Customer Reviews

Songs of Love & Loss

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I almost passed on this CD because of the sound samples which I thought weren't very good. But I'm glad I didn't. This is an amazing collection of songs. I won't bother giving you the song by song rundown since other reviewers have covered them quite well. But I will say that the production of the CD is also simply amazing. The sound quality is so crystal clear and undistorted that I thought I was listening to one of my SACD's.

It's no secret to Tina Arena fans that she has, to a great part, "moved on" from making pop records. It has been something like 6 years since her last english language CD. In the interim she has released a few CD's in french, and she has moved from the studio to the stage starring in musicals like Chicago. I am, however, a non-french speaking fan who does also own her french CD's, and I often wonder where, since she is Sicilian, are the Italian language CD's (move over, Laura Pausini).

But as this CD played I thought of the 15 years I have been been in love with her voice (the silk in her voice just turns me to Jello). I realized that it really doesn't matter if her CD's are in english or french, or if they are made up of cover songs or gut wrenching originals about her life. Because the star here is actually her voice and what she can do with it. She truly does have, in my humble opinion, the voice of the century.

Buy this CD. It has been in my player since I bought it. And I am about to push play again.

Prime Cuts: I Only Want to Be With You, The Look of Love, So Far Away

In a perfect world Tina Arena would have been a superstar with a cardinal prominence in the league of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. Her expressive vocals has the ability not only to soar to great heights, but she has a way of incurring an array of emotions especially in the way she croons a ballad. Fortunately, in her native land of Australia, this lady's talent has had not been overlooked. This is evidenced by the fact that "Songs of Love and Loss" has charter a career high for this diva when it debut at the ARIA album charts at a lofty number 3 position. According to the album's liner notes this sixth studio CD s a labor of love for Arena. Carefully chosen by the lady from the vault of popular songs from the 60s and 70s performed by women artists (save for 2 originals), these paeans deal primarily with the falling ins and outs of relationships (hence the album title). Backed by London Studio Orchestra conducted by Simon Hale, there is a lush and classy gloss that makes Arena's reflection of love's ups and downs even more romantic and nostalgic.

Of the two originals, "Woman" which first appeared on Arena's "Don't Ask" deals with the social discrimination ladies faced without giving in to overt male-bashing. Though thematically "Woman" fits the tenor of the disc, it is a melodic jigsaw without much of a structure and like many modern pop ballads it falls into the trap of trying to be hip without being memorable. "Until," a brand new track coming from the pens of Arena and Mark Backwell, is more promising with its distinct drum loops with Arena sounding like Kelly Clarkson in her "Breakaway" days.

Nevertheless, the cynosure is in the covers. Arena lounges with class as she kicks up her heels with a jazzy take on Dusty Springsfield's "The Look of Love." Springsfield's repertoire is reprised with Arena's take of the late singer's "I Only Want to Be with You"--this time this Aussie diva has taken a more languid approach dressing up this song about love's yearning in a dreamy overall. While the gentle pickings of the acoustic guitar at the start of Carole King's "So Far Away" adds an air of homesickness enhancing the song's lyrics poignantly. Digging into Diana Ross and the Supremes' discography, Arena has come up with two of their biggest hits. Unfortunately, Arena sounds so eerily close to Diana Ross' phrasing of "Do You Know Where You're Going" that it almost makes this Aussie's version redundant. More innovative is Arena's take of "Love Hanger:" the responsive backing vocals and the doo-wop beat bring out an R&B sass that is quite seductive.

As with almost any cover CDs, comparisons are inevitable especially when these are popular music's most played songs of yesteryears. It may work even better for Arena if she had chosen a couple of lesser known chestnuts: maybe a track or two from Australian women artists might have made this CD even more interesting. Nevertheless, as with all of Arena's albums, the highlight has always been the lady's voice: she has such an engaging vocal presence that is hard to tune out. And that's a compliment few are worthy of.

Tina Arena has been one of my favourite artists for years now, her voice is exceptionally brilliant, it's so powerful and clear, because of this, it doesn't matter in the slightest whether she does her own material or whether she does covers.

On "Songs Of Love & Loss" (which was originally going to be an album of Dusty Springfield songs) she covers some of her favourite songs by some of her favourite female artists and (due to her record label wanting her to cover it) R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts." Tina's kept most of the songs on here close to the original versions, "Love Hangover" and "I Only Want To Be With You" being the exceptions, "Love Hangover" is almost like a completely different song (for the better) and "I Only Want To Be With You" has been slowed down which makes the song sound very sad. "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," "So Far Away," "The Windmills Of Your Mind" and "Until" are defintely the best songs on the album and all show Tina's very powerful voice off to a fine art. Her version of Kate Bush's "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" has surpassed the original in my opinion, as has her version of Lulu's "To Sir With Love" and "Do You Know Where You're Going To" by Diana Ross.

