Customer Reviews

Tribute

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is a Tribute to the artists that inspired Melissa. It showcases Melissa's ability as a unique singer. In the opening track, Over The Rainbow, she sings very close to the later year Judy versions. Her voice is in full bloom all around this classic song which has been sung in many different styles by many different artists. This version is the only one I know of that could stand ground next to the original. It is sung beautifully, from the seldom sung intro to the tingling climax.

Other highlights includes Edith Piaf's La Vie En Rose. It is sung in French and English. It's very interesting listening to the tones in her voice as they differ in both languages. Rosemary Clooney's Tenderly is also sung full and rich and is one of my favorites on the CD. Dionne Warwick's Walk On By is remade in a more Jazzy contemporary style which brought Melissa her last chart hit reaching the top 10 on the A/C Chart. She also holds her note for quite a while! Stardust is also a favorite among listeners. The Kind Of Man A Woman Needs is her tribute to Barbra Striesand. Two different voices, but similar effect. In 1976, Melissa did her first tribute, a comercial with Ella Fitzgerald for Memorex Tapes. Here she sings Ella's Lady Be Good, complete with scatting! Written by Gershwin, one of her favorite composers. She should do a songwriter tribute and include her own, Come In From The Rain.

If any of you like the standards, you should check out The Johnny Mercer Tribute CD that includes melissa's awesome version of Skylark as well as a duet with Johnny Mathis called Glow Worm.

I consider this CD to be VOCALLY one of the best full length recordings from the catalogue of MELISSA MANCHESTER. The CD is timeless and the perfect background mood music when entertaining friends. On this CD, Manchester demonstrates her unique gift. She vocally KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER THE MEANING AND EMOTION OF LYRICS. Often, we are blown away by the vocal technique/acrobatics. We often forget to notice if the artist touched us by conveying the message of the song. MELISSA will touch you with this CD. It is one of the best POP VOCALS you can find ! Worth purchasing.

I have always loved Melissa Manchester and I think she is extremely underrated. Her beautiful, flexible, clear and powerful voice is in top shape as she moves fluidly from well below middle C and to around a high A or B flat. "Over the Rainbow" was souful and the pitches were perfect. "Vie en Rose" is wonderful, romantic and skillfully articulated in French. "Walk on By" originally done by Dionne Warwick, was so well done by Melissa, that, it rivals the original artist. And, "Star Dust" has not been done by a more contemporary artist that I can recall, and was another pleasant surprise. There is not a song that I did not like either in terms of the title she chose or her performance of it. You will not be sorry, even if you are strictly a pop music fan--her performance of this material places her in a new genre of divas. It was truly transcending, leaving me hopeful for more like this one. Thank you Melissa!

OK...there's a great French popular song on this CD ("La Vie en Rose") as well as some classic American standards. But all semantics aside, this is an album that I've quickly fallen in love with and wish I had purchased over a decade ago when it first came out. Melissa Manchester's voice on this outing is simply superb: powerful, rich, perfectly in tune. Even on the most challenging passages she sounds as if she has range and energy to spare. On an emotional level, she comes across as really connected with her material. (And I can certainly name a lot of discs where the persons singing sound as if they were just going through the motions). On several of her numbers I actually got goose bumps listening to them the first time. If I ever get around to putting out a list of outstanding CD's of classic ballads, this one will definitely be included. I have only given 5 stars to about one out of every dozen CD's I've purchased; so this album is one that I consider a true classic. Too bad Ms. Manchester did not put out more recordings of this genre.

I particularly love albums where the quality of the material is outstanding cut after cut. With this classic material, Miss Manchester has produced a lasting album of beauty and enjoyment. "La Vie en Rose" and "Sophisticated Lady" are partiularly well known. This is one of my favorite albums to give away!

This MM cd is unlike anything she did before. I was not prepared for what I heard on this collection of classics. There is not only not a bad song here but not a weak or bad note. Her voice is equal to any of the divas she pays homage to. I only purchased this cd a few years back. I expected the usual rendition of songs that had been done by everyone else. Her version of "Over The Rainbow" soars one over the rainbow. "La Vie En Rose" is sultry and superior to Piaff's version. "Tenderly" will melt even the coolest heart. Her version of "Walk On By" is the best recorded. I never really liked this song before. It's inclusion steered me away from purchasing this cd. "Stardust" is a lush and tempting interpretation. "The Kind Of Man A Woman Needs" is superior to Streisand's version, and that says it all. MM included one of her and Carole Bayer Sager songs "To Make You Smile Again." While this song isn't the classic the others are, this version is far superior to her earlier one and is deserving to be included with these classics. "Tribute" and "Film Noir" by Carly Simon are two examples of classics being made fresh and original by another artist. MM has three classic cd's: "Better Days," "If My Heart Had Wings" and "Tribute". So glad to see it available on Amazon.com.

As the title indicates, it's a TRIBUTE cd. A tribute to Melissa's favorite artist that she was first introduced to as a child. Judy Garland, Eydie Gorme, Edith Piaf, Rosmary Clooney, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughan, Barbara Streisand, and Billie Holiday. Melissa's stunning remake of Judy Garland's OVER THE RAINBOW.. makes you feel like you're in OZ, walking the Yellow brick road. With THE GYPSY IN her SOUL, she TENDERLY, WALKs ON BY, this SOPHISTICATED LADY, just TO MAKE YOU SMILE AGAIN. Melissa Jazzes it up as she looses her yellow basket in LADY BE GOOD. Then beautiful renditions of STARDUST, and La VIE EN ROSE. I have to admit, I was never really a jazz enthusiast until I heard this fabulous cd. Tribute, is by far one of Melissa Manchester's greatest works of art!! And as Melissa quotes on its liner notes, "So dance, smooch, hurry up and make love slowly for a change. Enjoy the company I've been keeping all these years." Buy this fabulous Melissa Manchester cd, it's a wonderful work of art!!! You will not be disappointed!

On this cd, Melissa Manchester pays "tribute" to female singers who inspired her. Wonderful, lush orchestration. The select cuts are "La Vie En Rose" and "Stardust". You won't believe how long Melissa holds a single note on "Walk On By." This lady can sing!

Manchester's treatment of this Dionne Warwick classic is one of those rare instances in which the newer version is at least as good in its own right as the original. Can't say that about many remakes. Tribute is the only CD on which I could find Walk On By. One would think at least one or two tracks from Tribute would have made it to a compilation disc.

If ONLY for the song "Walk On By" which literally can make me cry when Melissa Manchester sings it, listen and buy this CD! A huge fan of this song--One of Burt Bacharach's & Hal David's finest. Melissa Manchester puts not only the Soul that Dionne Warwick and Gloria Gaynor give to this song--but her Heart as well. Truly one of the most gifted Singer/Songwriters of all time. Am glad to see and hear she is recording again. I hope she reads these reviews as to how well liked and admired her recordings are. Please keep up your GREAT work!