Customer Reviews

Don't Ask

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

One of Australia's best hidden secrets is Tina Arena. She has a unique, powerful voice, which has great range in terms of what is sung on this album. In fact a lot of other singers have covered many of Tina's songs. Most people know Tina for her huge hit "Chains" which was the most added song to American radio in history, yet it failed to make a huge impact on the chart. Her haunting vocals and emotional depth bring this, and other songs alive. This album, DONT ASK, was released in Australia in 1994, and in the US in 1996. While "Chains" was the only hit in the US, Australia had quite a few other singles. "That's The Way A Woman Feels", "Show Me Heaven", "Heaven Help My Heart" and others were hits overseas. "Chains" is a song about being trapped in a commitment, a relationship. "Heaven Help My Heart" is an honest portrayal of someone who makes bad choices in love, and a longing to find that perfect somebody. "Sorrento Moon" is about remembering love. The ballad "Wasn't It Good" is a song which remembers the relationship, sure it had problems, but wasn't it good? "Show Me Heaven" really shows off Tina's excellent vocals, she will give Celine a run for her money anyday. Its a beautiful song. "Love Is The Answer" is a dance song about love being the answer to the problems of the world. "Greatest Gift" is about love being the best gift in the world to give and to receive! "That's The Way A Woman Feels" is a fun dance song about the lengths a woman will go for her man. Those are just naming the best tracks, although all the songs on here are very good! Overall DONT ASK is one CD you will want to listen to! Come discover Tina Arena, and her beautiful voice and music.

This is a fantastic CD. It is not very often that I enjoy every song on a CD. This one has my vote. Tina Arena is definitely an up-in-comer. Her voice is clear and the music is original. I was watching VHI one day and "Chains" came on. It stopped me dead in my tracks and captivated me. I went out that day and bought the CD "Don't Ask." It remains one of my all time favorite CDs. I wish she would make more.

In 1995, I heard an amazing artist execute a stunning live performance of her huge hit "Chains." I quickly learned the artist was Tina Arena, and urged on by a combination of this phenomenal song and performance with my love of all things Australian, I quickly ran out and bought the single and album. Having had a hand in the writing as well as lending her phenomenal voice, Don't Ask is a great introduction to a worldwide audience of this awesome artist. Filled with power, emotion, and fun tunes, Tina Arena delivers a top-notch release from Down Under.

The album starts off on a sultry and rockin' attitude vibe with "Chains," an incredible vocal tour de force with a maturity and depth matched by its driving rhythm. More of your standard guitar and drum pop song, "Heaven Help My Heart" is filled in with Tina's great voice and harmonies. "Sorrento Moon (I Remember)" takes on a Latin salsa flavor and shows a softer side of Tina's voice. A beautiful strings and piano ballad, I would like to hear a bit more emotion and range with this vocal showcase piece; the sultry and jazzed-up ending shows what the song could have evolved into. "Message" is a sultry funk trip with a Sade tip that pushes the power of Tina's voice to the front where you have to face it head on, jaw dropped and mesmerized. "Show Me Heaven" brings us another song that matches the power of Tina's voice with powerful orchestrations; this is an emotional power ballad that will have you on your feet, swaying and singing along. Another standard pop tune with a bit of r&b flavor, "Love is the Answer" is executed well but could have used an infusion of emotion to completely fill it out. A syncopated orchestral masterpiece, "Greatest Gift" is matched in orchestral beauty by an emotional and deep Tina and uplifting backing vocals. "That's the Way a Woman Feels" is classic power pop at its best and is a feel-good toe-tapper. A fitting follow-up, "Be A Man" is another power pop song with a bit more attitude and strut in its stride. We conclude with "Standing Up," a feel-good, hopeful organ and guitar strummin' pop tune that is inspirational, but it could have used a push from Tina's voice to put it over the edge and really get you ready to face whatever the world throws at you.

