SHAZAM

Following right on the heels of his holiday album The Miracle of Christmas, Waking Up Is Hard to Do is Neil Sedaka's first children's album, a move that makes it hard not to wonder if Sedaka is working through his own "bucket list" of projects he's never quite gotten around to attempting. Like his Christmas LP, Waking Up is curiously, proudly out of step with the times, containing no modern production frills and being the better for it. It's just Sedaka and a keyboard, sometimes a little more, knocking out silly, sometimes clever send-ups of his classic tunes, throwing in a couple of pretty good new ones for good measure. It's lively, melodic, and engaging, with Sedaka goofing around with the kids -- some are indeed here singing along on choruses -- instead of talking down to them, and while that may not be quite the same thing as talking to them as an equal, it does make for an infectious, good-spirited listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi