extent he resembles foghorned-voiced, armadillo-panted sexagenarian Cher. And where’s the point in that eh?
— Words: James McLaren”
In a story dated April 1, 2006, contactmusic.com says:
“JONES GOES QUIET”
“Welsh crooner SIR TOM JONES has discovered a great new singing technique — not shouting. The DELILAH singer admits he has been ‘hammering it’ for far too long, and has unleashed his more restrained vocals on CHICANE’s new single STONED IN LOVE. He says, ‘I sang it as light as possible at the beginning. Hammering it is second nature to me. Of course when the chorus comes round I slam it as hard as possible. It’s a different approach and I like it.’”
(Thanks, Laura)
(We must point out that contactmusic.com is not the most reliable of sources, often taking things out of context and, in fact, misquoting. Though his voice is strong and does carry, we don’t think Tom Jones is guilty of “shouting.”)
Here’s an item likely to cause some real wonder. It’s found in the April 1 The Daily Record it says:
“A spokesman for Chicane, real name Nick Bracegirdle, revealed he’d also approached other music veterans with the song. He said: “David Hasselhoff was all set to sing if Tom had turned him down. The Hof was asked if he’d contribute as were James Dean Bradfield and George Michael. Nick wanted Tom but was worried he’d say no so he lined up a few other possibilities. Luckily Tom, the father of reinvention, agreed and it’s a killer single.”
You can visit the Stoned In Love official website.
(Thanks, Andre)
What do you think of Stoned In Love? Please let us know.
BBC Wales is having a contest with a copy of the CD as the prize. Doesn’t say anything about only people in the UK being eligible to win, so give it a shot.
Meanwhile, we’ll look for more reviews of the CD and, if we can find them, the video. If you come across any, please send them.
April 1st, 2006 at 8:51 am
“Like buying a Versace suit and using it as a dressing gown.”
Like slapping ketchup on a plate of caviar.
Let’s have a simile contest! YEAH!!!!
April 1st, 2006 at 2:22 pm
I think this track is great!!! You can really dance, and the lyrics are wonderfull! 10 points Tom & Chicane! I liked the track from the first time I played it on my player
P.S. Vertigo Vocal Mix - cool! Waiting 4 more…
April 1st, 2006 at 3:29 pm
I don’t care what the reviewers say. I’m just glad that TJ has a new release with airplay and video. Nice timing with the knighthood, don’t ya think???
April 1st, 2006 at 9:11 pm
I must say that I still have a hard time believing that all of the vocals in Stoned in Love are Tom’s. But I agree with Laura that it is great to see and hear Tom get airplay and a new video. I also enjoy listening to the song. I’m enjoying it and find it hard to sit still listening to it. We want more new Tom songs!!
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Sounds like Tom is doing a bad impression of some of that horrible dance crap that Cher has recorded in the past decade. Come on — he’s so much better than this. What an incredible waste of a voice. I have the feeling this might have been directed or suggested by his “brillant” management team. I couldn’t even listen to the whole track. It gave me a migraine. Gordon Mills must be spinning in his grave.
April 2nd, 2006 at 4:05 pm
stoli.skyy got it right. Someone said to me that this is great music to work out to……but if I’m going to work up a sweat to Tom’s music, I’d prefer it to be elsewhere than in the gym.
And if Mr. Mills isn’t spinning, he’s probably laughing. While I applaud him for trying new things (and, sometimes, that leads to an amazing song like If I Only Knew), Tom Jones deserves better — especially because he, himself, set the bar so high.
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:23 pm
My goodness, I can’t believe the negative comments. I was absolutely thrilled with the new release to be, (not so with the video), but think the new track is a whole new twist on Tom’s vocal ability. What is wrong with Tom’s voice tapered down from the stronger vocals we are used to? If his own true fans don’t like it, I certainly hope “outsiders” will. I predict it will be a huge seller, and will make top of the charts again for Sir Thomas!!
April 2nd, 2006 at 7:42 pm
I see it as an interesting side project really. Tom’s always good at springing unexpected things on the public and although this isn’t to everyone’s taste I think it’s great that he can switch from the rawness of the Tom and Jools album to a high-tech experiment like this.
It did seem bizarre at first that Tom should be asked to sing on a record and then have his voice changed to sound like someone else, but thinking about it, that’s part and parcel of this genre of music-making and Tom’s gamely entered into the spirit of it (I was amazed he allowed any tinkering with his voice at first). I’m sure it’s just a one-off approach for this track though.
It should get people talking when the single eventually comes out anyway.
Bye!
