The exact polar opposite of the tongue-in-cheek metal of
No More Mr. Nice Guy, but just as gimmicky,
Hopeless Romantic is
Pat Boone in R&B love-man mode. Starting off with his take on a
Barry White-style bedroom rap on the
Smokey Robinson-penned "Still Waters Run Deep,"
Boone blends originals in the style with covers ranging from
the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose's "Too Late to Turn Back Now" to
Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." It's a far superior effort to the jokey metal album, simply because
Boone has always had a good ballad voice and hearing it put to use on appropriate songs, it's easy to understand why the guy has managed to maintain such a long career. The album's primary flaw is that the arrangements feel a bit too modern, in the pre-processed pop ballad mode of a
Justin Guarini or
Will Young: this album would be both more authentic and more listenable if
Boone were in front of, say,
Isaac Hayes'
Black Moses-era blend of deep soul and kitchen-sink orchestrations. Who wouldn't love to hear that?