Customer Reviews

Souvenirs

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In late 2000, Tina Arena decided to catch up her fans with what's been going on with her. Her album IN DEEP had been released in Australia in late 1997, so it had been a long time waiting, and during that three year period, Tina had been up to much. This special Australian only CD, SOUVENIRS, is much worth the money for what you get. First you get some of her hits. "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" (duet with Marc Anthony), "If I Was A River" from the IN DEEP album. "Show Me Heaven" from her DON'T ASK album. AS well there is "Love's Funny That Way" (which was also recorded by Wynonna Judd on her THE OTHER SIDE album, but Tina wrote the song) which only appeared otherwise on the ONE FINE DAY soundtrack. "Live (For The One I Love)", "Whistle Down The Wind", also appear on here. One of the best tracks is the remake she did with Donna Summer for "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" from Donna's 1999 VH1 special. The real reason to buy this is for the live tracks, "Burn", "Sorrento Moon", and "Chains", she sounds absolutely wonderful live and these are an added bonus. As well there are three French songs "Les Trois Cloches", "Segnali Di Fumo" (Duet With Luca Barbarossa) and "Aller Plus Haut". Then to finish it off, there is a multimedia portion with three music videos, "Aller Plus Haut", "Les Trois Cloches" and "If I Was A River". Overall for the money you are paying you are definately getting your money's worth, and no fan will want to do without this one! Thank you Tina!

"Souvenirs" Arena's millenium release of various hits from Australia to Europe and all over the world. At least she comes up with the "not formulaic" title such as "greatest hits" oooohh! I'm so tired of that! Anyway, it starts off with two soundtrack numbers from "The Mask Of Zorro" and "One Fine Day"- "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" and "Love's Funny That Way", the earlier is already a smash hit in Asia and Europe while the latter spins Jo Dee Messina meets Barbra Streisand! very fun and again the vocal gymnastics are present. All the tracks in "Souvenirs" are all destined for #1 spots at the charts and that's how good the quality and the interpretation is with this selection. But the standouts are "Show Me Heaven", a vocal wrap-around exhibition with a gospel-song-feel-with-an-uplifting-kinda-lyrics which in itself is unique. "Aller Plus Haut", a french chart topper and the live versions of "Burn", "Sorrento Moon", "Chains" and that force de vocal "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" with legendary diva Donna Summer which Arena if not matched Barbra Streisand, then over stepped Streisand's shoes on that fantastic duet. "Live For The One I Love" for Arena's stint in "Notre Dame de Paris" is a great love song, very classical and "Les Trois Cloches", another french loved love song from french icon Edith Piaf is also given good rendition. All in all, after listening to the whole CD... simply it will give you goosebumps and an idea of what Arena is all about... NOT JUST A BEAUTIFUL FACE BUT A FLAWLESS SINGER AS WELL. GET THIS ALBUM!!! IT'S WORTH IT!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this CD all the way through. I had never heard of Tina Arena until I saw that someone I'm a fan of had attended a party celebrating the release of her newest album - so I had to investigate. After reading everyone's reviews of how much they like her, I figured I'd take a chance. Everyone was right! This lady has some great songs on her CD - I can't wait to acquire a few more because I'm sure I won't be disappointed! I'd say if you were looking for someone new to listen to, you couldn't go wrong trying out Tina!

I bought this albumn, and immediately I can say: "dont wait". Tina's voice truly comes out, especially in the quieter, slower songs. Although some tunes may not be as catchy as in the CD "In Deep" or as powerful as in "Dont ask"; both of which are excellent, "Souvenirs" gives you a good impression, especially of her years in France. Overall, it was outstanding, and could be internationally considered.

When I first found out Souvenirs had been released, I knew I had to get it. Tina Arena has always impressed me with her former cds and the idea of having all hit songs in one single cd was enough to make me purchase it. All the tracks are great, but I must admit that the live ones are what makes it so worth getting. The famous I WANT TO SPEND MY LIFETIME LOVING YOU duet with Marc Anthony was released on her IN DEEP cd all over the world. Then it's followed by the up-tempo LOVE'S FUNNY THAT WAY, from the OST ONE FINE DAY. Next: SHOW ME HEAVEN, that appeared only on the US version of Don't Ask, IF I WAS A RIVER. I couldn't help but noticing that the version presented here is different from the one on IN DEEP; and WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Then you have the 4 live tracks: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, a duet with Donna Summer for the VH1 Special, BURN, very nice accoustic intro followed by a nice arrangement; SORRENTO MOON, a latin-mixed song, and one of my favs; and CHAIN, the best treat of the whole album! This song is the bomb, literally. As a part of her carrer in Europe, she included LIVE, from the Notre Dame de Paris show and 2 songs in french. She certainly did quite well on the French Charts with both hits ALLER PLUS HAUT and LES TROIS CLOCHES, and one song in Italian, as a way of paying tribute to her Italian roots. Summing up, this is a great album, where you can get the best of Tina's work and know for yourself how good she is. I could write so much more about her but I don't think comparing her work to other artists' would raise her to a higher level...there is place out there for everybody and if you want to taste it for youself all her talent, this is a MUST HAVE! It's just a matter of time until she breaks all int'l markets.

