Customer Reviews

Diva: The Singles Collection

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Sarah Brightman has changed as much as her music has, going from Broadway singer to the ultimate Christine Daae, and then to an astounding pop diva.

That said, people who have her other albums really shouldn't bother with "Diva: The Singles Collection," because they will already have this music. However, this is an outstanding place for newcomers -- who may be overwhelmed by the quantity of Brightman's music -- to get acquainted with both her best pop tunes and her earlier work on Broadway.

It opens with two of her best musical numbers, both from her starmaking turn as Christine. First the dark, dramatic "Phantom of the Opera" ("In sleep he sang to me/in dreams he came...") and the sensual "Music of the Night," which has her sweet voice accompanied by an orchestral sweep of strings and gentle brass.

Then the tone switches to "Pie Jesu," a traditional hymn that is raised to almost ecstatic levels by Brightman's soaring voice, and then again to her gentle classical-pop tunes like the soaring "Who Wants to Live Forever?" the childlike "Tu Quieres Volver," and the bittersweet, fragile "What You Never Know." There are brief forays into her electronic pop past, and some traditional tunes and covers of oldie acid tributes.

But there are also some real lungbusters on this album as well, where Brightman shows that her voice is not just sweet, but powerful. She soars through the swelling strings of "Just Show Me How to Love You" and the wonder-filled "Deliver Me," before wrapping things up with (unsurprisingly) the Andrew Bocelli duet "Time to Say Goodbye."

What can be criticized about the songs? Nothing, really -- these songs are all about Brightman at her best. The main flaw with "Diva" is perhaps that it should have been a double album, since some of her best and most prominent songs are missing. Where's the title tracks of "La Luna or "Eden," for example? Or her cover of Dido's "Here With Me"?

That said, the songs are pretty much all strong. The more rockin' style of "Question of Honour" makes it stick out like a sore thumb, but the others are delicate spins of classical instrumentation and operatic pop tunes. Some of the songs are covers -- Puccini, Procol Harum, and folk songs among them -- but Brightman fits into them very well.

I guess that's the advantage of having a magnificent voice. Brightman can do the grandstanding vocals from "Phantom of the Opera" well enough, but she excels at the sweet vocals of pop songs, and the soaring arias. What's remarkable is that her voice sounds as good in the recent songs as it does in the older ones.

"Diva: The Singles Collection" is not for longtime fans. Instead, it's a solid instroduction to people who haven't heard Brightman before, but want to hear the "angel of music" for themselves.

Whether you're a newcomer to Sarah or a bona-fide Saraholic, this is one compilation that really gives an excellent representation of the body of her work. Don't be fooled any of her ALW releases or the European Import of "The Best of 1990-2000": this album is the one to get if you're new to Sarah.

This collection covers the periods of her massive success in musical theatre with two selections from the global phenomenon "The Phantom of the Opera" as well as the stunning "Pie Jesu" piece. Selections from her breaththrouh album 'Time To Say Goodbye' are present, from her classical-crossover pioneering global hit in the title track to the two stirring covers offered in "Just Show Me How To Love You" and "Tu Quieres Volver". The more ambient, lush sound of 'Eden' is represented by the exquisite "Deliver Me", which, from Sarah's original adaptive genesis, has grown to be one of the most-performed pieces in the classical-crossover repertoire. Samples from 'La Luna' include the timeless, uplifting "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which is one of her most enduring classics, and lastly, her masterpiece 'Harem' is represented by "It's A Beautiful Day" (which is a crossover explosion, crossing a wonderful dance groove with the vocal from Puccini's "Un Bel Di" aria from his opera 'Madama Butterfy') and the moving "Free." Rounding the collection out is "A Question of Honour", one of her signature pieces and one of the first-ever successful crossover records, it crosses the "La Wally" aria with a dynamic, beat-driven mid-section, before returning again to Sarah's archaic operatic vocals.

The voice is clear as ever, the songs as pure as they were on release, and this collection is without a doubt the best offering available of a comprehensive look at the periods of Sarah's career. The tracklisting flows so smoothly it almost stands as an album itself, and in addition to stunning new artwork for the inlay, there are several collages that feauture beautiful photography, some of which has never been seen before.

While some may say this compilation leaves out masterpieces like "Harem" or "Captain Nemo" (or even her pioneer disco hit "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper"), this pros outweigh the cons. This is a seamless, stirring, and satisfying collection of the best of Sarah Brightman, and is as enjoyable for the seasoned fan as for the interested newcomer.

Also available is the accompanying spectacular DVD, 'Sarah Brightman - Diva: The Video Collection.'

Satisfy your curiosity and pick up this collection from the "Angel of Music" to hear some of the best of a career that has crossed nearly three decades, torn down barriers, defied standards (and surpassed them), and taken music in general to new heights since 1978. This is Sarah Brightman, the original and only Voice of an Angel.

