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Album Reviews
Adopting a Middle Eastern flavor to enhance her blend of classical and new age pop, Sarah Brightman's Harem continues her experimentation with thematic discs that began with 1993's oceanic Dive. These themes, while never dominant or original, are simply meant to enhance her brand of crossover just enough to keep listeners interested in hearing her next project. Harem accomplishes that feat by shrouding new age pop songs in a thin Middle Eastern veil that disguises, but never completely covers, Brightman's true musical identity. It works well when she fully utilizes the theme, as on the opening title track where Brightman's fragile operatic voice is able to capture the traditional phrasing without sounding forced. But when the formula simply dresses up a pop/dance song like "The Journey Home," the results are less interesting and cross into territory already explored by the group Enigma and its worldly hits. Elsewhere, Brightman appears to have been taking classes at the Kate Bush vocal institute, sounding eerily similar to the English thrush on the quiet tracks "What You Never Know" and "Free," her writing collaboration with Sophie B. Hawkins. Retaining her classical leanings, Brightman successfully incorporates "Un Bel Di," from Puccini's Madame Butterfly, into the surging beats of "It's a Beautiful Day," her best attempt at creating a chart-worthy hit. Middle Eastern music stars like Kazem al-Saher and the late Ofra Haza lend an air of authenticity, while the tasteful arrangements by former Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman refrain from overpowering Brightman's voice or sinking into an Arabian parody. The disc gets a bit long by the time it reaches the unnecessary standard "Stranger in Paradise," but Brightman's Harem adventure is interesting enough to have listeners packed and ready to travel with her on another musical journey. ~ Aaron Latham, All Music Guide
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Heartless KanYe West |
| When he announced that he would be putting rap to one side for his latest album and composing the whole thing using an 80's drum machine and singing in the style of Cher via the use of auto-tune software, many onlookers thought KanYe West had lost it. However, the results of KanYe's pop experiments, that on paper looked decidedly dodgy, have already produced one hit single and, if early reviews are anything to go by, one of KanYe's best albums. On his latest single, 'Heartless', KanYe continues the theme of the album '808's and Heartbreaks' by employing the use of the 808 drum machine and singing about, if you hadn't already guessed, Heartbreak. Although, as Kanye himself stated, the use of auto-tune is often associated with being 'wack', the application of the vocoder effect on 'Heartless' adds an extra depth to West's effective but limited speak singing. This proves to be a shrewd move as rapper's attempts to hit notes out of their range can often end in horrendous results; just ask Puff Daddy. Added to this the depth of lyrics, inspired by an emotionally turbulent year that saw the death of his mother and a break up with his fiancé, have more heartfelt punch than any of the predictable Hip Hop/R&B doing the rounds at the moment. Not many artists could pull it off but it seems '808's and Heartbreaks' has seamlessly moved KanYe West from Hip Hop King into the realm of pop pioneer without breaking a sweat. | |
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