Paul Williams - Life Goes On (2008)

"I Won't Last a Day Without You" was leapt upon by the Carpenters (and recorded by Barbra Streisand for her Butterfly album), but despite the inclusion of Williams' own version, Life Goes On isn't in the same league as Just an Old Fashioned Love Song. Too much of it is unutterably bland. "Park Avenue," with its patronizing lyric that takes cheap pot shots at ladies who lunch, signposts one of Williams' weaknesses; he's not one of life's wits or sharp observational writers, and is better sticking to introspective autobiographical material. The songs here are arranged similarly to his other recordings of the period, with assistance from slick sidemen like Leland Sklar and Russell Kunkel, but there's none of the bittersweet quality Williams had evinced before. His heart-felt performance on the standard "That Lucky Old Sun" is the one tender spot in an otherwise dull, unengaging collection.