Customer Reviews

Subject to Change

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The new album by Vanessa Mae marks a return to her first work. Unlike "Storm", "Subject to Change" offers more instrumental tracks, and does not sound as eclectic.

Pros:
* The album is full of energy and catchy and simple tunes.
* It is rare to see such a packed album (65 minutes) these days.
* The tracks "Destiny" and "Laughing Buddha" are like "Red Hot", Mae's signature tune, on steroids. The album is worth its price for these two tracks; the rest is just a bonus.

Cons:
* Vanessa Mae still thinks that when she sings in French, it will sound nicer. Among all those high-energy tracks, her singing feels a little out of place.
* The import version is a little pricey; you may want to wait for the US release.

Overall, Vanessa Mae has proven with her third pop album that she is here to stay, so get used to it.

I like a few other reviewers felt that some of Vanessa Mae's prior albums were better in originality and use of the violin than this album. It seems like she's trying to move even more toward a pop tilt on this album, but overall this album is definitely worth the purchase. Also, even though the violin is not predominant like prior albums her voice really shines through on the songs with vocals. I particularly like White Bird. Either way if you're a fan of hers I don't think you'll be disappointed because I really think it's an album that you just pop in and listen to!

Quite simply, Mae's latest album takes off where her last one left off. She makes you wonder why rock and roll is associated with guitars, not violins.

Once again, she weds a dizzying array of synthesized and generated sounds with violin playing of great warmth and dazzling virtousity. Expect beat-driven songs that combine her spiffy ability at the strings with various subgenres, as well as softer, more introspective pieces. The arrangements are classy as usual, and together with the well produced combinational elements, make for an entertaining album.

Caveat: it may get a little monotonous, but if you enjoyed Storm you will likely find something on Subject To Change to keep you interested.

Subject To Change is Vanessa-Mae's best Pop recording so far in her career. Nearly all of the tracks are outstanding. Ironically, the only track that I didn't like was White Bird, the most publicized recording on Subject To Change. The reason why I didn't like it was because it sounded bland and "commercialized," meaning that it's indistinguishable from other dance or "house music" songs you may hear.
Although all the songs are good, the one that I feel is most revealing is Jamais, a song about love and passion that gets really erotic. It kind of gives an imaginative glimpse of Vanessa-Mae in the embrace of another man. Interesting indeed!
Overall, this is a great CD from an artist who will only get better in time.

Being a Vanessa-Mae fan, I picked this up the first time I saw it in a store without reading any reviews. I have her previous album, Storm, and after listening to this, my first impression was that it was much better. She is a very fine violin player but what I find stands out the most are her songwriting skills, best shown on tracks like Yantra, Night Flight and Destiny. What is a shame though, is that aside from those tracks, it seems like the rest of the songs are all space-fillers and really lack any effort in the making. Perhaps it would have been better if she did some more classical remakes like on her previous pop albums instead of using original tracks.

Also, like a previous reviewer felt, I thought it would probably have been better if she stuck to the violin and away from the microphone. She has a beautiful voice, but it is not really suited to the tracks on this CD.

Nonetheless, despite its problems, I enjoy it very much, and although I find there are a lack of good songs, the few that are here are so amazing that they are worth the whole import price of the CD. It's a great getaway from all the other all-too-similar pop out there.

I have been Vanessa Mae's fan since 1996. I have all the collection of CD and tape.One of them is Subject to Change.I have read Vanessa's article this album.I found it is a special album especially Destiny, Yantra and white bird.I hope everybody owns this album. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any single video CD about this Album..

Vanessa Mae shows in this album that her music has grown up... Her other albums were quite breathtaking, but this one shows that she has truly matured as an artist and as a musician. The clarity and skill of her playing are borderline superhuman and the slightly melacholy air the album has is a perfect compliment to the tone and feel of it. I would call this my favorite one of all her albums and think that things can only get better from here.

When I heard that this album was an import, I kind of grimaced at the prospect of paying an import price... however, I'm really happy with the final product, and think it was worth the extra $... The first single is "Destiny", a dance/techno instrumental --- very powerful, and a major production.

The second single is "White Bird", which marks Vanessa's debut as a vocalist (besides the isolated songs on "Storm"). The track breaks between vocals and her smooth violin solos.

My favorite track by far, however, is called "Night Flight"... for some reason, this lite-dance instrumental really moved me! Not sad, but melancholy... if you have to listen to one track off of the album, this would definitely be it!

The rest of the tracks are mostly new compositions, instrumentals with an electronic edge... Vanessa's gorgeously flowing playing throughout. WELL WORTH THE EXTRA IMPORT CHARGE! :-)

Standout tracks: Yantra, Destiny, Clear Like Ice, and Night Flight (which is my personal favorite)...

What can we say about this CD other than 'Vanessa Mae did it again'? Once again Vanessa exposes the greatness of contemporary classical music, and gives life to this genre with astonishing singles such as White Bird. Along with the UK's quartet 'Bond', she keeps showing us that there's just so much more to actual music than pop and hip hop.

Unlike Storm in which every song was distinct and unique, Subject to Change seems rather vague and hazy. Most of the songs are quite similar and seem to run around the same themes. Can't tell them apart. They could have been the same song for all i knew and they are good only as background music when i'm reading or studying. Her violin playing in this cd wasn't very obvious; often drowned out by the other instruments. Definitely not up to the standards of Storm and The Violin Player. Seems like she got so caught up with experimenting that she has neglected the violin.

The songs with vocals were more outstanding, particularly White Bird. Though the lyrics themself seemed a bit cliched at times (ok i'm not much of a literary critic so maybe you others might not feel the same) i like the song and her style. The other tracks with vocals were quite nice too even though i don't understand the language. I found track 10 and 12 really sexy and fun. V-Mae's voice isnt that great, but like I said, she has her own distinct style and it's worth listening. That's why i gave this cd 3 stars.

Oh yeah, the excessive photos of her in the booklet inside really put me off. Call me a prude or whatever: What is she selling? Her music or her looks? It reminds me way too much of boybands plastering their faces all over posters and magazines in order to attract fans. C'mon V-Mae, you don't need that. What we want from you is your _music_ not your pretty pictures.