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Richard Marx recently headlined at London’s Royal Albert Hall, armed only with guitar, voice and a hatful of anecdotes. The enduring appeal of his ballads Right Here Waiting, Now And Forever and Hazard may have made him a cosy housewife’s favourite, but the man has balls.
Besides 11 solo favourites, Marx’s first acoustic album adds seven band-performed interpretations of material written for other artists.
Marx won his first Grammy in 2004, long after his star was perceived to have faded, and it’s interesting to hear his personal slant on tunes donated to N’Sync, Lifehouse, Chris Daughtry, Travis Tritt, Keith Urban and even Cliff Richard, though his collaboration with Vixen on Edge Of A Broken Heart is a gross omission.
Although it made yours truly dash off to revisit his sublime self-titled debut album, Stories To Tell is sufficiently uplifting and heartfelt to be one of Marx’s very best records.

Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. His words have appeared in a variety of music publications, including RAW, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Prog, Rock Candy, Fireworks and Sounds. Dave’s life was shaped in 1974 through the purchase of a copy of Sweet’s album ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, along with early gig experiences from Status Quo, Rush, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Yes and Queen. As a lifelong season ticket holder of Crystal Palace FC, he is completely incapable of uttering the word ‘Br***ton’.