Customer Reviews

Crayons

5 star:		(121)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I must say that I was surprised and not expecting this great album from Donna Summer. "Crayons" is not an attempt to recapture the sound and music she's perhaps best known as. This album is meant to stand against big artists of today and to capture the pop/hip-hop/r&b vibe that's popular today. Not only that but after being known as conquering disco, Donna Summer reaches ahead and goes for the club-crowd. Does it work? In all, yes. "Crayons" is fresh, exciting, has funny lyrics, introspective lyrics and outright unapologetic and fun.

You'll like how upbeat the sound and tone of this album is. This is really a club record, testing out different styles (or perhaps crayons). The songs that work the best for me were the title track 'Crayons' that has a Caribbean/island sound and features Ziggy Marley. 'Stamp Your Feet' is a pop/inspirational song where Summers urges her audience to take a stand and to make their voices be heard. 'The Queen is Back' is by far the most fun, with Donna Summer obviously speaking of her return to the scene and not holding back on the 'diva' attitude we'd expect from her. The last track, 'Bring Down the Reign' features a choir of children and Donna Summer putting aside the club-vibe for something epic in sound and pulls off a quite moving song.

What you may not like is the at times over-processed vocals that render her unrecognizable on some tracks. This is the only area of the album that bothers me because so many artists, including Cher, Mariah and Madonna (mentioned in other reviews) have gone this same route as if it's the only way to compete with others in the business. It took away from some songs when I wished we'd hear more of her voice which we know is great and strong enough not to be picked apart by a computer.

In all, a great effort from Donna Summer. I'm sure it'll be one of the albums that'll break out this year to everyone's surprise. Give it a listen, you will not regret it nor will you be wasting any money on purchasing it.

Length:: 3:52 Mins

A solid comeback to the dancefloor for Summer who has waited way too long to record a new record. This one has some good stomping beats and high powered vocals (maybe tampered with a bit too much). Still, Summer is Summer and she's great at what she does. Why she sounds so much like Tina Turner on one of these tracks is confounding and strange, but otherwise good fun!

Update 7/12/08 - Just saw Donna tonight in concert in Boston. Her voice is still AMAZING live. A great evening. The entire crowd was singing along and dancing all evening. A great shared experience. All the songs from the new album tranlslated very well to her live performance. See it if you can!

Donna Summer's "Crayons" is an amazing return to form by this great singer. "Stamp Your Feet" is perched at #1 in my personal top ten. It's a great track that Donna co-wrote. I haven't seen a lyric sheet, but it sounds like she's singing "Make a big a*s sound!" That's my story & I'm sticking to it. ...Anyway that's what I'm singing as I drive along the road! The title track with Ziggy Marley bounces so joyfully that it's the perfect summer song. I may be wearing out the repeat button on the chorus, "Take a walk on the wild side, Don't be afraid, you could be mine." "The Queen Is Back" sounds like a musical biography referencing her hit "On the Radio," "She walks into the room & everybody knows, it's not a day too soon, she stands & strikes her pose." What a dynamic dramatic track! I also love "Drivin' Down Brazil" with its samba beat and Summer's expressive vocals. Other tracks like the 7-minute "I'm A Fire" and "Science of Love" are also excellent. This is a disc that is sure to be on my "best of 2008" list. Bravo!

I am not totally sure this entire cd works for me, but when it does it does. I really enjoy "Stomp Your Feet", "Bring Down the Reign" and "The Queen Is Back". I also would love "I'm a Fire" done all in spanish, takes the rather blah lyrics into something more very sexy. No question Summer can still sing with the best of them, well done.

This has been WELL worth the wait!

It opens with "STAMP YOUR FEET" a crump type cheerleaderish chant that is catchy and will get you out of your chair within the first beat! This is already the top hit on the charts now, so that should tell you something!

"MR. MUSIC" up to date beats, another crumpy hip hop song, catchy, and positively upbeat! Reminds me a little of " Mr. DJ" by Madonna. The bridge offers more cheerleader type chanting, as made popular by Gwen Stefani.

"CRAYONS" Fun colorful metaphors in this 'we're all the same' message with reggae great ZIGGY MARLEY adding his irie flavoured vocals. This is by far the "happiest' make you smile song on the album. Fast paced and catchy hook. Reminds me of: 'I'm So Excited' by Pointer Sisters.

"THE QUEEN IS BACK", she SURE is! And better than ever! This hard-hitting song-another great crump/hip hop dancers song! An obvious ode to her return with tongue in cheek references to her past hits: " So many years ago/ ON THE RADIO...She crept into your soul / AND LOVED TO LOVE YOU all" was very clever and reminded us how she has stayed in our hearts for over 3 decades! Another catchy chorus.

"FAME (THE GAME)", a tell it like it is song about being a celebrity and a day-in-the-life of. Fast rapped background vocal (on maybe her vocoded voice) talking about everything from Botox to platinum credits cards. Catchy with a locomotive type driven beat.