I just find that like Susanna Hoffs, Tina Arena's voice sounds perfect singing either original material or cover versions. The album does not disappoint in any way at all, I'm looking forward to "Songs Of Love & Loss Vol. 2" :)

So, i'm a huge Tina fan and went to both Melbourne concerts recently, supporting this album. When i heard about this Deluxe Edition, there was no doubt i would buy it. I read that the bonus disc featured 5 live records of classic Tina songs, newly/freshly orchestrated. Thinking back to the concert, i remember that the added strings on some tracks didn't do much for the original, and some didn't even have strings. Now after listening to the bonus disc, i was wrong. The songs were totally different to what i had experienced on the night (perhaps she only performed these versions just for the recording at another show). They do sound fresh and are beautifully recorded. The strings do enhance the originals. Tina's voice as always is fantastic. My only criticism is that i would have wanted more strings. I would almost want them to take over the song completely. But they are fantastic. So if you're thinking of buying this, don't hesitate. If you haven't already got the standard edition of the album...you're crazy! It's an exceptional listen!

This album is very well done, nice strings. Tina covers 5 songs on this album previously recorded by Dusty Springfield, My favorite track Dusty's upbeat song from 1963 I Only Want To Be With You is slowed down here by Tina and I have to admit that this is the best rendering of this song since the original. My only drawback with the album is she sings To Sir With Love, I have never liked this song and still don't. This album is very worthy of the 5 stars I gave it.

ALBUM REVIEW for "SONGS of LOVE & LOSS" by TINA ARENA (5/5 Stars)

Australian singer/songwriter and stage performer, Tina Arena, is without question one of the best female singers in the contemporary pop music world and her vocal performance on her sixth studio album "Songs of Love & Loss" (EMI, 2007) further confirms this. Although clearly possessing talent that warrants global success similar to that which Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Sarah Brightman and others have achieved, Arena's more moderate career path over the past decade has not led her to the same global commercial heights as some of her North American and British contemporaries. Nevertheless, she has some impressive performing and recording credits to her name. A highly seasoned stage performer, Arena was featured on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle Down the Wind" soundtrack in 1998, she performed the theme song "The Flame" at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and has starred in various musical productions including "Notre Dame de Paris" (London, 2000), "Cabaret" (Sydney, 2002) and most recently, "Chicago" (London, 2007).

In the US, UK and non-French speaking countries of Europe, Tina Arena is most well known for her international hit "Chains" in 1996 (from the "Don't Ask" album), her 1998 collaboration with Marc Anthony on "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" ("Souvenirs" album) and the 2003 club hit "Never: Past Tense" with The Roc Project ("Vous Etes Toujours La" album). Her entire body of recorded music, however, which now spans six studio albums, four live/compilation albums, and four languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish) is significantly more diverse and musically impressive than most non-Arena fans would realize. Despite efforts by Sony in the mid-90s to "break" Arena in the US, it never happened and it remains somewhat of a mystery to this day as to why it did not. So while largely unknown in America, the largest music market in the world, and overshadowed by fellow Australians Kylie Minogue and Natalie Imbruglia in the UK, Tina Arena has still managed to impressively shift a collective total of approximately 5 million singles and albums across her two primary markets of Australia (5 x Top 10 albums, 16 x Top 50 singles) and France (2 x Top 10 albums, 10 x Top 50 singles).

Arena's latest offering, "Songs of Love & Loss" is her first English-language studio album since "Just Me" in 2001. That's not to say she hasn't been busy! After releasing the "Greatest Hits 1994-2004" album and parting with Sony/BMG in Australia in 2004, she signed with Sony/BMG in France and recorded her first full-length French-language album, "Un Autre Univers". Released in 2005, "Un Autre Univers" was a platinum seller in France and gave Arena two more Top 10 French hits - she previously had Top 5 hits in France with "Aller plus haut" and "Les trios cloches" which were included on the French edition of "In Deep". Despite her ongoing success in France, however, Arena still had a desire to record in English. In 2007, without a label contract in any English-speaking country, she set about independently funding and recording the collection of cover tracks which would become "Songs of Love & Loss". Recently re-signing with EMI in Australia (a return to the label which released her 1990 Australian studio album debut, "Strong as Steel"), Arena now has the unusual status of having recording contracts with two different major labels in her two primary markets (Sony/BMG in France and EMI in Australia).

"Songs of Love & Loss" is primarily a concept album and a covers-based project. Arena has stated in various television, radio and print interviews promoting the album that she did not think the music industry (or the buying public) was ready for the kind of original material she had developed for an English-language album, and so she chose instead to release an album which would showcase some of her favorite tracks from previous generations. Focusing on the very human themes of "love" and "loss", Arena has created a musical narrative and pop masterpiece which covers tracks by Dusty Springfield, Carole King, Kate Bush, Lulu, Diana Ross, REM, and Ms. Arena herself (see Track by Track reviews below). The only new track on the album, "Until", appears last and gives us some idea as to where a future album of original English-language tracks by Arena may be headed.

