Vanessa-Mae - Storm
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Free Music Notes for Storm
Free Music Review: COULD BE THE NEXT "ENYA"...BUT...
Hit: 5 Stars
...flippin' thru the channels (mostly boring fare) while I'm re-readin' Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" - my all time favorite book/series (for about the 7th time!) - and I happened to channel-stop on the local college/art station. At night they run MTV-like Videos - only mostly "classical stuff" - and what do I see!THIS REALLY "HOT LOOKIN' BABE" WITH A VIOLIN!
Well I'll always give a look-see to one of these pieces, even if it's "classical" ( I mean the music...classical stuff's too "heady" for me, normally, unless I'm at a live concert).
Well, 30 seconds into the piece, and she gets an upward revision from a "HOT-BABE" TO AN "ANGEL," and I'm hypnotized....
Who is this! This should be on MTV (the high-end admitedly), not in semi-obscurity on a local PBS community station!
...to make a long story short. So I run out first thing in the morning and buy the album.
there are 14 songs on the album...but I bought this album on the strength of ONE SONG, and I don't care if the rest are any good (hope they are, but as long as I possess that ONE SONG).
That one song goes in my Lifetime Top-Ten favorites. That's how good I think it is!
THAT SONG IS: "I'M A DOUN"
My next quest will be to get a copy of the Video...positively mesmerizing! A song and video hasn't grabbed me like this since the first time I saw "Enya's "Carribean Blue" on MTV some years ago. In fact MTV should run this video!
To give you an idea...
Think of something like a "best of Yanni" - a driving Celtic melody (with a super-charged Mae on her violin) that sound's like it should be the main theme for a movie like a "Braveheart" or "RobRoy" type film.
Almost certain this piece will be used for a movie theme or high-end commercial.
Now about the rest of the album.
First, let me say: She is an awesome violinist!
Wow, she's all over the boards. Techno, Some Hip-Hop sounding bits, classical of course...
I liked the "Bach Street Prelude," a nice pastoral classical type piece, also, I liked the Reggae style of "Embrasse Moi"...
...the rest a little too heady, too techo-fast, complicated...but good at showing Mae's super-charged capabilities with the violin.
I'll give it a "FIVE-STAR" rating for "I'm a Doun". I like the song that much, and the other two pieces I mentioned were easy-listening.
What I hope for the future...is that Mae and her team focus on more pieces like "I'm a Doun." If she does this, she will certainly become the next "Enya!"
Free Music Review: Vanessa's Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
This follow-up to the groundbreaking 'The Violin Player' is the most revolutionary violin album out there, taking everything achieved by its predecessor several steps, if not leaps, forward. Establishing what is her trademark with this album, Vanessa reworks and invigorates many beautiful songs. 'Summer Haze' and 'Storm', are two of the most inspiring renditions of pieces from Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' I have ever heard, capturing every note of the intense beauty and vivaciousness that the original pieces had years ago, but now with wondrous modern influences. This is equaled, if not excelled, by the stunning 'Bach Street Prelude', Mae's arrangement with producer Andy Hill of the renowned Bach piece 'Preludio'. Lilting, georgeous and uplifting, this interpretation leaves the previously recorded "classical version" in the dust, with Vanessa playing with so much more emotional intensity and personality to her own remarkeable style. 'Happy Valley', a song written by Vanessa herself, among others, is the unforgettably breathtaking theme used for the Re-Unification of Hong Kong; the song progresses with intricate production of a choir, interludes within the song, before a fantastic, spellbinding finale, easily one of the most stirring and beautiful songs of the past decade. The album continues with endless highlights, including the Spanish-flavored 'Retro' and 'Leyenda' and an exuberent performance of the Can Can, called '(I) Can, Can (You?)' on this album, to the joyous and fresh 'Embrasse Moi (You Fly Me Up)', 'Hocus Pocus', and a remake of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' with Vanessa contributing vocals. 'A Poet's Quest (For A Distant Paradise)' is beauiful in that it captures the bittersweetness of soul-searching with reverse side: the uplifting and adventurous; while 'I'm A Doun' is a one-song culmination of all the priceless elements on the album. 'The Blessed Spirits' is the dynamic closer to a landmark album, leaving the listener with just as much impact as the first notes of the first track.
This album is a masterpiece because the recordings here will be remembered not only for their beauty and life, but for the wondrous talent and musical genius they represent and convey. Those wise enough to buy the album and expose themselves to such beautiful music will, I hope, agree.
Free Music Review: It really does deserve all 5 stars
Hit: 5 Stars
What other Vanessa-Mae fans call "inconsistent" I call "versatile". Her first pop album was only 45 minutes long and contained 10 songs, only 5 of which were good (although when Vanessa-Mae is good, she's VERY good). Storm is almost 70 minutes long, has 11 songs plus 3 repeats from other albums, and every one of them is well worth listening to. This is the finest album made by the finest instrumentalist alive. There is music for any taste from hokey Branson style to heart-tugging serene beauty to pulse-pounding raw power. Anyone who plays "Storm," "A Poet's Quest," "I'm a Doun," and "The Blessed Spirits" at full volume on a good stereo system will go away with their head spinning and their emotions turned upside down. Vanessa-Mae is unbelievably brilliant at fully capturing both the emotional and intellectual side of music.Free Music Review: Confessions of a Vanessa fan
Hit: 5 Stars
About a year ago im staying over at a friends house. for some bizare reason he likes to watch spanierd tv after a couple of minutes of me being bored out of my skull they introduce someone with a name i couldent really get. suddenly the finenest looking oriental woman ive seen in mylife comes out, and starts to play a song that magicaly touches my heart. i melted. after its over all i can say "thats the woman i want to marry one day" i rush over to the record store and pick up her album "violin player". and ive been a fan ever since.i have to say this cd is three times better than violing player my perosnal fave is "storm" & "(i)can can (you?)". her fast beats just make you get up and get moving and her slow ones comfert you. it is magnificent i recomend this cd for all first time Mae listerners.
Free Music Review: Well worth buying
Hit: 5 Stars
I purchased this CD over 6 months ago and it is still in my regular rotation of those CDs I listen to at least once a week.There is a lot of variety amongst the tracks, and so I think you'll find yourself gravitating towards some of the pieces more than others. I don't think I will EVER grow tired of listening to "I'm a Doun".
I frankly don't care as much for the techno additions to Vivaldi. I love Vivaldi, and I really like techno, but I'm not one for the mixing of the two. Listening to the Vivaldi tracks here simply makes me want to go listen to the more traditional renditions of The Four Seasons.
Still, "I'm a Doun", "Happy Valley", "Embrasse Moi" and several of the other tracks make this a 5-star CD, regardless of what I think of the Vivaldi tracks.