David Hasselhoff - A Real Good Feeling (2011) Lossless

Often used as a joke against the German music industry, David Hasselhoff may have scored a number one single and album in the late '80s and famously performed at the fall of the Berlin Wall, but in reality, his pop career there has largely been as irrelevant as it has been everywhere else for nearly two decades. Clinging onto the last shred of popularity he has with European audiences, his first new studio album since the 2004 double whammy of Sings America and The Night Before Christmas appears to be designed specifically with them in mind. Produced by Christian Geller (No Angels), it's a pure schlager-pop affair, packed with Oktoberfest standards from the likes of Peter Kent (the title track) and Jurgen Drews ("Hey, We Wanna Rock the World"), cringeworthy cabaret ballads ("Like the Seven Seas," "Heartbreak Café"), and camp Eurotrash numbers such as the "YMCA"-esque "You Are a Hero" and the corny singalong of "California Girl," alongside a pointless remix of his signature hit, "Looking for Freedom," and the original 1993 collaboration with Gwen on the self-penned "Wir Zwei Allein." It's difficult to tell whether Hasselhoff is playing up to his dated image in a postmodern way, especially when he plays it straight, as on the big-band torch song "This Time Around" and a schmaltzy duet with daughters Hayley and Taylor-Ann on "I'll Be Here with You." But whatever his intentions, it's unlikely that many will be able to listen to the majority of A Real Good Feeling with a straight face.