Customer Reviews

Power of Love: The Best of Jennifer

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

 

 

With some people, It's easy to get carried away into thinking that The Power Of Love is the only good song on it since it was jennifer's only big hit in Britain but that's just pure ignorance. The other songs are fantastic and deserved to have been bigger hits. I think it's fair to catagorise them into three genres. There are the poppy songs such as Ring Of Ice (from her first album) the Elton John duet Fames Of Paradice, Love Is The Language Of The Heart and Destiny. They all are great pop songs; Destiny in particular. It sounds very fresh and has a great chorus. Then there are the more rocky tracks, I Come Undone sounds very dramatic in the chorus..."With a flash of your burning eyes..." There's Live Wire which is similar to I Come Undone, and Down To You. Then of couse there are the ballads. The best one, apart from the obvious!) is Angel. To me it sounded a little like George Micheal's Careless Whisper. Similar arrangement and quite dreamy at times. If Your Ever Gonna Lose My Love is second best to Angel and much more relaxing to listen to than the Power Of Love. Pleasure is perhaps the most dreamy of them all. Hero Of a Fool is not as good. Call My Name and Now That Its Over are both qute similar to each other. The remaining duets, Same Heart with Micheal Bolton and Till I lLoved You with opera guy Placido Domingo are both great! The former is dancey with a good beat and synth arrangement . Till I Loved You is, well romantic with a great sax solo! All in all, a great collection for any 80s fan!

It has to be said straight away that "The Power of Love", as performed by Jennifer Rush, is a masterpiece, a serious contender for best popular music recording of all time. If you have heard any other artist's version - Celine Dion or whoever - do not imagine you know the song. It is Jennifer's own and anyone else attempts it at their peril. It demands a vocal range and breath control that is rare and precious, in addition to a sensitivity for the lyrics.

But what of the other tracks on this CD? What indeed? They are a sad disappointment. Simplistic lyrics and uninspired melodies but worst of all, arrangements that are monotonous, on-the-beat efforts that are more suited to rap songs or Bavarian oompah-oompah music. The duet with Elton John is particularly embarrassing, with its "walk, talk" rhyming, "yeah, yeah" chorus and meagre tune.

It is a tragedy that such an immensely talented singer has not had better material and more sensitive arrangements. Still, the title track ensures her place in pop history.

Well, there's a lot to like in this collection, and some of her best work is certainly here, but wait, where on earth is "Madonna's Eyes"? That's the song that really established her sound, it is totally magnetic and just has to be there.

And with "When I Look In Your Eyes" one of her most fun dance songs is conspicuously absent - a song that could give Whitney Houston a run for her money, and a highlight of the excellent "Passion" album together with the equally absent torch song "You're my One and Only". Surely the boring and generic "Now that it's over" didn't deserve to be there instead - then I'd rather have the upbeat "Love Get Ready"! Another wonderful song from "Passion" that's missing here is "My Heart is Still Young", but the sparkling "Same Heart" and "Keep All The Fires Burning Bright" are rightly included.

I am so glad that "Hero of a Fool" is there though - this is the hidden gem from her fantastic "Movin" album, a truly beautiful piece that never got the appreciation it deserves. My favorite, together with the mesmerizing "Destiny", her absolute best song, no contest. The smoking "Live Wire" is another magnificent song from that album, as is the roaring "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love", so even the ultra-cool "Silent Killer" had no room in this collection.
And oh yeah, the "Power of Love" is of course a great song too (even when yelled by Celine) and surely her best-known piece, but it's just not "Destiny".

From her first album I would replace the somewhat repetitive "Ring of Ice" with "25 Lovers", but both are easily found in other selections. "Surrender" and "I See a Shadow" are great too and less common, as is "Come Give Me Your Hand", yet neither should have come close to pushing "Madonna's Eyes" off the list. Overall this was her most balanced album with nary a weak song.

The *much* weaker albums "Heart over Mind" (eminently forgettable) and "Wings of Desire" (nice: "Pleasure", "Angel") are un-deservingly over-represented - they should definitely have scrapped "Down to You" and "Love is the Language".

Still, this is a great collection that has many of her best songs and leaves out a large amount of fluff. Very much recommended. Just make sure you get "Madonna's Eyes" somewhere else, trust me! And if you like "Power of Love", do give that "Passion" album a good look, it is closest in style.

Plus you get the Placido Domingo duet thrown in for good measure - though I prefer Michael Bolton in "Same Heart", that's just a great match for her voice, I would have liked them to do more together. And Elton always was soo much better alone than as a "flaming bird of paradise" ... but that song is almost the only uptempo piece here, the focus is clearly on the ballads and torch songs, which may explain some of the omissions.