"Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra" is the debut album by Mark Tremonti. So many things about writing that first sentence seem so weird. First of all, talking about this being the debut album of a man who has been in the music industry for over 25 years. Known really for being one of the greatest guitarists of all time through being in Creed, Alter Bridge and Tremonti. And being in Tremonti which you could argue is his solo project but at the end of the day it is a band rather than him going solo really. Whereas this project is under his name so that's why I'm calling it his debut album.
Many bands start their journey in music by playing covers. Even established bands will maybe fit the odd cover into their albums, either as part of the album or as a bonus track. Think Shinedown who covered "Simple Man" which is perhaps even more famous than the original. Bands playing live will also fit covers into their sets. Radio one live lounge you basically need to do a cover as it's expected. Many artists will cover songs in the same genre or what's popular at that time.
But Mark here to my knowledge has never really dabbled outside of the rock and metal genre before. In Creed and Alter Bridge his main focus was the guitar. In Alter Bridge he did have some sections where he would sing in songs in the first couple of albums. On "Fortress" and "Walking the Sky" he had one track on each where he would sing. Then in Tremonti where the band’s first album came out in 2012 and have released 5 albums to date, he is the lead vocalist and lead gutarist. From interviews though he says he has had no formal vocal training, until now.
"Mark Tremonti sings Frank Sinatra" is an album which has been years in the making. This is not a karaoke effort; this is not a cash grab album where he has run out of ideas elsewhere so needed something fresh to stay relevant. This is somebody who clearly loves Frank Sinatra. And has put so much into discovering his music and has looked into every avenue to see how to sing the way Frank did. Which is a very tall order.
The result is something absolutely magical. 14 tracks with Frank's band playing and Mark's vocal performance is really, really something else. You can tell he spent a lot of time getting this right. In projects like this sometimes you need a drive and reason for doing this and Mark to his credit is using the profits made from this album as a fundraiser for a down syndrome charity; a condition his daughter has.
In terms of the journey, I have had with this album it's been a ride. When the first song came out, I actually thought, why am I listening to this and not Frank Sinatra. So, all of a sudden, I spent the next week listening to Frank Sinatra. Then I went back to listening to rock. But when this album came out all of a sudden, I have had it on quite a few times now. It's just really easy to listen to and is a refreshing change to what I usually listen to.
Overall, I have to hand it to Mark. This was an ambitious project, but he absolutely pulled it off. It was a timely reminder for me that there is loads of a great music from the past to discover and it was Mark who shipped me there. I would love it if he did something similar again with another artist so I can discover more in this way.
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