Customer Reviews

White Lilies Island

5 star:		(117)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the video for "Wrong Impression". The voice sounded so familiar yet I couldn't put a name to the face. I was even late to school because I had to catch the name. She's done a complete turnaround on her sophmore release and I give her a thousand props for it. This is truly a remarkable comback after the unexpected success of her first album, Left Of The Middle, which dims in comparison to this. She hasn't just matured with her features but her music has definitely grown as well. I was especially impressed with the Cardigan-esque "Goodbye" and "Do You Love Me?" where her voice resembles that of Nina Persson, particularly on the verses. This is hands down one of the best Pop Rock albums (so far) of 2002. Never before has Natalie Imbruglia sounded so spectacular. "Hurricane" evokes deep emotions with incredible lyrics that were obviously thought-provoking while "Sunlight" is absolutely splendid with its altering from piercing guitar to sometimes subtle rhythms. I especially like the part where she briefly laughs. Another personal favorite, though, would have to be "Talk In Tongues" where she croons softer than usual without the drowning of instruments. So if you're reading this right now than I advise you to give me a helpful vote and then to buy the record if you haven't already. It's honestly that good . . . I promise.

The fact is, WHITE LILIES ISLAND was one of 2002's best albums, and yet it nor Natalie Imbruglia were nominated for any Grammy awards this past year. Clearly, the US Music Industry has no use for talent like that of Natalie. Talent no longer matters.

People take a look at her gorgeous body on the front cover and think that's all that could be there, but there is more to her than just that. The album's standout tracks are the catchy, beautifully saddening WRONG IMPRESSION (the only US single off the album), the showstopping DO YOU LOVE?, the simple but affecting HURRICANE and EVERYTHING GOES, the space-age poppy SATELLITE, SUNLIGHT, which is the perfect mixture of electronic pop and gripping lyrics that will makes you "feel the sunlight on your face, taste clouds, and touch space". Thanks to Natalie, we can all feel the sunlight on our face. Last but not least in importance are BEAUTY ON THE FIRE and THAT DAY, the former of which is an excellent single that will give you "sensory pleasure" while also making goosebumps go up your spine.

Anyone who is a fan of excellent, thought-provoking modern-day pop will love WHITE LILIES ISLAND. It is a different type of album than her first outing, 1998's LEFT OF THE MIDDLE (actually a different album period), but that doesn't mean it's not as good. They are both totally different albums, and yet, at the same time, the listener can easily tell Natalie is IN those lyrics, that she is not simply selling a CD. She is selling pure talent and excellent artistry. Isn't that what she should be selling?

I had been reading the strong reviews of the import and listening and watching the Wrong Impression video on the internet and decided to buy the CD. I am very glad I did. There are many, many gems on this disc that go way beyond Wrong Impression in many areas.

Wrong Impression is a good pop song, I enjoy the tempo, singing, and lyrics. But songs like Hurricane, Talk in Tongues, and Goodbye are much stronger emotionally and vocally and have stronger guitar work. Goodbye in particular has an excellent build to a robust chorus with good guitar backing. Hurricane is one of the strongest vocal tracks and Natalie has a very strong and enjoyable voice. That Day has grown on me.

At first I thought Everything Goes was a weak track but I was wrong, and that is why I gave the CD a considered 5 stars, there are no weak tracks on this CD. Any CD that can go from Sunlight to Satellite is no small feat. Natalie maybe very beautiful but this CD has a lot of 'meat' to it and it should not be dismissed because she was a soap star or what not. It is highly polished and produced but not over-produced. After listening to it you will get the sense that Natalie would do wonderful 'unplugged' as well, her voice is that good. In fact the one weakness is that some of her vocals are, in fact, overproduced at times despite my comment that the CD as a whole is not overproduced. Let the girl sing!

Speaking of Satellite, great track, probably the next most 'popish' after Wrong Impression but a great listen. If you are considering this CD because of Wrong Impression, you will be blown away by it. It has so much more depth then you would guess from Wrong Impression. Highly recommended, impressive song collection.

I have to say first: Don't buy this album if you are hoping to have a left of the middle part 2. It is very, very differend from Left of the middle. However, it is good if you liked singles like Wrong impression, That day and Beauty on the fire. This album is also very torn-a-like. Because when you heard the first album it was like torn was misplaced. I will tell you something about every song:

1. That day: The first single in 3 years. Very differend from Natalie's other work. It did not do well in the charts, and it is not one of my favorites. Not a good opener, and after a while it gets annoying. The lyrics however are moderate/good.

2. Beauty on the fire: the third single, the single that makes up for That day. Good lyrics, powerfull chorus and will not dissapoint any Torn-fans. The video is her most beautifull video ever.

3. Satellite: The first happy song on the album. One of my favorites, and one of the albums best songs. Not a single though. This song actually atracted a stalker to Natalie, because of this part: ''so move a little closer, it's alright, I know what you are thinking, you have been circling me for a while''. A stalker took this personal and began wondering around at her house. The song only lasts 3 minutes, what is a shame.

4. Do you love?: The lyris are very, very good and really get you. The opening tune is very addicting, the chorus is rocky.

