Customer Reviews

Movie Song Book

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

 

 

Okay, I'm like every other Texas fan...I've been listening to Sharleen Spiteri rock the house for the last twenty years. I feel that I know her voice well enough to single her out in Grand Central Station! So, I was delighted with her first solo effort, "Melody".

When I heard the news regarding Songbook, I thought, "An album of soundtracks? In a Lady Gaga kinda decade? Wow, what a ballsy chick!" Well, I really don't share Sharleen's love of movie soundtracks but I bought the cd anyway...well, because....that's what fans do.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Ms. Spiteri has the mondo-sized cojones that she does!:) The album is killer! The music is lush and as always, Sharleen's voice is exquisite. HOWEVER, what stole my heart is the range of songs that she choose and how she presents them. This is no ordinary cover album! She puts her own spin and personality into each and every selection. She's coy and tongue-in-cheek with, "Pretty Woman" and "What's New Pussycat?". Something for the girls.:) "If I Can't Have You" is better than the original (by far) and "Many Rivers To Cross" is just beautiful! "God Bless The Child", "This One's From The Heart" and "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" all make me want to pour myself a dry martini (shaken, not stirred) and hang out in a piano bar. But my favorite track is "Sound of Silence". I've always loved that song and once wrote the lyrics in my journal in a moment of teenage angst. Sharleen Spiteri's rendition made me remember that moment in vivid detail. I swear, if I didn't mind poverty, I'd quit my job and follow her tour around the country shouting, "More, MORE!"

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't an annoying pop album that you shove into the car cd player and bebop on down the road. No, this is a grown-up's album, best enjoyed on surround-sound, sipping a glass of wine with candle-light (lover/bubble-bath optional). Any less of an atmosphere will rob "Movie Songbook" of it's greatest effect! Buy this album...or,trust me...one day you'll think, "This is a PERFECT moment for Songbook! Why didn't I buy it when I had the chance?" :)

Sharleen Spiteri's 2008 solo debut "Melody" was heavily influenced by the sixties; Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey, and Motown especially. She says she found it hard going back to writing Soft Rock songs with her band Texas, and so we get the follow-up which is a Phil Ramone-produced album of covers of songs from movies.

It is a hit and miss affair really, Yvonne Elliman's "If I can't have you" is a bit soft and sounding older than the original, while "Xanadu" was bad enough the first time around.

When it takes off is when she does lush Jazz numbers; "God bless the child", "Between the bars", or "This one's from the heart", or when she takes a few liberties like a Rockabilly reworking of David Bowie's "Cat people", or a bouncy Folk reworking of Berlin's "Take my breath away".

Standout has got to be the simply beautiful Bossa Nova "Windmills of your mind", alone worth the price of this otherwise barely average CD.

I agree with the first reviewer and i should have read it twice before spending money on this disappointing second solo album. Sharleen Spiteri has one of the most beautiful voices of the british pop still she sabotages herself entirely with this new album. Not only the choice of songs is takky but the she sings like she thinks she's Marylyn Monroe sighing to JFK. I only gave it 2 stars because of her past wonderful records.

After the incredible 2008 release "Melody" I had high hopes for this follow up. It is unfortunately very uneven in quality and choice of material. "What's New Pussycat" belongs to Tom Jones and should be left at that. "Cat People" made me glad it's not the '80's. The version of "Pretty Woman" is produced in a style that brings to mind the weaker moments on American Idol. The surprise has to be "Xanadu" on which Sharleen manages to update the production and make it her own. "Windmills Of Your Mind" works because it puts her back in that '60's Dusty Springfield style which she can handle extremely well. This CD was an interesting experiment but it doesn't hold together very well.