Slipping quietly onto store shelves, "Diva:The Singles Collection" is a great companion piece to previous release "Classics". Sarah Brightman's talent has gone largely unignored by pop radio; however, her ethereal voice has gained her a huge following ( she sells out arenas...so somebody's gotta be listening!) worldwide. "The Singles Collection" is just that, a sort of "Greatest Hits/Best of/Most Loved" Brightman classics. Starting with "The Phantom of the Opera" and straight through till "Time To Say Goodbye", the songs here are a well appointed batch for those new to Sarah Brightman. Of course die-hards will always cry foul--some major "singles"--"Harem" and "Eden" come to mind but are missing off the track list. But never fear, the songs here are amazing.

Bought mine this morning here in town, thinking it was something far more than I actually expected. Once the CD was finished, I wasn't satisfied. Even after browsing through the creative & original song-credit & image booklet, I'm not fully impressed. As a matter of fact, my 4-star rating should be 3.5. The main photos have been over-desaturated and toyed with. This is a no-no when a new fan wants to get a good idea of what an artist's previous album artwork looked like. So, of course, this spoils the original photos of Sarah, and I wish they hadn't retouched them at all. I'm a computer graphics artist and have never used the same bloody design concept on the entire project. The "Collage" photos are stunning, but of course, are much smaller. These are found at front & back of booklet. I've never seen some of them before and must say, they are gorgeous! The cover art (front of booklet & back of tray card) is gorgeous too. Paper (printing & color) quality is excellent. I was expecting a cheaper quality paper, but this paper is glossy like the US edition of the Harem CD. Here's a few more points as to why this is not a 5-star item:

Track 13 (A question of honour) ends up being the radio edit instead of the album version from the "Fly" CD. That is a major disappointment because fans whom have never heard the album version may or most likely have liked it better. I certainly do. Why put the "Single" edition on this collection of really "normal" songs? I'm clearly unhappy about this.The collection itself consists of lots of my least-favorite Sarah Brightman songs, although I bought it for collecting purposes. Sound quality is excellent, as in any recent Sarah Brightman recording.

Am not really impressed with the "limited time only" bonus video, which you can only access through the Official Sarah Brightman website (by following directions & answering a question). The bonus video is NOT downloadable and the quality is not all that great anyway. The song is a bit camp as well, and I have heard it before on a rare recording I've got. But it doesn't interest me much. I didn't even watch half of the video. Instead, I browsed through the CD booklet again, while only listening to the music from the bonus video. My partner and I agree the bonus video is campy and not very flattering for Sarah, although it was done at the beginning of her career.

Lots of beautiful songs could've & should've been released on the CD, therefore, making it an ultimate collection of most-loved Sarah Brightman hits singles. Unfortunately, it didn't meet all my expectations. As I've already got all these songs on various Sarah albums & compilations, I will not have to play the CD. It's only been in my discman once, just to see for sure whether or not track 13 was the radio (single edit) or not.Captain Nemo and Eden are two songs which should've been on this collection. I was disappointed when i saw the short list of tracks. Very easily, this collection could've been on 2 discs with so many super tracks, no? The really good tracks which this CD has (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 14) are pretty and showcase Sarah's fantastic range. Personally, I adore track 8. Nella Fantasia has always been one of my favorite "newer" songs from Sarah. She beautiully brought it to life by adding such tender lyrics. Deliver me is deadly with the gospel choir. Have always loved this one. Pie Jesu is subtle and early in Sarah's career. Her voice was so pure & innocent back then, yet powerful enough to remember as a highlight track throughout her career.

Tracklist & Time:
01- Phantom of the Opera - 4:36
02- Music of the Night - 5:24
03- Pie Jesu - 3:56
04- Who Wants to Live Forever - 3:54
05- Tu Quieres Volver - 3:47
06- Just Show Me How to Love You - 3:58
07- Deliver Me
08- Nella Fantasia - 3:38
09- Scarborough Fair - 4:10
10- Whiter Shade of Pale - 3:38
11- It's a Beautiful Day - 3:56
12- What You Never Know - 3:24
13- A Question of Honour (Radio Edit) - 5:17
14- Time to Say Goodbye - 4:04

Other infos:
- Booklet is 20 pages
- Disc is gold with black roses graphics (where did we see gold Sarah Brightman discs before?
- Inside of tray card features a negative version of a Harem CD photo
- Photography: Simon Fowler, Ellen Von Unwerth, Esther Haase, Chiara Ferrau, Siew May Chin
- Design & Art Direction: Stylorouge
- Senior Director of Product Management: Tara Chiari

By buying this CD, you do support Sarah Brightman. I do recommend you buy it as a gift for new Sarah fans (your friends & family). Diehard fans will want this one, to add to their collections. It will go up in my library with the other Sarah Brightman music. I'm not sorry I bought it, but am happy to have something else from her in the meantime, while waiting for the next album to come out

