Josh Groban - Closer
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Free Music Notes for Closer
Free Music Review: Tiger Groban?
Hit: 5 Stars
There is something to be said for an artist that essentially defines a musical category. Sure, the title of "Pop Opera" has been around for a while, with the Three Tenors and Andrea Bocelli representing this class of music well. Josh brings a youth to this normally staid genre much the same way Tiger Woods does to golf, with experience well beyond their years. Josh is a phenomenal talent that sings with great emotion on a wide variety of incredible pieces.Among my favorites:
- You Raise Me Up: Easily could be played on any top 40 station. This is the kind of song that could have been done by Bette Middler (a la "Wind Beneath My Wings"), but is bolder in its arrangement with several "take your breath away" moments, whereas the former just seems to ooze.
- Mi Mancherai: Anyone who can listen to this should be able to know what the song is about without having to know the words. Joshua Bell's violin blends so well with Josh's vocals that you feel the sense lost love and the emotional emptiness of the narrator in this flat out gorgeous song.
- When You Say You Love Me: Josh takes you to a place several times in this song that you just don't see coming. Again, could be a great radio tune.
- Oceano: I must look like a complete goober to everyone who sees me driving while this song is on, as I conduct my own personal orchestra and sing along to a language I know nothing about. One of the more up-tempo songs on the album.
- Remember When it Rained: Lots of friends comment to me that they have a lot more respect for musicians that can write and perform their songs, rather than just sing. This song shows that Josh really is a consummate musician. He co-wrote the song, and plays piano... quite well I might add.
While I've only mentioned my favorites here, quite honestly, all the songs are good in that they span an emotional spectrum in an hour. No, it's not everybody's cup of tea, but neither is golf. Josh's gift to us is that he transcends beyond his genre's normal audience. Do not miss this recording!
Free Music Review: A Voice For Your Soul...
Hit: 5 Stars
This cd is amazing! Josh Groban has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard and if he doesn't move some part of you, you must be made of stone! My favorite song on this cd is "Si Volvieras A Mi" This song is about a lost love. The title means loosely "Return to me" It's so beautiful and powerful! He sings it with such feeling that you can't help but despair for him!"Per Te" is another beauty. It means "For You" It's basically a song about how much he loves someone and what he'd do for them to show that love. Josh co-wrote the music for this song and he did a beautiful job. "Mi Mancherai" is the theme from "Il Postino" made into a love song. Joshua Bell plays the violin so beautifully on this song. His part was specifically written for this song and it melts in with Josh's voice so well! "Remember When It Rained" is an original song by the master himself with some help on the music from Eric Mouquet. He also plays piano on the track. There is also a song on here, a duo with Deep Forest called "Never Let Go" It's a great song, kind of slow and electronic sounding. He wrote the words for this song while Eric Mouquet wrote the music. This album definitely shows how much Josh has grown as an artist. It's a beautiful collaboration of music and voice, one that you won't be disappointed in! If you can swing it, you should get the special editions with the extra songs. "Mi Morena" is typically Spanish sounding and beautifully sang in a falsetto voice in certain parts. It's one I find myself repeating over and over. There's also "You're the Only Place" which was barely sung on his PBS special and also sang by Nick Lachey (though Josh does a MUCH better job) That song is so incredible! You can feel the pain of loss as he sings it and you wish for him to reunite with his love again. This cd is so amazingly done, you'll be remiss if you pass up the opportunity to buy it either for yourself or a loved one!
