Customer Reviews

String Quart Tribute to Clay Aiken

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I bought this CD for two reasons: (1) I like most of the songs on Clay's MOAM album; and (2) my husband plays the cello, so I'm a string quartet fan. I love Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, but don't get me wrong--I certainly wasn't expecting anything of their quality on this CD.

Having said that...I almost took the CD out of the player halfway through the first song ("Invisible"). But I'm hard-headed...and I figured I'd listen to the rest of it before making a final judgment.

Briefly...there are some songs on Clay's album that lend themselves better to a string quartet than others. "Invisible" is definitely not one of them. One word...horrible. If you get this CD, I advise you strongly to skip to the second track.

As for the rest...the ballads (such as "The Way") are much easier on the ears when performed by a string quartet. But unless you just *have* to have every CD that's even remotely associated with Clay, save your money. Better yet...make a $15.00 donation to Bubel-Aiken.

BTW, to the person who thought it was just three instruments (violin, viola, cello) instead of four (with two violins) because of the listing of only three musicians on the album notes--the parts were recorded separately and dubbed together. If you're used to listening to string quartets, you can pick out both violins. Unfortunately, the fact that the four parts were not all recorded at one time just makes the songs that much more...unpalatable. On many of the tracks, the balance is...well, terrible. Worse than the balance on the BOTW CD...and we all complained about that :( The least they could have done if they wanted a decent product would have been to hire enough musicians to record the pieces with all four instruments playing at the same time.

Again, bottom line...save your money, or give it to some worthwhile cause.

I think this "tribute" is unfortunate in that it strikes me as a bit of a farce or parody. Without Clay's vocals, without his charm, warmth, and sensitivity suffusing the lyrics and hinting at emotional color, the pop tunes themselves, reduced to two or three string instrument lines, are thin, shadowy stuff. The tunes of course were penned by some of the best song writers in the business. So the "tribute" is really less to Clay--much less--than it is to the veritable army of highly regarded song writers who were fortunate enough to get their songs recorded by Clay (for Clay's double and probably eventually triple platinum CD).

I'm a man who likes Clay's singing quite a bit. I also like instrumental music, particularly piano music, string quartets, and piano and string duos, trios, etc. And I'm tempted to buy a copy of this--but then, what for? The purchase hardly benefits Clay or the Bubel/Aiken foundation. If you buy it, buy a used copy. The tunes are but faint echoes of what you hear on MOAM, and do you want a true tribute to Clay or a tribute to the recording industry's best go-to song writers--which is really a tribute to Clive Davis's organizational and administrative capacities. I love Clay's voice and personality. Clive Davis's company or adiministrative abilities? Not really.

...but it's enough to make me know not to buy this CD. Like some of the other posters, I'm also a musician. I'm 25 and I've been a cellist since I was 10.

The musicians-- poor things-- sound like high schoolers. And, in fact, I've actually heard better high school performances. The CD sounds like it was recorded in a high school, too-- too echoey and NO sound balance. The cello is way too loud. It's only an accompaniment and it sometimes drowns the melody.

Moreover, the compositions seem amateur. Cellos almost never get the melody, and that's something we live with. Sometimes we get great harmony. Here, however, it's like the cello was designed to replace the drum machine, with nothing but repetitive rhythms on the same note. I used to play like that-- when I was in middle school and was practicing from the rhythm exercise book!

I'm no Yo-Yo Ma, but I'd be embarrassed to play this arrangement this poorly.

The original accompaniments on the show and on the CD itself are much nicer.

The String Quartet Tribute to Clay is a great CD with great music. Come on.. It can't be bad.. It is a Tribute to Clay Aiken. This CD is a great addition to any Clay Aiken fan CD collection.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't buy this cd, I just listened to the sample... But why would you buy this? It's not beneficial to Clay in any way, and while the instrumentalists are talented enough... I don't know, just please PLEASE listen to the sample before you waste your money on this. I was planning on buying it before I listened to the sample... Now I'm glad I didn't waste my $14.99.

I was thinking this was an interesting idea, a tribute to Clay. Since he sings with such emotion, and instruments have the ability to evoke powerful emotion too, I figured this cd would be very moving. What a shame it came out so...mundane! (I'm glad I listened to the clips before purchasing this sad little cd.)

It started out with a rather interesting rendition of Invisible, but just goes downhill after the newness of the concept wears off. Actually, the instrumental Run to Me showed some promise again, but is followed so horribly by the unrecognizable Shine. (I really hope Clay hasn't heard Shine on this cd - it's that bad!) And I didn't think it would be possible to screw up Clay's intense I Survived You and Measure of a Man, but their versions are lackluster and downright trivial.

I would've laughed by the end of this cd, but Clay deserved much better than this...it's just sad.

This CD does not benefits Clay! Listening to the samples should squelch your curiosity ! The other comment is right in saying this sounds like a bad high school band.

1. A string quartet "tribute" (or any other tribute) is some various artist covering the songs of some other various artists. Sometimes the covered artist (like Clay in this case) has something to do with the project, but I don't think usually.

2. Buying this album DOES NOT support Clay. Notice that it was released on Vitamin Records? Clay sings for RCA. Clay certainly doesn't own the song book (the rights to the melodies and lyrics) so HE'S NOT GETTING ANY PROCEEDS if you buy this album.

This album is perfect for people who love both Clay and classical music. The quartet is faithful to the arrangements Clay established but takes you to another world. "No More Sad Song" was omitted from this CD, but "On the Wings of Love" was an inspired addition. Though the album really is only tangentially related to Clay (the quartet has also done "tributes" to Led Zeppelin and Nine Inch Nails), it will make Clay fans smile.

Please dont slap clay aiken for this cd!!! I am like the biggest clay fan alive. Plus, i have been a viola player for almost cough cough 40 years. This could of been a lovely cd, but who ever did the arranging was like on speed or something, and they were so busy having the violins do some high quick melodies with some lower underscore, that it sounded tinney and out of tune. I actually have heard a lady who put together some violin and piano recordings of a few of clay's songs and they were wonderful...made you cry. This made me cry too, but for a different reason. No more sad song if you dont listen to this!