The Café Carlyle struck gold when they booked Judy Collins. Hoping, perhaps, to recreate that kind of success by inviting another star with baby boomer nostalgic appeal, the famous nightclub tapped five-time Grammy winner and one-time Oscar winner Christopher Cross for a four-week engagement. But, alas, they did not strike gold. Not even silver.

After you've heard the three songs that Cross is most famous for, "Never Be The Same," "Sailing," and "Arthur's Theme," one sits back and listens to another eight or nine songs that mostly sound the same. With a few exceptions, the music -- while melodic and pretty -- doesn't vary very much from song to song. All his tunes are structured with[...]