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Apr 23, 2021Jones’s voice has weathered better than most, taking on an oaken quality, with rich low notes and just a patina of tiny cracks adding some antique class. There’s no false tooth sibilance, and every lyric on Surrounded by Time is crisply enunciated and delivered with conviction and thought.
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Apr 23, 2021It pays to listen to the originals, to form a full appreciation of just how much Jones brings to the table in each interpretation, expressing more emotion than he probably has at any point in his career. The instrumentation is the icing on the cake.
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Apr 23, 2021Surrounded by Time is magnificent -- it's redolent with wisdom and a raging lust for life that is free of camp. It offers abundant proof that despite the passing of years, Jones has lost none his power or swagger.
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MojoApr 22, 2021This lively Welshman isn't rolling over just yet. [May 2021, p.78]
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Apr 22, 2021A world away from his genial role on Saturday Night Television, it’s a 12 strong song cycle that finds Tom Jones doing exactly as he pleases. It’s an extraordinary balancing act, another vital page in this remarkable ongoing chapter.
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Apr 22, 2021There are playful moments - a self-referential take on Cat Stevens’ ‘Pop Star’, in which the 80-year-old icon declares his showbiz intentions, chief among them - but the album is best when it embraces the singer’s age, experience and stature.
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Apr 22, 2021His barnacled baritone steers a steady course through Moog-soaked covers of favourite songs, with sombre lines about dark oceans, soulless days, and skirting a skeleton coast.
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UncutApr 22, 2021Great stuff. More please. [May 2021, p.27]
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Apr 22, 2021At its most enjoyable, Surrounded By Time imagines a kind of alternative history for Jones. ... The other experiments are a mixed bag. ... That said, even the album’s missteps come with something oddly pleasing attached.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 8
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Mixed: 1 out of 8
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Negative: 0 out of 8
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May 16, 2021