This was Domino’s second album and it’s an improvement on his first in basically every way. I loved his first record, but on this second one, they’ve worked out the production issues to create a smoother sound, selected all around better songs and his vocal work has improved as well. None of this is to make this sound like it’s some kind of easy listening or anything. This is still fun, straight-ahead rock and roll, just like the label says, but the musicians are all on point and the remastering is really great. The album starts with My Blue Heaven, one of his best recordings of a standard. Other standouts are the frenzied When My Dreamboat Comes Home and My Heart is In Your Hands, a ballad that finds Domino reaching an emotional place he hadn’t really gone before. It’s not a heartbreaker or anything, but there’s a melancholy sweetness that really works. This album also features something that I didn’t know existed: the Fats Domino instrumental. And let me tell you, the Fats Domino instrumental is just as delightful as it sounds like it would be. Of the three instrumental tracks here, Swanee River Hop, which features an astoundingly great piano performance, and Second Line Jump, which has an easy groove, are the standouts. And, once again, the album clocks in at right around twenty-eight minutes; with twelve songs, it moves like lightning and leaves you wanting more. I often approach the icons with some trepidation; what if they don’t live up to the hype? With Fats Domino, that ain’t the case. 4 stars.
tl;dr – icon’s second album is an improvement on his first in every way: production values, vocal range, instrumental prowess; two albums in, he’s basically already earned his genius label. 4 stars.