Customer Reviews

Much More

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

 

 

This is one of my all time favorite albums. Betty tackles some of the best torch songs and pop standards, and makes them her own. Excellent versions of "Cry Me a River," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Autumn Leaves," among others. This woman can sing! I've bought copies for friends who have all since become fans.

this album is actually great... it has a similar feel to the albums: "chilren will listen" and "with one look" maintaining that sort-of jazzy relaxed feel...

the big difference is that here she's got a huge orchestra and her voice swells to match the orchestra...

so, this album is sort-of a mix of her previous albums in terms of style... it's got a combo of the big broadway dramatic vocal style and also the relaxed jazzy feel of her cabaret work...

the first song "much more" from the fantastiks is probably my favourite but the more subtle "it must be so" from candide is also excellent...

if you like betty buckley, then this album is absolutely essential... but if you are more curious about her, because of her theatrical work, and would like to buy just one cd, then check out her carnegie cd...

take care, tariq-kieran

A few years ago I sent my father one of those Omaha Steaks meat-combo gift packages. Later my sister informed me that he used the costly, prime burger patties to make meatloaf. I cringe whenever I think of that episode. And I think of that episode whenever I listen to Much More. Super-premium meatloaf.

I do listen to this recording fairly often. Well, I half-listen. Which is what this recording invites. Much more than any other among Betty Buckley's recordings, it's suited for playing in the background behind dinner conversation. It also works well for playing while working on the Sunday crossword. I have done the Sunday crossword with each of her recordings at some point; I can assure you, most of her others are simply too distracting. It's hard to think through your Hungarian historical figures when you're completely entranced by a recording.

Not this one though. And therein lies the problem. Betty Buckley, whatever one may think of her voice and her style, is uniquely compelling. One can't help but be driven to distraction by her. I remember clearly still, my introduction to Betty Buckley one night many years ago. I sat on the living room floor working on a high school paper with Johnny Carson on for background noise. Then came this voice that riveted my attention. It was Betty Buckley, and she was dressed like a cat. I was utterly distracted by that transfixing focus of hers when she sings.

But that's just it. On Much More she does not convey that kind of focus. I can't help feeling like, for the most part, her heart just wasn't in it. I'm not saying it's not good--in fact, I bet a whole lot of people would like this, her most accessible recording, better than the rest. It's just strangely workmanlike for Betty Buckley. And true believers who, like myself, long ago drank the Betty Buckley Kool-Aid, should be advised of that.

There are a few really exceptional tracks here. First is the well-placed title track, "Much More" from The Fantasticks. Buckley captures the innocence and longing beautifully well (and surprisingly, too, given that evil big-city woman vamp thing she's got going on the cover art). Then there's the one new (at the time) song, "Flight" by Craig Carnelia. This one especially stands out as more like the Betty Buckley she has evolved into over time. "Flight" is an ambitious art song that heralds the style of her following two albums and reminds you of the stylistic heights she can achieve. I should mention that she interprets "It Must Be So" in a similar vein, and I cannot escape the sense that she enjoyed recording these two songs more than the others. "Come Rain or Come Shine" has grand and ironic orchestration behind it that has to make you smile. But again, it strikes me that she's just not as involved in the song as one expects her to be.

The songs are mostly good fun, no doubt. Many of them have been part of my own shower-repertoire for years. It's telling though that "Laura" and "Cry Me a River", pleasant though they are here, don't appeal to me as much as the classic Julie London recordings in 1955. Rarely do I find Buckley coming up short of another artist's version.

Oh, and per my new and inexplicably rigid policy, the review loses an extra star because she recorded a really lame Disney song that goes on and on about the moon and your eyes and some such drek. Sorry Betty. It's the policy. My hands are tied.

So yes, it's fun, it's easy to listen to. And several people I know like it best among her recordings. It's got a lot of good songs and nice arrangements. Plus, she belts quite a lot on a few of the tracks just like you want her to because she can. Just don't go looking for lots of substance here. Relative to her more recent recordings, this is not a substantial collection. Remember, this is not steak au poivre flambe. It's just unusually high-quality meatloaf.

In this album, the first (and last) of Ms. Buckley's that I have bought, she does a splendid vocal impersonation of thousands of fingernails screeching across thousands of chalkboards. Her voice is shrill and unpleasant, resembling nothing quite so much as a rabid cat being torn apart by a powerdrill.

Please. Stop this woman before she sings again.