Make no mistake, this, in a sense is NOT a new Tina Arena release. A self-admitted control-freak, each Ms. Arena's two international albums have been re-worked, targetted, to a specific listening audience. For example, the American version of 'In Deep' had 2 power ballads - "No Shame" and "If I Was A River" - and the theme song from "The Mask Of Zorro" that the early 1997 Australian version didn't have, the early Australian version had a few slower songs that the US version did not have - "Not For Sale", "Burn (acoustic version)", "Welcome To My World". The UK version had a song that the US version and 1997 Australian versions didn't have "Whistle Down The Wind" and the French Version had 2 French Songs(!) and 1 Italian song(!!) that none of the other versions had!

Apart, from working on alternative versions of "In Deep", Ms. Arena's been busy singing for ALW's 50th birthday celebrations, filling in for a very egotistic Barbra Streisand for Donna Summer's song "No More Tears(Enough Is Enough)", cutting 2 French and 1 Italian number while promoting In Deep in France, doing Musical Theatre in London (NDDP) and was also invited to sing the 2000 Olympic Games Official Party Song - "The Flame". This, of course has meant that Ms. Arena has, to an extent, been neglecting her massive fan base in Australia and Asia. As all of this has meant that her Australian and Asian fans have had to wait more three years with naught! Thus, "Souvenirs" is simply Tina Arena's way of saying to her fans, "Hey mate! I'm not abandoning you, I may have been away for awhile but I care about you and I'll be back!". Thus, expectations are not set high with this album, as this is simply a record (though not a very complete one) of what the DIVA has been up to in the US and Europe.

The surprise here is "Love's Funny That Way", I though that she had abandoned singing up-tempos in favour of ballads, I guess not! Released as part of the George Clooney / Michelle Pfeiffer movie, "One Fine Day", "Love's Funny That Way" is an energetic, up-tempo love song, reminding one of the energy that Arena put into her music during her bland "Strong As Steel" days - fortunately, this one is anything but faceless - everlasting, this song might claim not be but there's no denying the fact that this is a nice slice of good, clean, energetic fun, well done, Tina! Then come the ballads and boy, to a lover of ballads, she does deliver - "Show Me Heaven", "Whistle Down The Wind", "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You", are three of the finest ballads that I have heard. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Diane Warren's "If I Was A River" - a lackluster (the only thing nice about it is Tina's vocals) song produced by supposedly "hot" producer, Walter Affanassieff (give me a break, this guy's arranging and producing skills have died out ages ago), with a deeply poetic though meaningless (can anyone relate to being a river ?), self-indulgent lyric by Diane Warren. Of course, what is poison to some might be wine to others, so others might well enjoy these two tracks! "Live (For The One I Love)" from the NDDP soundtrack is yet another venture into unknown territory - Musical Theatre - Arena's version is better, much better than Celine (look at me I can sing louder and blander than anyone else's) Dion's version is, but is sung too dryly for my taste. The two live tracks, "Burn" and "Chains", only show what this woman is capable of doing on a live stage - especially Chains - believe you me, if you thought that the version on Arena's Don't Ask CD was the "mutts nutts", you owe it to yourself to listen to the live version - ******* UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!! "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (with Donna Summer) has proved, once in for all that Ms Arena could stand in the stead of Barbra Streisand and NOT suffer from the comparison, by putting a different spin on the song (of course, it was always known, by those who've kept an eye on her career that Tina Arena was a Music Theatre caliber diva, dressed in rebellious Pop sensibilities). The three foreign language songs - "Allez Plus Haut", "Les Trois Cloches" and "Segnali Di Fumo" - prove that this genre crossing, lingo changing chanteuse's years in Europe, weren't a complete waste of time! "Les Trois Closhes", "Show Me Heaven", "Whistle Down The Wind", "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You", "Chains", "Burn", "Love's Funny that Way", No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) and "Segnali Di Fumo" are the 9 reasons to buy this album! That and the CD-ROM content which includes 3 videos!

However, there's only so much content you can store on a CD/CD-ROM hybrid, what's missing on this collection is even more fascinating! I frankly speaking miss, the fabulous "The Flame" (The Sydney 2000 Olympic theme), Another live track, "Memory" with Patrick Fiori, and two fabulous duets with Rick Price - The First Noel - a weird, soulful, Broadway / R&B / Funk / Gospel reworking of the X-mas carol which, while sounding fresh and bouncy, maintained the reverence of the traditional version! If you Tina fans haven't heard this one, you don't know what you are missing - I wish Tina would release a Seasonal album!! The second duet is an Acoustic Pop/Country (probably the ultimate crossover song, I'm still wondering which genre to place it in) ballad, which shows Tina in a light you've never seen her in before (this is completely different to "Wasn't It Good"), sounding like a Country Diva, with no range/power vocals etc., it shows one exactly how versatile Ms Arena is!!!

Tina Arena has got to be one of the most underrated and unappreciated vocalists of all time, take a listen to her and you'll find out what you've been missing out on. Her vocal talents will have you in awe! Indeed, not since Barbra Streisand, Linda Eder, Elaine Page and Lea Salonga, have I come across such a talented vocalist. Overall, a must for asian fans and new listeners, but US and European fans might want to wait till a US-european specific version of the CD is released.

Overrated singer with a very plain voice. Responsible for bad reviews on Notre Dame de Paris. Bad as a singer, but worse as an actress.

This album features one of the worst performers around. Get another album. ANY other album!