Overall, I give Don't Ask 4 stars. "Chains" and the amazing experience I had discovering and researching that song and Tina earn this release a special place in my heart. I will admit that I was somewhat disappointed that the power of "Chains" wasn't filtered more through the album. However, there's no denying Tina's talent and her amazing voice. I am happy to have found this musical experience and am proud to have it in my collection.

As a recommendation, fans of mid-90s pop with a slight European flair will enjoy the orchestrations, while fans of powerful female voices will surely appreciate Tina's talent. Fortunately, Tina is her own talent, and I don't really have anyone to compare her with - she just has to be heard to believe. Listen to these samples, then imagine them sounding 10 times better with the actual CD - that's what you'll get. And I suppose it's a good thing that there is a wide range of song styles here; an entire album of "Chains" would have been rather tiresome (tho I never do tire of that song).

Anyone who can sing as well live as Tina did at the World Music Awards with that much power and emotion gains my immediate respect. While the release might have been a little less than I was hoping for, Don't Ask is a great introduction to this talented woman and makes us look forward to future releases.

Tina has got to be one of my favourite female vocalists along with Celine Dion and Lara Fabian.
She delivers pop songs in an incredibly powerful way.
Plus, she's half italian, just like Lara Fabian, so there is a little pride in name her that way...
Her first major worldwide release wasn't supervised by great names in the business, but the final product blew me away.
First off she co-writes all of the 11 tracks (the superb Peter Asher-produced cover of Maria Mckee's SHOW ME HEAVEN being the one exception), which is not that common for such a great vocalist.
You can feel her emotions run free on such tracks as CHAINS (here on this CD also on a club mix version), HEAVEN HELP MY HEART - great ballad, haven't listened one like this for a long time - or the italian-influenced slowtempo of SORRENTO MOON.
WASN'T IT GOOD sounds a lot olike a musical show tune, THAT'S THE WAY A WOMAN FEELS has a country tinge sound and BE A MAN showcase she can dare to step into rock-driven music if only she wanted to.
Buy this, you'll be nicely surprised.

It's downright refreshing to hear an obvious diva release an upbeat international debut instead of an album of predictable ballads. This, was actually Arena's second album - the first, "Strong As Steel", a domestic release, featuring a bunch of faceless numbers plus was a critical disaster which severly ruined her reputation as a serious artist, but did manage to get her back in the spotlight (after a stint on a children's song and dance show called Young Talent Time) giving her a number two hit, if I'm not mistaken...

As such, "Don't Ask", produced by David Tyson of Allanna Myles and Amanda Marshall fame, is a diverse though highly uneven effort which, during it's high points, can show one how good Tina Arena could get on a sunny day!

No one quite anticipated the first single, "Chains" - a tour-de-force Soul trip, if ever I heard one, with a gorgeous slow-burn musical/vocal arrangement, delivered with intense conviction by Ms. Arena. After listening to this delicious track, most expectations soared sky high and many assumed that Tina Arena was going to be a white Diana Ross/Whitney Houston combine! "Sorrento Moon", a delicious multi-layered Latin flavoured track, about the innocence of first love smashed all those hopes but just showed one how diverse Arena could get! "Greatest Gift" was the masterpiece of "Don't Ask" which sailed by most music critics, un-noticed simply because it was too unusual a song to grasp in just one sitting. What is obviously a lyric for a traditional ballad is transformed into a track of unusual beauty thanks to an extremely kinky vocal and musical arrangements - words alone cannot describe this masterpiece and I don't want to spoil the surprise if one has not heard it, it's more of an experience, and one has to experience it first hand to get the full effect! "Message" is an extremely bouncy funk ride with a fabulously controlled vocal which evokes vocal memories of UK Soulmeistress Sade and finally a gorgeous widescreen cover of "Show Me Heaven" - written by the fabulous and equally talented Maria McKee (another multi-octave singer) - sounds suspiciously like a tribute to Linda Ronstadt. Indeed, the production, which sounds radically different from McKee's original, looks like it's walked straight out of Ronstadt's "Cry Like A Rainstorm (Howl Like The Wind) CD, which is no surprise as Peter Asher, Linda Ronstadt's producer, produced it!

