Confessions

Liza Minnelli | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca U.S.
• ASIN: B003GH6M2O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,573 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Celebrating sixty years in show business, the iconic Liza Minnelli is about to release the most intimate and revealing recording of her career, Confesssions, available everywhere on September 28th (Decca). A collection of American classics, Confessions features some of Minnelli's favorite songs of all time, arranged simply and elegantly, with accompaniment by her long-time pianist Billy Stritch. Though the album will surely stand as a landmark in her celebrated body of work, Minnelli maintains that the origins of Confessions were entirely organic, almost accidental. "It just sort of happened," she says. "I used to have these evenings at my house, usually on a weekend, and people like Tony Bennettor more surprising people like Janet Jacksonwould come by, and we would end up singing around the piano." Inspired by the intimacy of those incredible evenings, Liza decided to start recording some of her favorite songs with Stritch, and producer Bruce Roberts. Excited by how effortless the process became, she decided to keep going, giving the listener an up close and personal glimpse into her musical world. Unlike so many of the "Songbook" albums that have come out in recent years full of over-familiar selections, Minnelli dug deeper into the catalogues of great writers, balancing beloved numbers like "All the Way" and "At Last" with such hidden gems as "You Fascinate Me So" and "Moments Like This." The timeless songs were written by the accomplished likes of Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin and Sammy Cahn to name a few. What could still represent a challenge for someone who grew up in the spotlight, and has continually explored new avenues for her work as a singer, dancer and actress (not to mention philanthropist and teacher)? The answer is a return to the most basic configuration of all - a voice, a piano, and some magnificent songs - all which are the ingredients for the extraordinary Confessions. Significantly, the disc is her first non-cast album studio recording in almost fifteen years. Liza Minnelli remains one of the world's most beloved performers, and belongs to an elite group of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar Award. Confessions is the follow-up to her wildly acclaimed 2008 return to Broadway, "Liza's at the Palace" which was nominated for a Grammy, and also won the Tony Award (her fourth) for Best Special Theatrical Event. As someone who represents the whole package, Liza Minnelli is a one-a-of-kind, multi-talented, larger-than-life superstar the world over.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Liza Is Back At Her Best" September 21, 2010

By Terry Richard TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

"Confessions" is Liza Minnelli's first non cast album in over 15 years and fans will be thrilled when they hear it. Here in this superb collection Liza's voice is what carries the project along with the piano arrangements by her longtime collaborator Billy Stritch. Gone are the songs that use to feature Liza screaming, and instead you get a beautiful collection of tracks that would be suitable if you were having a dinner party and wanted background music.

When Liza was a child her parents would often have intimate dinner parties where her mother and her friends would sit around the piano and sing. Once Liza became older that tradition was carried on and it wasn't uncommon for Liza to have people like Tony Bennett and Janet Jackson at her house where they would sing for hours in a relaxed atmosphere.

About ten years ago Liza showed up at Billy Stritch's Beverly Hills house one night and wanted to sing and from that very session came the idea for this album. Billy had recorded many of the songs from that night and found them about a year ago on various tapes. He went to Liza and told her he had the idea for her next album: recording songs that were simple, hearfelt, and most of all, easy to listen to for the fan. They went to Decca Records and a contract was signed and the result is one of Liza's best albums.

I have to say there isn't one song on this CD that I do not like: they range from many popular well-known tracks to some that have been pretty much forgotten. Still, Liza puts her undeniable trademark on every one of these gems. Highlights include "I Got Lost In His Arms", "If I Had You", "Close Your Eyes", and "You Fascinate Me So". However, the two tracks that outshine all others are Liza's extraordinary rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic "All The Way" and the final track on the album "At Last".

The perfect Liza Minnelli Album: a record with just her voice and wonderful piano arrangements by Stritch with Liza making her mark on songs that really become her own. An A+ record.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars LIZA HAS RETURNED FROM "BEING BACK"! November 10, 2010

By Dean Babcock

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Have been a LIZA fan forever and need to report that this new collection is voice and age appropriate at last. Song choices are wonderful and re-demonstrate that Liza knows how to master phrasing and the essence of telling a story. No need to strain or screech beyond her current range, this album is a definite pleasure. Can't get the tunes out of my head and even caught myself singing them in an elevator today! Thank God Liza has returned from "being back"!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Confession - This Record is So-So October 1, 2010

By Rudy Palma

Format:Audio CD

Liza Minnelli's "Confessions," her first studio effort in more than a decade, is like Swiss Miss hot cocoa - warm and soothing on a cold winter's morning, but lacking excitement or nuance.

Granted, the mood and atmosphere are deliberately restrained and downbeat, with the wonderful Billy Stritch often providing Liza's sole accompaniment. This is a lo-fi, acoustic recording that breathes and is virtually noiseless, with no song standing out from the crowd. For some listeners, this would make the perfect sleep sedative.

The production techniques could have been generated in 1980 in a suburban recording studio. Many albums achieve "intimacy" but do not sound recorded on the cheap, as this one does. Ultimately, of course, Liza's presence injects the proceedings with a world-class aura.

Liza does a good job of being "Liza" here - playing into the expectations of her audience. She is one of the few living performers who should be permitted to get away with doing that. This self-awareness, however, does not always lend itself so well to an album of brooding romantic odes.

Her "You Fascinate Me So," for instance, sounds more fun-loving and cutely awkward than cozy or sincere. The same goes for "Close Your Eyes," a Tin Pan Alley chestnut which Queen Latifah sang more passionately in 2004 on her "The Dana Owens Album."

Even Irving Berlin's lovely, evergreen "I Got Lost In His Arms" from "Annie Get Your Gun" does not strike any particular nerve. These tracks simply glide in and out of each other in one mildly pleasing wash of sound.

There are a few moments where Liza's voice sounds abysmal, with her trying to push it beyond its present capabilities. The final "life is like a song" of the perennial "At Last," for example, sees her going for a high note with grating results. A handful of such moments pepper the album. One can guess that Liza is surrounded by a fair share of sycophants. No slip-ups like these could be found anywhere during her 2008 tenure at the Palace in New York, nor on its accompanying recording.

When Kennedy and Nixon famously debated the television audience declared Kennedy the clear winner, yet for the radio audience it was Nixon. It is likely that, seeing Liza perform these songs this way in person - especially in their living rooms - listeners would swoon with applause. When popping the CD in, however, they might feel like they had one too many helpings of Thanksgiving turkey.

Liza is such an important - and immortal - performer that she can get away with releasing a rather underwhelming collection like "Confessions" and still have fans and critics praise her for simply showing up and mustering some emotion. She has been endearing and enjoyable for decades, and "Confessions" works as a quiet, cool-as-cucumber affirmation of that, even if it is hard not to wish for something more scintillating and less sedate.

Side note: The album was originally intended to be a 10-track CD and a 15-track deluxe edition. At the last minute that idea was nixed, and so was the 15th track, "Breathing."