(Editor’s note: I moved from an apartment into a house starting January 1st, 2020, and I had to toss all my CDs into a big garbage bag during the move. The idea for this feature is I write a review about each CD as I unpack that bag, one CD at a time, and rank them.)

The seventh CD out of the bag

Track listings

1. Cheater’s Town; 2. We Let Her Down; 3. You Don’t Cry Like I Do; 4. We’ve Got Tomorrow; 5. Breaking Apart (featuring Trisha Yearwood); 6. Baby Baby; 7. Mr. Lonely Man; 8. I Lose My Heart (featuring Michelle Branch); 9. Summer Holiday; 10. Best I Ever had; 11. We Lost Our Way; 12. Very Pretty Girl; 13. Take My Heart; 14. Big Wide Wonderful World.

Snapshot review

Chris Isaak is a top-five all-time singer-songwriter in my book, and Mr. Lucky is my second-favorite album by the silky-voiced crooner (which means it’s one of the best ever). Released in 2009, Mr. Lucky hit No. 29 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, making it one of the most underrated albums in Billboard history, in my opinion. Packed with 14 songs, including beautiful duets with Trisha Yearwood and Michelle Branch, Mr. Lucky is a dreamy blend of tunes about love and heartache but tempered with happy, optimistic moments. Isaak’s vocals, often dripping with Orbisonesque sorrow, take each song to the next emotional level. Highlights include epic heartbreakers “Cheater’s Town” and “You Don’t Cry Like I Do”; bouncy retro numbers “We’ve Got Tomorrow” and “Take My Heart”; nostalgic lovelorn pop gem “Summer Holiday”; and the rockin’ “Best I Ever Had.”

My favorite song

My favorite song is probably the saddest one, “We Let Her Down.” The opening verse — “Her father and her mother never showed her any affection at all” — sets a somber tone, and you know Isaak’s about to dig deep for this underappreciated masterpiece of melancholy. He doesn’t disappoint, sounding guilt-ridden and haunted like a man delivering a loved one’s eulogy with the knowledge that he didn’t try hard enough to save her. Powerfully introspective and moving.

My favorite lines of my favorite song

“I told her I’d be there.
It’s easy to say what you want to believe.”

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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