Apart from the stunning vocals throughout, what is particularly appealing about "Song of Love & Loss" is the quality of the production. In a recording era whereby so many albums are dominated by computerized, bland and emotionless production, it's amazing to once again hear an album of pop music recorded with real instruments played by real musicians. Highly organic in its origins and overall sound, and befitting of Arena's stage performance background, the production of "Songs of Love & Loss" is first class and includes a full orchestral backing throughout (string arrangements by Simon Hale). The use of contemporary production techniques and musical arrangements, and the extroadinary attention to production detail on each track, has contributed significantly to Arena's highly successful attempt at re-inventing some very old tracks.

"Songs of Love & Loss" is arguably Tina Arena's most sophisticated and timeless album to date. For me there was never any doubt that an album of cover tracks by Arena would be a major success given her previously glorious efforts with "Show Me Heaven" ("Don't Ask" album) and "I Wanna Know What Love Is" ("In Deep" album). She is one of the very few artists who can make an old track sound new and without hesitation I can say that I prefer all of the cover tracks featured on this album to their originals. Arena's ability to reinvent songs previously recorded and released by other artists, and to do so in such an engaging and contemporary manner, is truly impressive. While an album of cover tracks could become a "filler" project for many artists, Arena's vocal talents and musical intelligence ensures just the opposite for "Songs of Love & Loss". And very smartly, Arena includes two of her own tracks on the album which shows that her own material is as good as, if not better, than that which she covers.

In conclusion, what "Songs of Love & Loss" displays so clearly is the beauty, purity and timelessness of Tina Arena's vocals, and the sophistication of her musical interpretations - undoubtedly this album will still sound amazing and continue to evoke emotion in ten years time. My only hope is that "Songs of Love & Loss", unlike the other Arena albums which have preceded it, will lead to Tina Arena finally receiving the global recognition that her talent warrants and deserves. Tina Arena is indeed a musical gem which more of the world needs to know about - take note, EMI.


TRACK by TRACK SONG REVIEWS (ratings in brackets)

- "Look of Love" (8/10): Recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1967, Arena's 2007 version is beautifully restrained and jazzy, and the perfect lead in track for "Songs of Love & Loss".

- "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" (10/10): Recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1962, Arena's 2007 version is most definitely one of the strongest tracks on the album. It allows Arena to showcase the amazing color, tone and variety in her voice. Whilst respectful to the original recording, she has added a contemporary edge to this beautiful song. The ending from 2.45 onwards is classic Tina Arena!

- "So Far Away" (9/10): Recorded by Carole King in 1971, Arena's 2007 version is breathtaking. The stripped-down production gives the track an almost acoustic and live feel. The harmonies around 3.05 to 3.50 are gentle, heartfelt and dream-like.

- "To Sir With Love" (7/10): Recorded by Lulu in 1967, Arena's 2007 version has enabled me to like a song I previously did not! While I've never had much time for the original, Arena's contemporary rock version, with its thumping beats throughout, certainly has appeal.

- "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" (10/10): Recorded by Kate Bush in 1978, Arena's 2007 version is nothing short of AMAZING. This really is a stunning track from start to finish. The use of rain effects at the start of the song is instantly engaging. And then Arena's haunting vocals are introduced with instant effect. Forced to choose one highlight in the entire album, I would choose the passage 2.45-3.10 in this track - just amazing, and reminiscent of Sarah Brightman's eastern-influenced "Harem" album.

- "Do You Know Where You're Going To" (7/10): Recorded by Diana Ross in 1975, Arena's 2007 version is straightforward and true to the original. The track features a strong vocal performance by Arena, as always, and the ending from 2.50 onwards is a listening highlight.

- "Love Hangover" (9/10): Recorded by Diana Ross in 1976, Arena's 2007 version is a club remix waiting to happen! This song, more than any other on the album, oozes sensuality and sex appeal. The laid-back and late-night feel is the perfect interlude between the first and second halves of the album. If remixed to suit club and dance radio formats, this is potentially a major hit and could become Arena's first club hit since "Never" in 2003.

- "I Only Want To Be With You" (10/10): Recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1963, Arena's 2007 version is, once again, beautiful and impressive. Slower and more heartfelt than the original, Arena's ability to convey emotion and color in her voice is clearly evident in this track. The harmonies at 2.22+ are beautiful.

- "The Windmills Of Your Mind" (8/10): Recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1968, Arena's 2007 version is characterized by some very interesting production and sound effects and a pervading Latin beat. The climax from 3.00 onwards is a highlight.