Slowing it down with "SAND ON MY FEET" ballad saying that all she needs is the sand and her lover. A sweet romantic break from dancing for 5 songs non-stop! You can almost imagine walking on the sand there with her!

"DRIVING DOWN BRAZIL" offers a Samba/Batucada beat latin flavoured beat that just makes you want to sit on a sidestreet and drink Mojitos, and goes down equally smooth!

"I'M A FIRE" Going a little more back to her DISCO roots on this one, I felt more back in highschool with this one!

"SLIDE OVER BACKWARDS" not sure what happened here, in the last few songs we went from Brazil to Disco to the Bayou! Her voice is raspy and almost a little creepy! Twangy banjos and harmonica dominate this song. It took me a while to get used to this one, still trying to not skip it when I play the CD! Reminds me of Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits".

"SCIENCE OF LOVE" Electronic voices open up the intro on this could be dance song, but I am not quite feeling it. She is having trouble getting away from her ex on this one, and blames it on science!

"BE MYSELF AGAIN" another ballad, very sparse: piano and vocals. An introspective sermon about coming back to being yourself again. Beautiful lyrics and song.

"BRING DOWN THE REIGN" another ballad, opens up with African type chanting. A message and cry out for help for DARFUR, AFRICA. Beautiful and very powerful. Let's do SOMETHING!

OVERALL, this album offers something for everyone; young and old, black and white, dancers, singers, it is a VERY WELL ROUNDED album, I am very proud to say I own!

SHOULD YOU BUY IT? Absolutely! I play it every morning when I get ready and I get ready so much faster because I am dancing to the fast beats! I actually got tired of taking it out of the CD player in the bathroom and then taking it with me in the car, that I made a copy for the car!!! So it basically goes with me EVERYWHERE!

Whatever mood you are in..There is a song on the cd for it!

WHO SHOULD BUY IT? Crumpers, hip hop dancers, teens, Summer fans, your mother, gays, straights, any race, anyone that wants to smile all day!

I have never stopped being a fan of Donna Summer since the late 70's. She is back with a vengeance, the same great voice and up to date NEW songs! She produced a great collection to get herself back in the spotlight, which is where her beautiful and strong voice belongs! Never listened to Donna's music before?? Try this, you will be pleasantly surprised. She appeals to new and seasoned fans alike!

Even though we're at the halfway point of the year, 2008 may go down as "The Year of the Boomer," what with major releases from "seniors" like Madonna, Sergio Mendes, Al Green, Dolly Parton and septuagenarian Dame Shirley Bassey, all being well-received by critics and fans alike.

To the fray we can now add Donna Summer with "Crayons," a welcome addition to the singer's discography of hits and an ear-friendly hodgepodge for those of us that have loved the singer since "Love to Love You Baby" hit the airwaves three decades ago.

The new release, featuring twelve songs co-written by Summer and a variety of songwriters, allows the singer to poke fun at herself and celebrity ("The Queen is Back" and "Fame-the Game"), as well as hurl herself headlong into contemporary dance grooves with tunes like the tile cut and "Mr. Music." Summer gets a little nostalgic with the retro-disco sound on "I'm a Fire," waxes country with "Slide Over Backwards," and plays with a South American sound with "Drivin' Down Brazil."

The slower, mid-tempo numbers are just as good. "Sand on My Feet," "Science of Love," "Be Myself Again," and "Bring Down the Reign" allow Summer to show her softer yet highly effective vocals, something that she occasionally did on such classics as her concept "Bad Girls" and "Once Upon a Time" albums from the 70's.

Though some may call "Crayons" a comeback, I prefer to think of it as a "rebirth" to her minions of fans worldwide, as well as an "introduction" to the younger listeners that weren't fortunate to have experienced the "Queen of Disco" in her heyday.

Either way, both audiophiles will be pleased with this FIVE-STAR recording.

The title of track four says it all. A remarkable return to form! There are floor-fillers with 'Stamp Your Feet', 'Crayons' and 'The Queen is Back' as well as two 5-star ballads in 'Sand On My Feet' and (possibly my favourite track) 'Be Myself Again', on which Donna's real, not electronically enhanced voice really comes through, with just a piano behind it! Treat yourself to this today.

HI ! IM A GREAT FAN OF DONNA SINCE 1975,I OWN ALL HER RECORDS AND CDS,I BOUGHT ON CD NOW 15 DAYS AGO CRAYONS AND I LOVE EVERY SONG,THE ENTIRE CD,BUT THE RECORD COMPANY ISSUED HERE IN MEXICO THE SAME CD BUT WITH AN EXTRA TRACK (13 ),SONG: (ITS ONLY LOVE),THAT SONG ITS GREAT!!! ,I REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT IS THE REASON THAT THEY DONT INCLUDE THAT ONE IN THE U.S.A CD,IF YOU CAN HEAR THAT SONG YOU PROBABLY LOVE IT.

THANKS DONNA,I WAITED.... 17 YEARS, BUT IT WORTH IT !