| Product: |
Gabrielle in general |
| Date: |
25/07/01 (419 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: distinctive vocals, some classic songs
Disadvantages: tracks are a bit samey, over-played on radio
Something beginning with G... When Louise Gabrielle Bobb first started out, she was perhaps more famous for her eye-patch than her singing. As a result of a lazy eye, Gabrielle would wear the patch to correct her vision. With each of her three albums, she has come back with a new image. However, her music has stayed much the same...
Her first track 'Dreams' was an underground success in late 1992/early 1993. It sampled the Tracy Chapman track 'Fast Car'. Due to licencing problems, the riff had to be changed, although the vocals and strings on the track remained much the same. In June 1993, the song entered the chart at #2, narrowly behind UB40's 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You'. It was the highest ever chart entry for a debut artist, and within 7 days, it was at the top of the chart. It became one of the biggest selling songs of that year, and a new star was born.
Gabrielle returned later in the year with 'Going Nowhere', which also reached the Top 10. Both were taken from her moderate selling debut album 'Find Your Way', (which featured the scariest hidden track ever, 10 minutes after the end of the last song, where Gabrielle laughs manically and says 'that's it!'). The album yielded further success with 'I Wish' and 'Because Of You'. The album itself was reasonable as a first-offering, although suffered from a number of weak tracks which mar many a rush-released debut. However, she managed to win a Brit award the following year. She then seemed to disappear completely for about two years...
She returned, one child later, with the sublime Motown pastiche 'Give Me A Little More Time', which returned her to the Top 5, even though it received hardly any promotion. Sporting a new sweepover haircut, and without the eye-patch, it won her more fans, and launched her into a slightly more classy category of singer. Her reputation as a radio-f
riendly RnB/pop combi was enhanced by the release of the follow-ups 'Forget About The World', 'If You Really Cared' and the cover of Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By', all of which had reasonably good degrees of success. All were taken from her self-titled second album, and this also featured the East 17 collaboration, 'If You Ever', an old Shai track. This almost returned her to the top-spot.
Despite a brief appearence on the 'Perfect Day' #1, Gabrielle was quiet again until 1999. She had personal problems in this period relating to an ex-boyfriend's murder conviction, and the police were particularly ready to pounce on her when the police questioned her. She now refuses to talk about the incident.
However, she returned with the impressive, if understated, 'Sunshine', which reached #9. Probably her finest moment in my opinion, it failed to stimulate the sales of 'Rise', the album it was taken from. Although she had been successful with her singles, neither of her previous albums had set the charts alight. However, the release of the follow-up track to 'Sunshine', also called 'Rise', helped the album become one of the biggest selling ever by a UK female solo artist. The single also went to #1, no doubt helped by its sampling of Bob Dylan's 'Knocking On Heaven's Door'. It was her biggest success since 'Dreams', and propelled her into the mahjor league.
Further tracks off the 'Rise' album were released, and 'When A Woman' and 'Should I Stay' were also Top 20 hits. Her latest song 'Out Of Reach' was chosen to be the lead song to 'Bridget Jones' Diary' movie, and also reached the UK Top 5. It was later put on the repackaged 'Rise' album.
Gabrielle's distinctive voice has helped her career, as it is instantly recognisable as hers. Still something of an enigma, it has onl
y been recently that she has begun to feel comfortable about giving interviews. Her latest track also looks likely to break her in the USA.
However, her songs do have a tendency to sound a little samey, and the continued radio-play of her songs makes her latest album slightly less enjoyable. Even so, she has produced a number of songs ('Dreams', 'Give Me...' and 'Sunshine') which are amongst the best to be released by any UK female soloist. Hopefully her new album may take her into slightly new directions...
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Last comment:
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chris105 - 25/07/01 May I say that this was one of the most professional music record ops I've read in dooyoo for a long time? Usually we all review stuff we either love or hate, and praise it or destroy it accordingly. You gave a very objective appraisal of Gabrielle's career.
:)
-Chris |
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