Unfortunately, it goes all downhill from this point onwards! "Heaven Help My Heart" is a smooth sounding though forgettable semi-power ballad (compare it with Arena's own "Sixteen Years" and you'll know what I'm talking about), "Wasn't It Good" is an intimate ballad which attempts to showcase Arena's Musical Theatre calibre vocal chords but is let down by some unclear songwriting. "Love Is The Answer" is, at best, childishly naive as it provides a simplistic solution for the planet's many problems. "That's The Way A Woman Feels" is simple generic British Power-Pop, as is "Be A Man", which reduces the role of a man in a relationship to being a sperm producing sex machine and "Standing Up" sounds suspiciously like a song that has been done one too many times before.

Miss Arena's vocals, though, are something else, altogether. This singer has what it takes to rank in the list of the best female singers of all time - she's right up there with the likes of Judy Garland, Linda Eder, Barbra Streisand and Elaine Paige. Technically she's perfect ... her enunciation, phrasing, breathing are beyond reproach, plus she has a fabulous range and incredible power which can match Celine Dion's - that she only goes there when necessary is a testament of her fabulous vocal skills - she cannot be directly compared to just one singer, however, but I shall try to give you an idea of what Arena sounds like: Take Debbie Gibsons voice and use it as the base. add generous helpings of Mariah's range, Celine and Whitney's power, Lea Salonga's sweetness, Linda Ronstadt and Barbra's refineness, add twice the dose of Olvia Newton John's sultriness and you will probably get someone that sounds like Elaine Paige's teen sister in the mix - and that's exactly what Arena sounds like, according to Time magazine! Only a classy singer like Tina Arena could get away with a line like "Just lay down and give it to me" in "Be a Man". Much of this album's personality and class, comes from Arena's splendid vocals, which make the bland songs at least paletable!

In conclusion, this album is a mixed affair, the wide range of styles is admirable but there are pearls and there is paste! Fortunately, Arena's vocals sweetens the paste and make the album an enjoyable listening experience - though there's no doubt that much work is needed (especially in the songwriting and arrangements) to come up to the level of a 5 star album. All in all, not a bad international debut - certainly better than what Whitney, Celine, Mariah, Linda and Lara have come up with, when comparing debut albums!

Everyone has their own taste in music. I have a very very wide range in music and what it takes over all is just pure good songs, the beat, lyric's and hopefully an over all just plain very good whole CD. I Absolutely Love This CD!! And her voice really stands out as pure beauty in my book. I highly urge to sample some of the songs and if you like her style of music, YOU WILL Be Missing Out by not picking up this CD!

This singer doesn't receive half the recognition she truly deserves. Her album "Don't ask" displays tina's soulful, passionate voice not to mention her outstanding vocal range."In Deep" has a more mature sound yet nevertheless the feeling and emotion in her work is not lost. Hopefully Tina will continue to do what she does best!!!!!!

Tina Arena has one of the most beautiful voices, its unfortunate that the music industry in north america hasn't given this woman a chance, shes simply amazing. On DONT ASK, Tina Arena showcases her talent, while re-emphasizing her ability to pen a song about real feelings and intimate struggles. This album is just one example of Arena's ability as a vocalist to inject just enough feeling and heart without overpowering the beautifully simplistic message of her song. Standout tracks include CHAINS, HEAVEN HELP MY HEART, SHOW ME HEAVEN, WASNT IT GOOD and THATS THE WAY A WOMAN FEELS, although all of the tracks are excellent. As a sample of what Tina Arena has to offer, here is a cd that won't disappoint, no matter what your mood. There is no doubt that we'll be hearing more from this talented Australian artist as her star keeps rising.

A polished performance, a tight sound, from a seasoned performe

As a fellow reviewer who's mainstay is music mentioned to me, "This is Tina's best work, get it!" And I agree wholeheartedly. Ashame she cannot get more exposure into the American market. Great gritty vocals. "Chains" is an excellent song with clear resolutions of orchestrations as it builds sensually and boldly. A great listen.