5. Wrong impression: The best song of the album. Second single, and the one with most succes. On the radio a lot, and it has a catchy tune, good lyrics. Probably the best song on the album. The video is really fun and it is the first happy-natalie video. It is very poppy.

6. Goodbye: A very sad song, and not one of my favorites. And again: the lyrics are good. What is a great improvement on this album compared to left of the middle.

7. Everything goes: One of my favorites. Gives you a feeling that everything is possible. The song makes me happy.

8. Hurricane: It looks like Everything goes a lot, and is almost just as good. It becomes a bit boring after listening to it to much.

9. Sunlight: One of the best songs of the album, and it could have been a great single. It is about life and the way we handle life. We never really see what is happening around us.

10. Talk in tongues: This one she performed live in 1998. Makes me feel really sad, the lyrics are powerfull but the rest of the song did not impress me. A slightly catchy song.

11. Butterflies: Don't understand what this one is about, but when she sings: Butterflies, Butterflie-ha-ha-ha-ice, it has a lot of emotion.

12. Come september: One of the best, and a great song to end the album. It gives you hope and this is one of the songs that makes this album so great.

White Lilies Island is called White Lilies Island because it is where she wrote her songs, it is an Island somewhere. She was isolated when she wrote the album, that's why most lyrics are so sad. The songs are not Alanis Morissette-a-like anymore, what gives her a style of her own.

This is the best cd ever. The fact that ' White Lilies Island ' has
not got much attention of the media, gives the cd an atmosphere as if
Natalie plays just for you. Natalie's voice is pure... and the
songs can be only described as pure pop! Here is a survey of all twelve songs:

#01 THAT DAY : This is a nice entrance to the cd. It grows on you after two listens. Nice arrangement, beautifully sung. It was however a mistake to release it as a single in Europe. The song is about escaping from all the pain that is in your life. 9/10

#02 BEAUTY ON THE FIRE : This song is a little dancy compared to the rest of the album, especially in it's excellent radio mix, included on the single (which also includes three amazing b-sides and the splendid video). Fresh and catchy, it is one of my favourites. 10/10

#03 SATELLITE : Quite good, but not great. It offers some fine `Hawaiian' beats, and it is very catchy. It's feel however is quite bubblegumpoppish. 7/10

#04 DO YOU LOVE : This one was a grower for me, although the chorus is very catchy. The melody is haunting. The meaning is however quite vague, something about avoiding a person fall into chaos. 8/10

#05 WRONG IMPRESSION : Ah, the album version of the UK #10 song. It's different from the radio mix which is heard in the video, less catchy. Don't play it too often, if you don't want it to become dull. 7/10

#06 GOODBYE : This song is very very great. Depressive but great. As it builds tension, the sound becomes much rockier. The song is, yes, about saying goodbye. 9/10

#07 EVERYTHING GOES : Another good song, has a nice `paradise' feel, is however somewhat unremarkable among the other songs. 8/10

#08 HURRICANE : Slow and beautiful. "You're all that I could be/And I'm falling on my knees", you are likely to play this song every time you play the cd. 9/10

#09 SUNLIGHT : Another favourite, could have been a single. Very catchy and grown-up, respected the lyrics: Natalie tells us to enjoy the small good things in life, like sunlight on your face. She is right. 10/10

#10 TALK IN TONGUES : An amazing song, with some nice vocals (especially when singing "Crying like a baby"). Not very catchy. 9/10

#11 BUTTERFLIES : As `White Lilies Island' fades to an end, the songs build more and more melancholy and maturity. Like `Goodbye', the sound becomes fuller towards the end. I don't know why not many people like it. It rocks. 10/10

#12 COME SEPTEMBER : Everybody is holding his breath for this. A song full of hope, with a fantastic orchestral arrangement. Bravo. 10/10

Average: 8.83/10. That's five stars! If you don't already have it, you should go buy it immediately!

The lyrical work on this CD is outstanding.. Natalie obviously knows how it is being on the darker side of life at times, and myself occasionally becoming depressed.. I was really able to relate to all the songs and lyrics.

Standouts are "That Day" & "Come September", which are very powerful in their delivery & give you a feeling that everything will one day day be alright.. while other songs such as "Talk In Tongues" & "Goodbye" can really set you off into a melancholy mood for days. Then songs like "Wrong Impression", "Sunlight", & "Satellite" are perfect for the radio & everyday listening.

Every song is a gem and is one of my favorite albums of all time. People who can't appreciate it have obviously never been through a tough time in their life, thus not being able to relate to the songs' meanings.

GET IT!!!

