Walking the Line with Chris Isaak: Beyond the Sun

From his pompadour to his mirror ball suit, Chris Isaak has never been shy about standing on the shoulders of rock and roll giants. Beyond the Sun finds him moving from their shoulders to their living rooms as he takes up residence in Memphis' Sun Studios and tackles the legacies of Elvis, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and more. This double disc set* allows Isaak a place in which he can embrace, without restraint, all the things that make him an American institution in his own right. His rockabilly swagger might be short on innovation here but it's steeped in reverance and really, who needs innovation with a songbook like this?

The definitive songs of three great American originals are here as Isaak covers Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" and Johnny Cash's one two punch of "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line." Compared to the possessed insanity of Jerry Lee Lewis or the unassailable gravitas of Johnny Cash, however, Isaak's vocals seem more suitable to Presley. Elvis' songs account for more than a lion's share of the tracklisting here and, unsurprisingly, his mellifluous vocal taste and refinement is golden throated honey on "Can't Help Falling in Love." All the other Presley tracks that follow suit (particularly the idiomatic "Love Me" on disc 2) can only hint at the impact that a young Elvis had. In the hands of Isaak, though, it's easier to imagine.

There's a certain joy, though, in listening to Isaak throw such vocal restraint to the wind. The Jimmy Wages song "Miss Pearl" sees the man and his band ripping loose: he howls his vocals like a man possessed through a clamor of frenzied guitar work and booming organ solos. It's a welcomed reminder of what a crack band Silvertone is and what they're capable of- rave ups with blistering guitar work and impassioned solos. It's a passion that carries over to Isaak originals like "Live It Up" and "Lovely Loretta." Undoubtedly, Beyond the Sun offers some of the best guitar work of the last year that, guaranteed, you won't hear from anyone else.

Beyond the Sun feels like such an obvious stroke of genius, it's amazing it hadn't been attempted before. Certainly, it's not Isaak's first cover on record: Heart Shaped World featured Bo Diddley's "Diddley Daddy" and San Francisco Days closed out with the ultimate rendition of Neil Young's "Solitary Man." 1996's Baja Sessions, anchored by Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely," featured numerous covers. But none of that mitigates the sheer joy of listening to (or recording, I imagine) this collection of American originals. Jerry Lee Lewis' "Lucky Old Sun," the number that closes disc two, is as stirring a song as one could hope for from Lewis. But here, sung with all the cool heart and soul of Isaak's tenor, the song becomes more of a benediction as the listener starts to feel like the lucky one.


*Sure, there's a one disc edition of this but why would you want that? Disc 1 may have "Ring of Fire," "Great Balls of Fire," "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Miss Pearl" and "I Walk the Line" but disc 2 has "Pretty Woman," "Love Me," "Lucky Old Sun" and a number of other unlikely songs that are every bit as incredible as the obvious hits.