Customer Reviews

Silent Awakening

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD has a different feeling than Shores of Avalon but continues Malia's beautiful message of communion with the Earth and the Divine. Every song is my new favorite song and her voice is pure magic. Love it!! Perfect for inspiring or setting the mood for a womyns circle or meditation group.

This album has to be the single most moving and emotional recording by any artist in years. I first happened upon Tina with "Shores of Avalon" and with the follow-up album, I was a little nervous to say the least. I didn't think she could top that CD or its title track, but she has.

If for no other song on the album (all of which are stellar), buy this one for the song "ALL ROADS." This is an utterly perfect piece of songwriting. It, like most of Tina's music, is acoustic guitar based. There are a few other instruments softly intermingled with the guitar on this song, but the music fades into the background and the main instrument that can be heard is Tina's etherial, chill-inducing vocal. At about 3 1/2 minutes into the song, just when you think it can't possibly get any better, equally silver-piped Sasha Butterfly joins Tina on the final chorus with a weaving, intertwined, harmonic alternate lyric and vocal that when it is joined with Tina's lyric and vocal is enough to make you stop in your tracks and burst into tears.

Seriously people, BUY THIS CD. NOW. No...NOW.

We bought 2 of her CD's. One is for my car, one is for my husband's and in the house we have her on our iPod. We LOVE Tina Malia!!!!!!!!! I'm from Aspen, and love nature. All of her songs remind me of home.

How can you top brilliance? This is how. What a wonderful career Tina Malia has in front of her. Shores of Avalon was an absolutely beautiful work of magic that you would think would never be topped....well guess what? She did it. What a fan I am and always will be. I am so impressed with you Tina Malia. Can't wait to see you in person.

Robert DeAngelis Author/Oblivious Sensitive

Tina Malia is one of THE best female vocalists of our time. I'm waiting for her 3 new albums being cut this year! She is a brilliant song writer, she plays the guitar, AND her voice sounds like an angel. This album is awesome.

A joyous aural journey of heart-felt and refined ethereal lyricism and melodies. Perfect for yoga/meditation, to chill in traffic, etc. More please...

Just discovered Tina Malia on [...], which is also connected to Will Ackerman and my former beloved Half Moon Bay CA. Tina is from Northern California and plays quite a few festivals there, and has a number of great videos on YouTube. I can't tell you enough how wonderful this CD is, and I am so grateful for the mp3 downloads for instant listening pleasure. I will probably leave this one playing all night long! Sweet Dreams, Peaceful Heart, I am sure. I need that! I wish I could "awaken from the dream within a dream" she describes in her songs. "The Silent Awakening" is silent no more, praise be to God for us all...

Two favorites: "Walking Home" and "The Silent Awakening." I also love "Heal This Land" which can also be seen on YouTube as a "music promo." She sings the way I dance; like birds on wing, whirling and wheeling in the wind to soar to heavens and float back down again, coming in for a landing just to take off again. Her voice lifts us up to "Must Be Heaven..." now. And How.

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Update 3 years later, and still listening. "In Sunlight" has become a favorite with hammered dulcimer and more.

Tina Malia's voice is one of the strongest and most flexible instruments in her repertoire. It is ethereal and "perfect" in every way. I've never said that about anyone before, but it's true here! I would give her music and voice 10 stars if I could.

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Review from CD baby with a list of all the instruments used:

[...]

Tina's newest release, The Silent Awakening, is her sophomore album of original material. It follows in the footsteps of her first album with multi-faceted world instrumentation, yet features a deeper rhythmic flavor with African percussion, marimbas, cajon, Indian clay drums, kalimbas and drum kit, as well as piano, violin, cello, guitars, pedal steel, hammer dulcimers, and lush vocal arrangements. Her cast of musicians includes some of the greatest players in the fertile west coast music scene including: Greg Ellis of Vas on percussion, Darol Anger on violin, Robert Powell on guitars, pedal steel and dobro, Sasha Butterfly on vocals, MJ Greenmountain from Hamsa Lila on percussion, and many more. Tina herself plays piano, guitars, marimba and hammer dulcimer, and once again proves herself a talented multi-instrumentalist, writer and producer.

The Silent Awakening is a journey of a woman's coming of age; the story of a girl as she wakes from a dream of being lost in a lonely world and finds herself in a palace of the earth's delights with the sky as her limit. Inspirational, uplifting, magnetic and moving, the Silent Awakening accentuates the pure and enchanting, as well as the deep and luxurious tones of Tina's magnificent voice.

I've heard a lot of people give her bad reviews for having a wispy little voice that never changes pitch, so all her songs sound the same. Frankly, I think that wispy voice is a good thing. She reminds me of more contemporary singers who just sing and don't try to make a big show out of what an epic set of pipes they have. Frankly, I think Tina Malia's music has more heart to her music than most of the more popular artists of her genre. To me, that passion makes up for anything her voice might lack. I rank her right up there with Loreena McKennitt and Celtic Woman as one of my favorite contemporary artists to date. The lyrics in her songs and the notable feeling she puts into each song says so much about her as an artist and delivers an outstanding product that I'm happy to have in my library now.

The first album I bought was Shores of Avalon, I was a little nervous because I had only heard one song from the album and had never heard of her before. I dislike wasting money on something I think I might not really enjoy, seeing as I make so little money to begin with, but I decided to take a gamble and have since bought this product plus her third album, Jaya Bhagavan. After listening to that first album, I just had to snatch up these other two. But this one, The Silent Awakening, is by far her best work to date. I think that says a lot considering, in my opinion as a self proclaimed audiophile, there isn't a single thing to dislike about any of her songs. She's an enchantress who makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I listen to her music.

So, given all that, you must be wondering why I only gave this album a 4 star review? Simple, really, it's a little TOO soothing! I'll listen to her music when I'm just trying to unwind and maybe enjoy a good book a the end of a hard day at work, and the music keeps rocking me to sleep! At least I know where to turn when I'm suffering insomnia, yeah?

If you're reading this review because you aren't sure if it's worth it, I say go for it. If you like this 'type' of music, you won't be disappointed. Tina Malia is one of the great ones of her craft.