Sarah Brightman's name became synonymous with Andrew Lloyd Webber as his one-time wife and muse two decades ago, but it was her voice that made her a star and would have made her a star with or without Webber. Yes, she became famous for singing his tunes early on, but it was her talent and undying love for her art that made her the biggest-selling soprano of all time. With such masterpiece albums as Eden, La Luna, Harem, Requiem, Surrender and Timeless/Time To Say Goodbye under her belt, this collection is compiled of the greatest songs from those and one Lloyd Webber cast album, Phantom Of The Opera. Brightman already has a devoted following, and if you play this CD for anyone who is not familiar with the superiority of Sarah's vocals, you are sure to add that many more to her fanbase. It's hard to say where to begin on this collection because all fourteen tracks are proven winners. Whether it's the splendiferous opening track of "Phantom Of The Opera," which features her duet partner Steve Harley, to the sensational, spine-tingling closer of "Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiró)," complimented by Andrea Bocelli, there's nothing not to like on this magnificent CD with its carefully chosen tracks. In between the opening and closing tracks, we are treated to phenomenal selections that include "Just Show Me How To Love You," "Deliver Me," "What You Never Know" and her gorgeous interpretations on such contemporary American fare as Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" to Procol Harem's 1967 masterpiece "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." Her Italian is perfection on "Nella Fantasia" while her unique interpretation of Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever" will knock you out. If you already are familiar with these tracks and want to savor them on one splendid disc with gorgeous liner notes and photographs, this one's for you. If you're a visionary and would like to take this magnificent journey one step further, I suggest the DVD companion that contains 20 performances, which include the aforementioned plus superb performances like "Ave Maria," "Anytime, Anywhere," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" and several more. To hear Sarah Brightman is diva divine. To see and hear Sarah Brightman is simply supreme.

My first reaction upon hearing the new Sarah CD would be yet ANOTHER compilation of old tracks was anger. How many times does producer Frank Petersen think we will blindly buy anything Sarah releases? It seems every other year or so there is another mish-mash of songs in new packaging. But then I thought, "it's titled a singles collection... it wouldn't be so bad to get a CD that would include rare single versions and long deleted tracks, remastered".

Well, I was wrong. The paltry track listing omits all of her upbeat singles, focusing more on easy listening. And not ONE new track for our money's worth.

Where is Starship Troopers? Captain Nemo? Eden? The River Cried? Him? Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again? Harem? Free? Amigos Para Siempre? How Can Heaven Love me? The Second Element?

How can this be called a singles collection when half of them are missing, and non-single tracks ARE included?

Shame on you Frank and Sarah... this is a rip-off.

Although this CD features no new songs that haven't already been released on CD, it is certainly worth getting. I have every Sarah Brightman CD but I didn't feel that getting "Diva" was a waste of money. It has a song from every era Sarah has done. "Pie Jesu" and "Phantom of the opera" from the Andrew Lloyd Weber time being the earliest and "It's a beautiful day" and "What you never know" from the Harem cd being the latest. The CD booklet is absolutely amazing. The paper quality and the picture quality is top-notch. There are a few rare pictures that are included. It's also great to have a lot of my favorite Sarah songs on one disc so I don't have to keep switching CDs to listen to all my favorites(although not all my favorite Sarah songs are included on Diva). If you buy this cd or the Diva DVD, you can go to her website- [...]and see some bonus footage.

There are some fans that don't understand why Diva is being released and Sarah's producer, Frank Peterson, explained a little why and I'd like to share it:

"Every so often artists and their record lables try to reach out to new demographics and new audiences by releasing retrospective collections.
There are many people out there who might think "Nella Fantasia" is an Il Divo original...people who might have never heard of Sarah Brightman, yet...
There are also many people who might have seen Sarah on TV, liked her music but didn't know what album to get. Best Of collections are aimed at exactly those people: potential NEW fans. Also, they serve as thee collection album that you would give to friends for Christmas, so, they can get an overall idea about your favourite artist."

He also stresses the different aspects on why "Diva" has been released:

"-To bridge the gap between "Harem" and Sarah's next album,
-to gain new fans,
-to make people aware of Sarah's almost 30-year career
-to remind people of Sarah's past hits and achievements,
-to turn as many people into Sarah Brightman fans as possible... "

-Taken from the official Sarah Brightman forum

So if you think you can use Diva to get people turned onto Sarah, or if you are an older fan, like myself, who needs every cd, or if you are a new Sarah Brightman fan, like the reviewer below me (Congratulations of finding Sarah Brightman!) this cd is a must!

I give 'Diva' a low score not because Sarah is not great but because there is nothing new here. If you have a Brightman collection, as I have, you will have heard most all that this CD has to offer. I wish I'd known that before I bought.

I think many of Sarah Brightman's fans tend to forget that there are new fans being introduced into Sarah's music and this CD would be the best thing for them. Grant it, this album doesn't really cover all the best songs that I love, but this still gives the listener a taste of what is to come from Sarah.

The photos inside the album should have been released with the other CD's Ms. Brightman has released. This album goes back to her Phantom days to now.

Now for getting the special video off of the official site it's fine, I thought it was neat to see it, however I know darn right well not everyone will be happy but at least Sarah and her team at actually trying to listen to her fans instead of going against them, like other artists do.....

This cd contains all the most relevant songs from Sarah B.All songs are masterpices,some are cover for other artist,some are not.
But, this cd could be a perfect gift from a Sarah fan to your coworkers in the office that dont' know Sarah.