Beyond the Breaking Glass

Hazel O'Connor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 4, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Invisible Hands
• ASIN: B000075A30
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,649 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Still Breathing

2. Scamaill

3. Driftwood

4. Big Brother

5. Rebecca

6. Blackman

7. Thinkin' About You

8. Blackwater Side

9. Will You

10. Calls the Tune

11. Beyond the Breaking Glass

Editorial Reviews

Soundtrack to the new wave icon's one-woman 2000 stage musical. Invisible Hands Music. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glass more than half full, March 27, 2003

By 

Cartimand (Hampshire, UK.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Breaking Glass (Audio CD)

Having just seen the lovely Hazel on her intimate Torch to Flame tour last night in Bracknell, this album is a great reminder of a stunning concert.

Whilst Beyond the Breaking Glass is a very different work from the visceral energy of Cover Plus or Breaking Glass, the laid-back Celtic influence adds a whole new dimension to her powerful songs and has promoted this album on very first listen to my all-time favourite chill-out CD (sorry Beth!).

The classic punk anthems Big Brother and Blackman work surprisingly well, with Hazel's astonishingly vibrant voice conveying more emotion now than the naked aggression of her early material. The Celtic road she is now travelling is most apparent in the impassioned Blackwater Side and the achingly beautiful Scamaill. The tribute to Hazel's late friend Rebecca is tenderly empathetic without ever being over sentimental. Still Breathing (that's the big audience participation one if you ever see her live!) is a gloriously uplifting anthem to life - carpe diem could be its subtitle. Driftwood is another highlight - an instantly memorable song with heavy autobiographical overtones. Her most famous song, Will You , is surely one of the most sensual songs about lovemaking ever written. But does it work without the classic sax solo? Of course it does! The haunting sound of Éamonn Galldubh on low whistle gives a beautiful ethereal quality to the fade-out and, believe me, Hazel's vocals have never sounded more sensual (live, Hazel does the instrumental bit on mouth-organ, giving the song a more gutsy, bluesy feel). Finally, the title track, an inspiring song about life's journey, will send you to bed with its memorable chorus stuck in you head.

Thanks for the music Haze (and for taking the time to chat with me!). Carry on like this and you won't go far wrong!