April 2nd, 2006 at 9:25 pm
I am anxious to hear and see Tom perform this song live. I seriously do like the song and the energy it evokes. Tom’s wailing knocks me out and the soft vocals give me another window to what Tom can do. Bravo to TJ for taking this risk. How many other 65 year-olds could pull this off??? This one will go into my collection for sure.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:56 am
The unprecedented versatility of Tom Jones cannot and should not be contained. Although this new release is different from what we are used to from Tom, the man is an artist and needs to create.
He has proven many times over that he knows what he is doing, so I for one am going to sit back enjoy the song and watch what happens. At this point in his career he can do anything that makes him happy.
April 3rd, 2006 at 2:07 pm
As a fan of EDM (electronic dance music), i was quite surprised to see Tom’s name on an EDM track…I think it will definately get a lot of airtime in clubs worldwide and I would be excited to hear such a track dropped at a club.
April 3rd, 2006 at 4:52 pm
REVISED OPINION: No, I still don’t love this song, but after reading the article from Scotland and listening to the BBC radio interview, I can see the point of recording this. And I am not one of these people who wants him to go back to his early stuff. But, I do agree that “different” can be good and, again, it’s great that Tom Jones will stretch and try new things. But what got me was his comment that this song could play as a ballad. It could. He’s right and, in the end, it’s OK.
Thanks for listening.
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:18 pm
I LIKE IT. I don’t love it like I LOVE all the songs on the Mr. Jones CD but its good. As they used to say on Bandstand…”great beat and easy to dance to.” The first time I heard it I could hardly tell it was TJ. After a second listen I could heard his distinct voice. To the critics, haven’t we all said that we could listen to him sing anything?
April 4th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
I LOVE IT……….in capital letters. I hate to be repetitious, but I love it; heard it the first time, and couldn’t wait to hear it again and again. Guess that’s what makes the world go around, but…..this is Tom’s new music, a whole new world for his voice, and if the dance crowd and radio play picks up on it, it should be a huge hit!! I hope we are all prepared to see this hit the top of the charts!!! Cheers, Sir Tom!!!
April 4th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
You can hear 30 second pieces of the SIX DIFFERENT mixes of the song at
http://chicanemusic.com/music/music.asp
There’s also a piece of the video there. Happy listening!
Zeph, out http://www.musiczephyr.blogspot.com
April 6th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
I think people need to realise this is not a Tom Jones track. The artist is Chicane, a trance artist, so if Tom Jones is gonna sing on it, it’s still gonna be a trance song. Just like when Bryan Adams collaborated with Chicane. Also it’s not the first time Tom Jones collaborated with a dance artist, Sex Bomb was a collab with Mousse T and the club mix got the video play and radio play in Europe
April 10th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
I like this “OK.” Just not loving it. I love when Tom does the ballads. I guess I am just the romantic type. Even with that said, I love Tom Jones and anything he does is good for me.
April 11th, 2006 at 4:05 am
I really love that new single,it’s not my fave TJ song of course, but I love everything Tom does
April 11th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I love this song. I’ve only actualy listened to it three times. But it’s literally been in my head for two or three weeks now and all I can find is 30-second clips of it on the internet. Please someone help!! l’m desperatly in need of a new Chicane fix! Thanks!
April 11th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Been watching this thread and something has not been discussed yet. It’s a small point, but it’s been bothersome and is probably part of a larger issue for the non-UK Tom Jones fan:
Are we the only ones who noticed that the Stoned In Love video was filmed in the US and, oddly, there is no release planned for this part of the world?
Luckily, Keith (above) is a DJ, so maybe it will get some play here.
But the fact remains that fans in North America can only buy recent CDs like Reload, Mr. Jones and Jools Holland as imports, on eBay or from an overseas site. We’d love to have seen these very important CDs — especially Reload — released here. Instead, in the case of Reload we got only a watered-down, greatest hits CD called Reloaded that wasn’t nearly as good or as exciting as CD released in the UK and included bits and pieces from Reload, Mr. Jones and old material (which, even remastered, is still old material). Why is this? Individual cuts from Reload got club play here; Sexbomb was actually a hit. It’s likely a disservice to both Tom and his fans not to see his new stuff released in North America.
April 17th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Luvvvvvvvv this song so much. Tom’s voice sounds great with this track
April 17th, 2006 at 11:02 am
[...] (To see what people are saying about the Stoned In Love CD, you can go to our post about it and add your opinion, too.) [...]
April 18th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Is this new CD going to be released in America also on April 24th? Is the video going to be aired on MTV?
April 18th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
David, as far as we know, the CD is not slated to be released in the US, even though the video was made here and there is a market for electronic dance music here. We believe the MTV listing on tomjones.com is for MTV in the UK, not in the US. It’s really too bad.