| Product: |
Charlotte Church in general |
| Date: |
02/01/01 (60 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: good looking CD, lots of tracks, great fro Christmas
Disadvantages: Unplayable 50 weeks of the year, novelty value only
Charlotte Church, the fourteen year old Welsh soprano with, apparently, the "voice of an angel" has released this album (as she did her previous two albums) to coincide nicely with the Christmas rush. Therefore I'm sure lots of people, like me, will have found them playing the CD over the days following Christmas.
Unfortunately for those who find this stretching their Christmas stocking, the CD is full of Christmas songs and carols. Now, I might be a bit mean-spirited, but don't you just hate CDs full of Christmas songs - let's face it - the next time I'll be playing this album will be in 50 weeks from now!
Still, there is an impressive songlist on the CD, 20 tracks in total, every one Christmas orientated (tedious to the extreme), and I'm afraid after listening to half of them, I had to have a break before I could listen to the rest of the album.
All the traditional ones are there: O Come all ye faithful, Silent Night, Hark! The Hearld Angels sing are all there, although some of them, especially Silent Night have been given a bit of a workover - you won't hear any organ blasting out in these tracks!
Charlotte's voice goes from strength to strength: there's no doubting her talent, and her voice is now a little deeper, fuller and she can certainly sustain notes much more confidently than her first album. All in all, Chralotte's performance has much more depth and maturity, and for the first time you feel she can take on the adult sopranos at their game.
However, a classical singer doesn't really tackle the newer Christmas songs quite the same way as your bog-standard pop singer does. Do we really want to hear Charlotte Church sing an opera-version of Winter Wonderland, or Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire? I don't think so, but you get them on the CD, and they sound hopelessly out of place, as does the adaptation What Child is This? sung to the Greensleeves theme.
>
However, the original song which starts off the CD, Dream a Dream, with Billy Gilman is a great attempt at utilising Charlotte's voice in a more pop-orientated song, and certainly deserves a few repeat listens.
The CD is very well designed with a beautiful booklet and design on the CD itself, so even if you don't like the songs it will look good on the shelf.
Charlotte is still only 14, and so, as a child, we ought to allow her a few more years of bringing out albums like these. However, I can't wait for the time when she decides to record something a little more meatier - an operetta, cantatas or something of that nature.
Full track list: Dream A Dream, O Come All Ye Faithful, The little drummer boy, The first noel, Mary's boy child, Ding dong merrily on high, Winter wonderland, The Christmas song, The Coventry carol, Joy to the World, When a child is born, What child is this?, God rest ye merry gentlemen, Far over Bethlehem, Ava Maria, Gabriel's Message, O Holy night, Lo how a rose e'er blooming, Silent Night
Summary:
|
|
