Customer Reviews

Festival

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found Paola & Chiara's "Festival" album totally at random this afternoon while at Borders with my father. I was going through the international section when the coverart for the cd caught my eye. The first thing I thought of was the Russian duet Taty, and so I wondered what these girls would sound like. I know a little Italian--I can understand better than I can speak--and I figured I'd give them I shot. I'm a fan of pop music, mostly overseas stuff like Ayumi Hamasaki, Nichya, and Namie Amuro, but just because this is a "pop" cd, doesn't mean only pop fans can enjoy it. I listen to all kinds of music and I already can tell this will become a favourite of mine, up there with Rammstein's "Mutter", NIN's "The Downward Spiral", Dresden Dolls's self-titled cd and Regina Spektor.

I definitely don't regret randomly picking up this cd, both girls have such strong, solid voices that are shown magnificently in all their songs--my favourites so far have to be "Torna Domani", because of how powerful the vocals are, "Kamasutra" because it has a nice beat and I rather like it, and "Un Mondo Pieno D'Amore" because of the mood and atmosphere it creates. "Comin' Around" is even nice, and the girls sing in English.

Don't compare these girls to the popstars Americans are used to--these two surpass them by far. They actually have talent to back up their (gorgeous) looks.

FESTIVAL is the 4th album for italian sisters Paola & Chiara.
Following the success in summer 2000 of the single"Vamos a bailar", which saw the single emerge as a top 10 smash hit across Europe (Spain, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Greece) and notably hold the no. 1 sales and airplay position in Italy for an amazing 12 weeks, Paola & Chiara release in 2002 their new album, FESTIVAL.
The first sigle taken out has been Festival, the second one hey!.
Get this cd now!!!

This is still a great album, and I agree with the reviews (you do not need to know Italian to enjoy their musica).

However, this is a re-release of the album. The CD that I purchased a few years ago had 12 tracks. This one has 13. The Samba remix of Festival was added.

My advice to those who bought the original version of Festival: Download track 13, the Samba remix. You will enjoy it!

I downloaded this album mostly based on the review by Krist on April 13, 2005, and I'm so glad I did. I keep listening to it over and over; I'm entranced with the different beats and the sisters' voices. My favorite is their interpretation of Beautiful Maria Of My Soul (Bella Maria De La Alma) - not sure why the title has English words though, since it's sung entirely in Spanish. I also love the different remixes of Festival. I'm not really familiar with European music so this was a great way to jump in and get my feet wet. I plan on downloading more of their music. Love it!

Album points received/max = 49/60 = A-
12 trax: 5x12 = 60.
60/5 = 12, 12 stars = 1 letter grade.
49 stars, A-, bella, bella (both in looks & vocals)..

Breakdown:
Hey *****5
Muoio *****5
Un Mondo Pieno d'Amore ****4
Un Giorno di Sole Per Me ****4
Festival *****5
Torna Domani *****5
Kamasutra ***3
Comin Around ***3
Mai, Mai, Mai ****4
Beautiful Maria of My Soul ***3
Arrivederci, Addio ***3
Festival (Forgetta Mix) *****5

End thoughts: First off, I love P&C, for several years now P&C have been easily one of my favorite artist, the voices these sisters have...ahhh. Now for this album, which is their second, whats good is GREAT! The first half of the album is amazing, the 2ND half to me fails...which disappoints me. The english track, the sisters weren't ready for english yet. There voices were just too deep on that track. Kamasutra is a track that really hurt their rep in Italia, with a very racy video. If you put a mix as part of the album, then I'm going to score it as such. Luckily the mix of Festival is easily as good as the original as doesn't hurt the album score at all. PS...these girls are nothing like TATU, who said that?! P&C are 100x better than TATU, not even in the same world as TATU.

The production is pure enjoyment. You do not need to know Italian to enjoy it. There are other songs not in Italian. One that I recall in English and one in Spanish (there may be others, but that is what I recall). Another reviewer described their voice as like that of "angels.' I would hesitate to use such a term. The CD is an outstanding example of what current electronic enhancement tools are capable of producing. It is great, but you can't under the circumstances, in my opinion, make a statement about the sound of the singer's voices. The arrangement, the total production is a masterful achievement in sound and music! One thing I did catch happening in one song that is not comprehensible. A song is sung in Spanish from the movie "Mambo." "Bella Maria de Mi Alma" (Beautiful Maria of My Soul) and it is listed that way. However that title phrase is sung in their rendition with the words "bella Maria de mi amor!!!" Why that should have happened cannot but be guessed at. Were they in a hurry when recording it? Then said to hell with it, let's not do it again just to get the right word. The word is also in the the name of the song, my God!!! Anyway this song is still sung beautifully, this new song "Bella Maria de Mi Amor" done to the melody of "Bella Maria de Mi Alma." Ha! Ha!Just thought that I should note that since that song has great sentimental value for me. BUT, buy the CD. It is well worth it. I went back and bought another of theirs later.

This is one of the 4 albums from these two HOT AND CUTIE SISTERS PAOLA & CHIARA I`m a V.Big Fan and collector of this Italian Amazing Sisters in the whole world this Cd including the 2002 summer Hit song Festival Great song this album most of the song are Classical style and others got a spanish instrumentals ,Really it is one and 2nd great album from the last 3 albums ,I garantee ,,Ciao