Megan Mullally & Supreme Music Program - Big As a Berry
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Free Music Notes for Big As a Berry
Free Music Review: Berry Wonderful!
Hit: 5 Stars
I had heard Megan Mullally sing "Take it With Me" on David Letterman, and I fell in love with her voice. This is quite simply the best cd I have ever bought, there is not one song on it that I would skip over, not a single one. I, being 17, have not heard many of those songs by their original artists, so I can't compare versions, but I know that if I had to choose one cd to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be this one. She didn't restrict herself to one particular style for any of her songs, some are country, some are jazzy, and then there is "Danny Boy", which has been sung by so many artists that all try to sound like each other so that you never hear any deviation from the same old sentiments, but Megan Mullally has completely revitalized it, so that it actually has some major feeling in it. I cried the first time I heard that track; It was the first time I cried at hearing "Danny Boy" since I heard it the first time when I was 5. There is so much feeling in her voice that I would definitely put her higher on my list than Bette Midler for her "Bette of Roses" cd, or "Bath house Betty". Both, while very good, seemed like dear Bette was only going through the motions, wheras Megan Mullally made every single song the best on "Big as a Berry". I'm already plugging for another cd, and I'm sure it will be of the same quality as her earlier "Sweetheart Break-In" and now "Big as a Berry".Free Music Review: DIVA'S DAZZLING DEBUT
Hit: 5 Stars
For those who only know Ms. Mullally for her sublime Karen Walker on "Will and Grace", this CD will come as a true revelation. But her stage background is well documented (perhaps mostly due to her pairing with Matthew Broderick in his Tony-winning "How to Succeed..." redux)and now we get the best of both worlds.One word of caution: DO NOT expect her to treat any of these songs with kid gloves or to sing them in the too-respectful manner of many interpreters. She is an original (how often can that be said anymore?) stylist and gives many of these tunes (including a couple of warhorses) a new life.
Starting with a soaring version of the Beatles' "Bathroom Window", sailing through Southern gothic with a woozy version of "Ode to Billie Joe", caressing the gorgeous melodies of "Real Emotional Girl" and "Take It With Me", or completely reinvesting the long-missing passion back into a stunning "Danny Boy", this CD is often overwhelming in its diversity and success. Ms. Mullally deserves to sit beside Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, and, quite often, Ms. Streisand.
My first reaction to this album was to tell as many people as possible to buy it. Please do.
Free Music Review: DIVA! DIVA! DIVA!
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD is perfection! For those of you wanting Megan to re-hash Broadway standards or simply belt out old favorites-this is not the CD for you. For those of you who want to hear an actress with a great voice perform songs with every muscle in her body-pull up a chair and take notice. Megan seems to select songs that have disenfranchised characters. She picks material in the same vein as Ute Lemper-stories of people who sometimes fall through the cracks, but who are absolutely fascinating. It appears Ms. Megan likes to tell stories and act out the songs. She is truly a musical theatre actress. Almost every song on the disc sounds like she's a different character. Her first CD is wonderful too, so if you don't have it-go find it. However, on Big As A Berry, Megan seems to inhabit the characters more and gives so many moving performances.Her Kurt Weill song interpretation is stunning and brilliant-right up there with Ute Lemper. Megan really takes her time on a song and feels it, acts it, and becomes it. I'm blown away. Hopefully, after Wil & Grace is over she will tour and impress audiences with her incandescent talent. There is so much more to this fine actress than Karen. Support this amazing diva and buy her CD.
Free Music Review: Eclectic mix from a damn fine singer!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an amazing album in my opinion, exploring almost every genre of music. It goes from Bathroom Window, a kind of electric and 'pop-y' track, through to the Tennessee-style 'My Dear Companion' to the beautifully heartfelt 'Take it with me' which finishes it off. My favourite, though, is Ode to Billie Joe. I love how it's changed from the original, you can just imagine yourself in a smoky bar somewhere. And she gives such emotion and power to Danny Boy, it totally changes its meaning for me, from a ballad lamenting lost love to a song proclaiming the triumph of love over death. "I shall HEAR, though soft you tread above me', I will hear you and death won't stop me.
I'm trying to understand why so far 4 or 5 people of the now 50 something who have reviewed this CD on Amazon didn't like it. I guess it has absolutely no pattern what so ever, and maybe some people don't like that. But for me, that's part of what I loved about it, it's unpredictable and has a bit of everything. And there was a comment about Megan's vocals being unpolished. Well, I guess this is just a difference of opinion, to me her vocals sounded raw, real and beautiful.
Overall, an incredible CD that I would say is a must-have.
Free Music Review: Janis Joplin meets Bernadette Peters
Hit: 5 Stars
Listeners who only know Megan Mullally as the shrilly hilarious Karen Walker on "Will & Grace" are in for a surprise when they first hear this CD. For the last time, Karen's voice is *not* Megan's real voice! Megan's background as a Broadway singer shines through on "Big as a Berry," but the album's eclectic mix of song styles prove that Megan can't be neatly labeled as a show tune singer. Rock, country, theater -- this CD has it all, and Megan can do it all.
Each song tells a story, and Megan performs as each narrator, exhibiting a wide range of emotion and experiences. Particular standouts are Lennon/McCartney's "Bathroom Window," Randy Newman's "Real Emotional Girl," Bobbie Gentry's "Fancy" (listen for Billy Porter's stunning backup vocals on this one), George Richey's "The Grand Tour," Fred Weatherley's "Danny Boy" and Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "Take It with Me."
Backed up by a terrific band, the Supreme Music Program, Megan enfuses each track with passion, consummate showmanship and a lust for life.