Free Music Review: Josh Groban is BETTER than ANY SINGER I've ever heard!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is in response to all of the classical music fans giving Closer a one-star rating and recommending baritones such as Dimtri Hvorostovsky and Bryn Terfel. One recent reviewer said: "If you have heard all of these singers and still think Groban's cd is the best thing, then I am really speechless. Please don't call me a snob just because I would like to share with you some of the best voices in the world." OK, go ahead and BE speechless, because I HAVE listened to ALL of those baritones, and YES, Josh Groban IS the best! His voice IS TEN TIMES BETTER than their voices!! And no, I won't call you a snob, but you definitely need to put Josh's CD on and LISTEN to it, because I DON'T think you have! And I will tell you exactly WHY I think his voice is better: all of these supposedly 'wonderful' baritones have a VERY NASAL quality to their voice. It sounds as if they are all singing holding their noses closed!! And I believe THAT is why MOST people do NOT like opera: that nasal quality is just NOT appealing to MOST people. Josh Groban does not have ANY nasal sound to his voice WHATSOEVER--it is a pure and beautiful sound like NO OTHER, and THAT'S why people are going SO NUTS over him! Personally I cannot understand how anyone could prefer a nasal voice over Josh's voice. If David Kelly had picked Dimtri Hvorostovsky to sing at the prom on the Ally McBeal episode (instead of Josh Groban), I would bet a million dollars that 8000 people would NOT have flooded the network's email with requests asking who was the guy with the incredible voice, like they did with Josh. (In fact, I would guess they might have gotten some complaints!) SO, if you like the nasal sound, that's your choice, but just realize that most people don't--and give Josh a chance--just listen to the pure and beautiful tone of his voice. And remember Josh is NOT an opera singer--he's a POP singer just singing simple and beautiful music that grabs onto your heart and sends you to heaven.Free Music Review: Top notch album !!
Hit: 5 Stars
The wait for this album is now over. Now the music rolls on from the debut album - Josh Groban...and the teaser Live album, where we first heard Broken Vow. Broken Vow is heard here in CLOSER .... beautiful arrangement. This studio version is more intimate than the live version and takes us into the betrayal of this relationship.
Amongst the songs collected here, You Raise Me Up is truly outstanding. A cover of Secret Garden's gem. The opening, similarly, with Uilleann pipes sets the mood of the Irish Famine as pictured with the stirring lyric. Josh and team have done an exquisite take, made it quite his own. And I still love Secret Garden's version....
Paul Schwartz and David Foster's ALL'IMPROVVISO AMORE is another brilliant track. Punchy as the choppy sea...fluid as Josh's voice. I'm so impressed.
Joshua Bell's opening in MI MANCHERAI from il postino is typical of his standard - brilliant. Josh's voice flows into the song and again, fills it with poetry. More than I can say for Deborah Harry's version in English. As much as I love Deborah, her set of English lyric did nothing for the melody, which is recorded for the Cinema Italiano album.
Never Let Go is somewhat disappointing; a rather so-so track with Eric Mouquet. The voice does not sit into the song, or is it the other way, I cannot say.
Remember When It Rained with Eric Mouquet is so much better. Add the words, written by Josh and the song is very attractive. The arrangement sets the moody tone of rain and tears...
And there's something for everyone: a spanish track, a french one, throw in Lucio Dalla's Caruso and you get, all together, a very very impressive album from this young man.
Production-wise, this album is very good; vocals still warm and earthy.
Josh's voice has grown and the maturity shines through with smoothness and grace. Great album. Keep enjoying your work Josh and keep performing..
Thanks for the music.
Free Music Review: What a voice!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have to say, this cd took my breath away!!! This was my first cd of his that I listened to (my aunt gave it to me b/c she had extra copies) and I completely fell in love with his voice. The first cd is also excellent, but I think I like this one more. I think what makes this cd so wonderful is the level of passion that Josh puts in to each and every song. Some of my favorite songs are "Oceano", "My Confession", "When You Say You Love Me", and "You Raise Me Up" However, my absolute favorite is "Mi Mancherai" especially with the beautiful violin accompanying it. That song especially has so much passion, you just want to start singing with him! He sings in Italian, Spanish, French, and English, and let me say he sounds like he was born speaking each of these languages. For those that have complained in their reviews that you don't like this cd b/c he doesn't sing in English and you can't understand...maybe you should try exposing yourself to more cultural things. For one, it's not that hard to look up the translations on the internet. Also, even without understanding the words, I can still interpret what he's singing about. Josh has the wonderful ability to convey emotion and passion through his voice and music, he doesn't need the words to do that for him. I still want to laugh or cry when I hear his songs, regardless of whether or not I understand the words. I also think it's great that the other languages help make the cd appeal to other cultures, not just english speaking countries.
He wrote the lyrics to "Remember When It Rained", which is an absolutely stunning piece, and coproduced 2 other songs I believe. I think it's great that he helped with at least a few songs, it shows that he's dedicated to his work. I strongly recommend this cd, it's definitely worth it! I definitely expect to be hearing more from him in the future, he's an incredibly talented young man and I highly recommend this cd!