I can understand why the rest of 1.8 million Americans have bought LEFT OF THE MIDDLE but have not bought this album. Torn is a very good song, no one can deny it, whether you are a pop fan, rock fan, or alternative fans. Wishing I Was There is another strong follow-up from her first debut, which show her attitude in singing. So as the other unreleased singles like Intuition and One More Addiction.
What I can say is, this album failed to live up the success of her first stunning debut... WHITE LILIES ISLAND contains some of the most depressing songs I have ever heard. But hey, THAT DAY is an awesome record which has never received enough air play it deserves. Hurricane might be the BEST love rock ballad I have ever listened to. Everything Goes, is another relaxing record. Wrong Impression which made its way to Top 40 last year should have gained more airplays. Beauty on the Fire is one of the best song I have ever heard from a female artist. Just Another Day, a B-side from her That Day single might be the unreleased BEST rock song I have ever heard.
In short, this album is fantastic, but it should be promoted more by the record company. Having sold 1 million copies worldwide since its release in November 2001 proved that this album aint a flop. However, personally, despite of her emotional lyrics and voice, I would like to see Natalie could come up with something similar with LEFT OF THE MIDDLE-ish, and full with attitude in her third album.

After a significant wait following her smash hit record Left of the Middle, Natalie Imbruglia returns with her sophomore album. Straight off it's clear that the wait was worth it, as the two words that spring to mind when listening are intricate and intimate. Beginning with single That Day, Imbruglia takes a much more melancholy tone that was hinted at with Smoke and Pigeons and Crumbs from her first album. That Day surprised listeners with its almost lack of actual singing, instead virtually spoken in a hurried tone that suits the lyrics perfectly. However, such a change, no matter how slight (there were hints of what was to come on White Lilies Island peppered throughout Left of the Middle) failed to make the impression on the charts that runaway success Torn did. This seems a shame given the inherent beauty of many of the songs here, and Imbruglia's voice is comparable to British act Nerina Pallot in its earnestness mixed with the high notes that she carries off tunefully. The near-perfection of the vocals are just one of the pleasant surprises that this album has to offer.

The edgier material from Left of the Middle such as Big Mistake and Impressed is here substituted for a spacey feel on tracks such as Talk in Tongues, and as a whole the record veers much more towards `pure' pop. The word pure comes to mind mostly because of the vocals, but songs such as Wrong Impression and Satellite will have you humming along like nothing else Imbruglia's ever done before. Alongside this though are the ballads, which are not only superbly put together but are also impressive lyrically, moving from the distanced but brilliant Smoke towards a much more intimate feeling, in particular on songs such as Goodbye and Do You Love. Even the inlay, comprised of photographs and sketches suggest the intimacy with which Imbruglia (who shares writing credits on every song) put this album together. Somehow the album manages to meld together spacey influences with heartfelt ballads and guitar pop without making the album seem inconsistent. Of particular note is the last track, Come September, which again shows Imbruglia's talent as a songwriter. Undoubtedly White Lilies Island will suffer from not being as instantly accessible as a whole as Left of the Middle was, but there's no doubt that it's a better album, better produced and better written, which is in no way to disparage the achievements of her previous album, which is certainly worth looking up.

What's perhaps most impressive though is that when it comes to comparing Imbruglia to other female artists, it's difficult to find one similar in style. This surely shows that she's found a niche all of her own, which should serve her well when she comes to releasing further records, which I will look forward to with great anticipation. If I could give a 4.5 star rating that's what I'd give White Lilies Island. It may not be perfect, but it's as close as you can get.

Most artists suffer trying to decide how to follow up a successful debut album. How does someone like Natalie Imbruglia acheive this, especially since her debut LEFT OF THE MIDDLE was so popular and dominated the charts? Well folks she did it, and here is WHITE LILIES ISLAND. There is something for all her fans on this one, many songs somewhat mirror ones from her debut. My favorite track personally is "Goodbye", she sounds so resonante and beautiful on this track. The album is much more in depth in terms of emotional turbulence, she goes deeper, its a moodier album than LEFT OF THE MIDDLE. Lyrically, there is growth on this album, even with the numerous producers and collaborations in writing. The closing "Come September" is a truly beautiful song with so much rich meaning within its lyrics. "That Day" has an interesting mix of dark and emotional delivery from Natalie. Highlights include "Beauty on the Fire", "Butterflies", "Wrong Impression", "Goodbye", "Come September", and more. Overall I think its a step in the right direction, overflowing with quality and talent, there is progression here, if you loved the first you will love this one as well.

Wow. That's all I can say, is wow.

Let's face it, Natalie's debuet album, Left of the Middle, was great. There were a few songs on it that made you want to tear your hair out, but still-- great.

It doesn't COMPARE to this one.

If SMOKE was your favorite song on LOTM, then Goodbye will be your new favorite on this one. If it was Torn, your next one will be That Day. Now, personally, I didn't like That Day at first. I would skip right ahead to Beauty on the Fire. But once, I didn't and I waited it out, and WOW. What a great song. The guitars really get to you, like someone talking.

I had the wonderful oppourtunity to see Natalie in cooncert at The Atlantis resort, Paradise Island. That girl can put on a show. It gave me new appreciation for songs I wouldn't normally listen to, like COME SEPTEMBER. It almost seems reminscent of 9/11, but differernt, somehow.

This is a well-rounded CD, and while I guarentee you won't like every song (or maybe you will, you're just like that) you will like more than half of it if you enjoyed LOTM.

Honest.

It is truly a wonderful CD. The time off did her will.