- "Everybody Hurts" (9/10): Recorded by REM in 1992, Arena's 2007 version is like a mystical dream. While I could barely listen to REM's version when it was released in the early 90s, Arena's amazing vocals and emotional communication have helped me to appreciate a song I previously did not. Reportedly included on the album at the request of EMI, and not part of Arena's original plan to showcase female artists of yesteryear, the result is nevertheless a positive one. From 4.25 to the song's close, we are reminded of why "Chains" was such a big hit for Ms. Arena!

- "Woman" (10/10): Recorded by Tina Arena for 2001's "Just Me" and 2005's "Un Autre Univers", this is a track which is obviously very close to Tina Arena's heart. Her 2007 version (& 2nd reincarnation of "Woman") combines new English vocals with the musical production from the 2005 French recording and the result is superb. If ever there was a Tina Arena anthem, personally and musically, this is it. Whilst much of the world knows Tina Arena as the woman who sang "Chains", Tina Arena knows herself as the "Woman" who is no longer in chains!

- "Until" (10/10): The only new track on the album, "Until" is contemporary pop at its very, very best. If Tina Arena has more songs like this waiting to be released, any future English-language albums will surely be amazing. Perhaps the inclusion of this track as the last song on the album is so that Arena can remind us that she has not given up on the idea of future original recordings in English! This last track has left me waiting in suspense "until" (pun intended) the next English-language album - indeed, the perfect conclusion.

Because the other reviewers have written such stellar reviews, I will only add a little. Other than the "Theme from Mahogany," which like Morris Albert's "Feelings" should be quietly retired from ANY recording studio, this is simply wonderful. Arrangements and orchestrations are fresh and inventive and Arena is clear, strong, and moving in voice. I've been a fan for quite some time but she outdoes herself her; in fact, I don't think she's ever sounded better. Her take on "To Sir With Love" is contemporary and engaging, and "Until," the only new track on the CD, deserves attention. It's not an exaggeration to say this is one of my favorite albums of the past few years. Brava, Tina! I can't recommend this album highly enough.

Cover albums are always tricky, because you're almost always going to get comparisons, and the question is if you've left your stamp on the songs. You don't want listeners saying "yeah, but I preferred the old version" when it's done.

I have to say, Arena for the most part handled herself pretty darn well.

A few missteps, sure. I don't know the original "Love Hangover", but I can't say I want to now...it's just, um, a little repetitive. "I Only Want To Be With You", sadly, did make me say I missed the old vesion, if only because it lacked a little punch, as did "Do You Know Where You're Going To". A little more speed, a little more percussion, just something to make both of those stand out a bit more.

So I think the middle of the album drags a bit, but leading up and winding down are (mostly) solid. And I definitely found the highlights in the slightly more uptempo songs. Top three: "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"...with all respect to Ms Springfield, nobody can match the chills Arena's delivery of "like a summer rose" gives me; "To Sir With Love"...any song that sings about soaring a thousand feet high HAS to sound good with Arena's vocals that match; and "Until", an original composition...I can't get enough of that poignant descending string of notes that makes up the long outro (which sadly gets faded out on the remake "Ta Vie"). Also notable are the delicate "Man With the Child In His Eyes", and the grooving samba of "The Windmills of Your Mind".

I do feel I should dock points for this being the third. Dang. Official. *CONSECUTIVE*. Release. To have some version of "Woman." If you haven't kept up, it was on Just Me, remixed and rerecorded in French as "Un Autre Univers", and now here basically has the English lyrics laid over the "Univers" music. It was never my favorite song, and I can't believe it was given a third go-round.

So longtime fans of Arena's will notice she hasn't had any consistency in album themes in a long time...just that killer voice carrying over between them. You might worry this album'll be boring or "too old" or covers of songs you don't know (I recognized about 70%, and it didn't help nor hinder). Just get it! With the spread of artists she's covered here, there's bound to be plenty you'll like.

Tina Arena sings many songs made popular by earlier singers and she does it her way. She has a beautiful voice with great range and control. One song has me puzzled: The Man with the Child in His Eyes. I don't know what it means. Her version of To Sir With Love was good, but should not have been included in this album---in my opinion, which means absolutely nothing. Overall, a terrific album for those of us who like this type of music.

Tina Arena has such a brilliant and beautiful voice. I have been a huge fan of hers since her debut CD. I am usually pretty weary of a CD of covers but, she pulls it off adding her own twist and turn to each and every song. She could sing anything with her big voice and it would be great.

Since the CD is called: `Songs Of Love And Loss' as you can guess all the songs are slow ballads. Not that that is a bad thing by any means. She handpicked a group of great songs to cover and they are all done brilliantly. Every song on here is superb but the song I could listen to over and over again is "Everybody Hurts". What a great job! Her voice is stunning on here that just commands you and pulls you in.

This CD is for anyone: a long time fan or someone who is just looking for a great voice to listen to.

~~~JAC 08'