Dive

Sarah Brightman (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002G18
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,176 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > A to B > Brightman, Sarah

Editorial Reviews

SARAH BRIGHTMAN Dive (1993 Taiwanese 15-track CD album picture sleeve + obi-strip - sealed!)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dive Into "Dive" -- It's absolutely mesmerizing..., September 18, 1999

By 

Angela D. Mitchell "Paranoid PR" (Hobbiton) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dive (Audio CD)

I bought this CD on a whim, having been a fan of Brightman and her clear coloratura soprano since her "Phantom" days. I loved her show tunes and arias but found it difficult to listen to them for hours -- NOT so with "Dive." Within an hour of receiving this CD, I was absolutely hooked. "Dive" is by far Brightman's best -- and most personal -- work. The entire CD paints a hypnotic portrait in colors grey, blue and green, a world seen through water -- sweet, bright, sensual, deftly layered music. Brightman gets the chance to play mermaid while showing off her pop roots (and after this I wish she'd return more often), and her sweet, clear voice and emotional delivery combine with the song-to-song flow of the album to make it a must-repeat experience. I've been playing it for a week straight and can't get enough. Every single track is a jewel, from the haunting title track, to the beautiful intricacy of "Second Element" or the sexy sensuality of "Once in a lifetime." A must for listeners to such diverse artists as Enya, Kate Bush, Enigma, or even Mike Oldfield.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dive Into Sarah, November 10, 2001

By 

Clarissa "MoonGoddess" (Ontario, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dive (Audio CD)

This, much like La Luna, is a concept album. But instead of the moon it's the sea. She talks about being friends with a whale and even touches on animal cruelty. But worry not if this sounds absurd. Sarah can do and sing just about anything and still make it beautiful and chilling...

There's sadly no operatic pieces here, as it's a departure into pop, just as Fly was to rock, but instead of today's bubblegum pop it leans moreso towards light dance, ethereal, and even some new age. It opens up with whale sounds in the background as Sarah reads from the book "Whale Nation" by Heathcote Williams on the intro to "Dive" which glides into one of my favorite tracks here, "Captain Nemo" with her voice in the ending chorus erupting powerfully thanks inpart to the help of The London Community Gospel Choir. Then comes The Second Element. There's actually two versions of this song with different lyrics, but The Second Element II has more of an acoustic sound. They're both wonderful, though...

I really don't understand why everyone seems to think that "A Salty Dog" is tiresomely simple and corny. It's probably one of the deepest and most emotional songs on here; the feeling just building as it progresses... Other favorites include her Kate Bush impression on Johnny Wanna Live, the sexy dance tune "Once In A Lifetime", the new agey "Island", the stormy dance track, "When It Rains In America", "By Now" (which my absolute favorite!), and "La Mer" with the panting backdrop of Enigma's Sadness and her spoken somewhat breathy words on the verses, such as: ancient unknown mammals, on a stormy sea, like Buddha in the water, a velvet energy...

I recommend this album full-heartidly. Next to La Luna this is my favorite CD by her. But be warned. It takes several listen to really appreciate, just because it's so different.

P.S. - I've seen some wild pictures by Sarah Brightman before but nothing prepared me for this. It's an innocent yet scandulous picture of her wearing (or not wearing) a near-translucent dress and golden cross! Only Sarah could get away with something like that.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dive Takes You Deep, October 11, 1999

By 

Armando M. Mesa (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dive (Audio CD)

I was somewhat surprised by Dive! I had read previous reviews that idicated it was more of a pop, soft-rock album versus her operatic past projects. I knew who Brightman was, yet never really paid attention to her music; Nice voice, but I don't care for opera. Also, I was curious and happened to come across this c.d. at a used record/ c.d. store. With the title of Dive and Brightman decked out in her mermaid diva make-up and outfit I assumed it was going to be another empty headed dance club music c.d. from an artist trying to explore other musical territories than her norm ( the likes of Crystal Waters, LaBouche, C.C. Peniston); Thank God it wasn't. It has a bit of an Enigma sound ( thanks to her producer-husband Frank Peterson who also co-worked with Michael Cretu of Enigma in the past).Dive consists of mostly ballads with quite a few mid to up tempo tracks.The track La Mer has a very strong Enigma sound (whispering lyrics done in the fashion of Sandra Cretu from Enigma) and anti-animal mistreatment and cruelty song Johnny Wanna Live ( which was done more in a hip hop fashion by Enigma's Sandra Cretu on her import album Paintings in Yellow). All in all the album is very captivating and flows just as peaceful as the ebb and tide of the ocean. What I like is the album's thematic continuity; The listener is never thrown out of the fantasy seaworld created by Brightman and producer Peterson. I highly recommend this album if you are an Enigma fan or just like good adult pop music; There's nothing sugar coated or "too hip" for anyone's taste on this album if they like to listen to artists experiment a little out of their general genre range...