Customer Reviews

Ruas (2 CD Set)

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

 

 

I was very pleasantly surprised with this album. Two CDs (!) packed with varied and stylish music. I have not known Misia before so I have not had any expectations but after creating an mp3 mix of this album with some other recently bought records I was instantly drawn to Misia pieces each time I heard her. A charismatic voic and rendition. Misia and this album is a true discovery for me. The other reviewer complains it is not fado. Who cares? It is simply powerful music. Recommended.

I have been a Misia fan for quite sometime. I deeply admire her attempt to stretch the artistic boundaries of Fado.
Unfortunately,in her latest album she has taken a road that is not artistically convincing.

Do not get me wrong: there are many jewels in the first CD of the set. Especially the first and last tracks are full of expression and sound sincerely haunting.

However, her reading of a morna (Cape Verdian song, track two)is totally unconvincing. Her singing is forced, and her use of morna mannerisms (so wonderful in the voice of a Cesaria Evora) sounds too learned.

The same can be said about the second CD of the set. Misia sings some tracks well (such as the rock-and-roll ones) but that is not the kind of music I want to hear when I buy her CDs. The opening track is hautingly beautiful, but cannot compare to a rendition by a Turkish singer. Her most disappointing renditions are of the two songs in Spanish. Though the Mexican track is sang with proper style, she pronounces many cs and zs (not all) with Spanish accent. Her flamenco track is, like her morna in the first CD, a disaster.

I look foward to hearing her next CD, but I will skip this one (or upload some tracks from disc one onto my Ipod).