Sweet Is the Melody [Enhanced]

Aselin Debison | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 8, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00006JJ5M
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,876 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Will the '60s counterculture adage to "Never trust anyone over 30" become "Don't trust anyone over 14"? Pop's newfound fascination with the pre-driver's-license-eligible set is underscored by this debut from the 12-year-old Nova Scotia singing sensation and the same-named PBS television special it inspired. Produced by vets Peter Asher (Linda Ronstadt, 10,000 Maniacs) and George Massenberg (Garth Brooks, Aaron Neville), Debison's debut hews closely to a country-crossover tack that's a pleasant showcase for the crystalline innocence of her voice, if but a tantalizing hint at her potential. Whether soaring into a hormonally unchallenged falsetto on a Caribbean-inflected "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or brightening up the Celtic-country "Driftwood" and contemporary Nashville of the title track, Debison's voice sometimes seems to want to go beyond the largely safe and sometimes pedestrian material she's been presented with here--and that's the sign of a promising future. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Image and voice come together beautifully...., October 7, 2004

By 

Chris R. Dow "Taliesin" (Central Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Is the Melody (Audio CD)

One of the reasons I was trying to get my hands on this album was because her image gave me hope. With the Britney's, Christina's and even Jessica's each trying to out-slut each other, I was getting extremely sad for the younger generation. I mean, eventually, we are going to turn the world over to them and ask them to carry the ball in the game of life. Aselin is a wholesome young girl who has been influenced by the folk songs she sings. The pictures in this album are very cute, and reflect her values very well.

Let me tell you, Aselin does not disappoint. For someone who is liking folk-type music more and more (and the more Celtic influences, the better) Aselin's voice is a musical breath of fresh air. She's not another Charlotte Church or another anything. She is in her own right, an excellent singer, and from here she can only come into her own voice and get better.

My favorite tracks on this CD are Sweet is the Melody, The Dance You Choose, Driftwood, and It's Getting Dark Again. The other songs are excellent as well. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I have.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Recording! Great Future!, August 1, 2004

By 

Adam Blauser (Akron, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Is the Melody (Audio CD)

I actually got this CD at a bookstore when I was going through the Irish/Celtic section of the store. My eyes turned jumped to the label that she was 12 years old. Of course, me getting in to folk music of various cultures in my college classes made it even more interesting for me, so I decided to get it.

Aselin just blew me away. There were sections of the CD that were very beautiful. The song "Rise Again" particularly caught my attention. It caught my attention, not because of the technical difficulty like such pieces as The Queen of the Night Arias from "The Magic Flute," but it was because of the atmosphere she created and the age at which she was able to do so. The CD mentions that she has had strong influence of Country and Popular music, and you can definitely hear that. However, you cannot really label the music as either one. There is strong Celtic influence, and one person mentioned that some parts even sound like square dancing numbers.

I really think that it is ridiculous that some people are labeling her as the "next" Celine Dion. First of all, in my opinion, when Celine Dion goes up into the high notes, she can be absolutely obnoxious sounding. Some people may like that kind of singing, but, for me, it gets old after a while. Aselin seems to like to go into falsetto in the high notes. Indeed, this is something she probably will not do once her voice fully matures, but you get a sweet, innocent feeling from her voice, which is very refreshing. You cannot really compare her to Charlotte Church either. In fact, this may surprise people; I can listen to both of them without any problem whatsoever. While Charlotte is very traditional in her approach, Aselin incorporates many different styles and ideas into her singing that Charlotte does not. Hence, it makes both of them very interesting to hear.

The only real oddity in the CD is the arrangement of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World." It is very up-tempo and rhythmic. If you have only heard the original recordings by Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong, then it will take you a few times listening to understand the arrangement. It is also probably the most challenging as far as range goes and she is often stretching for notes. However, overall, she does a fairly decent job, and hence, it did not really bother me.

Track #2 "The Dance You Choose" brought a smile to my face. It is very rhythmic in places, but not excessively. I found it to be a very upbeat and happy song. It is also very impressive that she was a co-writer on this track. This is one of my favorites on the CD. However, it is tracks like track #1 "Sweet is the Melody," and track #6 "Out of the Woods" that really make her unique. These songs are very simply constructed, almost like folk songs, yet Aselin brings a kind of innocence and childlike simplicity to them that has the potential to bring tears to tears to people's eyes, as she has done many times.

Something must also be said for her image. The vast majority of teen music celebrities have a bad girl image. From the minute I got the CD opened, I realized this was not the case with Aselin. The CD is yellow colored with red flowers on it. The pictures of her in the CD are pictures of her walking and sitting on a beach of stones wearing a white sweater and long red skirt, holding a dog, smiling and laying in a haystall, and wearing a straw hat. Hence, the image she gives is much like that of her music: sweet, innocent, and charming. There is no tight clothing, no fowl language, no "rebel mentality," and no sexual content whatsoever. Other teens like Brittany Spears and Christina Agulera rely almost solely on some of these things to sell CDs. I really respect Aselin for not doing this. I hope she keeps this sweet girl mentality throughout her career, and that people will encourage her to do so. I would rather spend my money on someone like Aselin then on someone like Brittany, because Aselin has demonstrated that she is concerned with music, and that is the mode she is going to use to sell CD's, and not the bad girl mentality. Now I have not met the girl, so I do not know if she is really like this, but you have to wonder when you hear more about Brittany Spears' failed marriage and Jennifer Lopez's breakups and marriage, and hear next to nothing about this girl until you accidentally stumble across her CD in the folk music section of a bookstore.

As for her talent, the sky's the limit. Sony Classical has produced artists such as Yo Yo Ma, and Joshua Bell. She is not even 15, and she has already given a performance in Carnegie Hall. The scary part is she will only get better.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strength beyond her years, March 3, 2004

By 

Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Is the Melody (Audio CD)

Aselin Debison has a pop perspective but a down-home sense about her. The young Glace Bay native from Cape Breton, NS, who entered the recording studio and her teens at about the same time, has a pure, clear voice with a strength beyond her years.

There's no question Aselin has the voice of a teen, and yet she lacks the saccharine quality so common among some of her peers. If she sticks to her current path, she could easily straddle the boundary between pop and Cape Breton folk and find some commercial success while staying true to her roots. Let's hope so!