Customer Reviews

Best Days

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I stumbled upon this CD because I had heard she was one of the understudies for the stage musical of the Phantom of the Opera at a young age, and I wanted to hear what she sounded like. I was not disappointed.

With this debut, Amy Nuttall recorded a crossover classical album that will appeal to fans of Katherine Jenkins and Hayley Westenra. Indeed, Amy has included some songs here that one or both of those two excellent singers have also recorded, though I'm not going to set them against one another, as I love all three voices. Most of this album comprises covers, but the original songs (Friends for life, No greater gift, Best days, So far away) are all of a high quality and sit comfortably amongst Amy's interpretations of more familiar material.

Among the more traditional songs, you can hear Amy sing Scarborough fair, Shenandoah, Greensleeves and The water is wide. Legend has it that King Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves, but I don't think anybody knows for sure if he did although it's certainly possible. There are also songs from various periods within the twentieth century including Time to say goodbye (a Europe-wide hit for Sarah Brightman), which made number one in several countries but peaked at number two in Britain), Fields of gold (written by Sting but also covered by Eva Cassidy among others) and I could have danced all night (from My fair lady).

With a mix of original songs and well-chosen covers from a variety of sources, Amy shows that she has plenty of ability to capture some of the market for crossover classical music, if she chooses to pursue that career option As I write this, I haven't seen any sign of a follow-up album, but I hope that this was not just a one-off.