Review of Odyssey

[kcuteus1]

I have some more feeling about this cd as I hear it more. I think the accompaniments are more than great. I think that is one of the best parts of this cd. With aria I think some parts do not sound like here I also think some parts of ave maria do not sound like her and I argee that I say Grace can be a let down. And I do think that 'Never Saw Blue' sould of had more of a tempo.

[1littlegirl]

Well, here is my review of Odyssey.

Let me start off by saying that Odyssey is overall a very good album. It does have it’s good points and not-so-good points. I just think that this is probably Hayley’s experimental album, so I can understand why.

Odyssey is an album filled with many different styles of songs. There is some celtic, light pop, classical, ballads, and some that I don’t what they’re called!

To start off the album, there is a beautiful song called “Prayer.” I think the best word to describe this song is “heavenly.” I like how the chorus is repeated several times. This song is definitely one of my favourites.

“Never Saw Blue” is a soft ballad. At first I thought this song was boring, but now I think it’s really growing on me.

“Dell’Amore Non Si Sa” is a song that Andrea Bocelli first had on his album. Hayley sings the verses in English as opposed to the original Italian. I really do wish that she had sung them in Italian because I love Italian and it sounds better in this song. However, this song is very nice and Hayley and Andrea’s voices blend well.

Then there comes Caccini’s beautiful “Ave Maria.” Hayley sings this song so well it could have been written for her! The orchestra does a very wonderful job, and this song becomes one of the greatest classical pieces.

“Both Sides Now” is a really good song. This is one of my favourites too. I had never heard of it until Hayley sang it and I really like it. It’s a very simple song that doesn’t require much accompaniment. I find this song to be really laid back and relaxing.

“What You Never Know” is a quiet song co-written by Hayley. She sings in a sort of child-like sounding voice in this song. I don’t particularly care for this song although I must give Hayley credit for writing a nice part in this song.

“May It Be” is a beautiful song from Lord of the Rings. This song is very pretty, and I must say that Hayley does much better than the original Enya version.

Next comes the gorgeous classical piece, “Quanta Qualia.” I would equate this song with “Benedictus” from Pure. That's good because I absolutely love "Benedictus"! A beautiful choir accompanies as Hayley’s voice soars through this song. Hayley reaches some very high notes in this piece, and they are very good!

“Bachianas Brasilieras No.5 Aria Cantilena”--whatever, I just prefer to call it “Aria.” Anyways, I love everything about this song! I love the fact that there are no words, I love Hayley’s vocals, I love the tune, and I love singing along! This song is absolutely pure perfection.

“She Moves Through the Fair” is a nice celtic sounding song. I did find it disappointing, though, that Hayley didn’t seem to sing very much in this song. The first and second verses were combined into one and then there is a huge interlude thing and then the second verse. But oh well, it’s nice anyway.

“I Say Grace” is a very interesting song. Lol. I’m not sure where Hayley was going with this one, but it doesn’t seem to fit the atmosphere of Odyssey. I thought it was supposed to be a gospel song, but it doesn’t really sound like one.

And finally “My Heart Belongs to You” is a soft pop song. Hayley pulls off this song very well. She reaches some incredibly low notes in this song. Hayley is really increasing her vocal range! This is a nice ending to the album.

Well, I’ve just realised that pretty much every song on this album seems to be very soft and quiet. Maybe that’s what Hayley was going for. Whatever the case, Odyssey is definitely an album that will do very well around the world. I think it will do very well in the US if she performs some of the popular songs around here, like “May It Be.” I just hope we get some more songs on our edition.

Overall, very well done, Hayley!

[Richard]

Hello Cathleen!

Many thanks for an excellent review. I bet you're finding that the more you listen to "Odyssey", the more you notice, and the more you like it. Hayley's singing never fails to impress! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes from London,

Richard

[roger]

Hi Cathleen,

Thank you for your delightful review of Odyssey. I think you might find that those songs which didn't impress you quite so much may grow on you during the coming weeks. There were one or two on Pure that tended to wash over me for a while but now I love them all.

Roger

[Dave]

Hi Cathleen and Roger,

Nice review there, Cathleen... and I agree with what Roger said about some of the tracks growing on you after a while, that's already happening to me! I wasn't keen on I Say Grace at first but now I like it; I didn't like Hayley's use of vibrato on 'Aria' but now, I don't mind it at all; nor do i mind the fact that some electronic enhancement *may* have been done (not sure). Let's face it, everyone probably has some of this on their albums nowadays. And we already know that few singers in the World are able to reproduce their album singing "live" in Concert as well as... Hayley!

Even that new version of "What You Never Know" that was played on Radio 2 is growing on me now... you just have to forget about Hayley's album version when you listen to it!

Regarding the "very high notes" in Quantia Qualia, I am going to fire up some audio software later today, to try and work out exactly how high Hayley gets. But first (possibly to save me the trouble!) can any of our singers who have heard it all tell me what is the high note she hits in that track?

Cheers, Dave

[emmettb]

Hi Cathleen,

Thanks for your great review of 'Odyssey', very enjoyable to read.

Good to see the way some of the songs have grown on you, just like with a few others in here too. It would be interesting to see what peoples review of the album would be in a few months time and then compare then to their first impressions.

Interesting to see you did'nt find 'I Say Grace' fitting in with the album. I definitly agree with you there, I think its probably the weakest song I've heard Hayley perform on, sorry guys don't all hit at once............


Well Done,

Emmett i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[roger]

dave said:

Even that new version of "What You Never Know" that was played on Radio 2 is growing on me now... you just have to forget about Hayley's album version when you listen to it!

Cheers, Dave

I have always believed that the first version you ever hear of a particular song tends to be the one you favour when later versions come along, even if they are performed by the same singer. It is as though the later versions never seem quite right somehow.

If anyone hears the Radio 2 version of 'What You Never Know' before hearing the Odyssey version, it will be interesting to know which you prefer.

Roger

[Dave]

1littlegirl said:

Well, here is my review of Odyssey.
[snips]
Next comes the gorgeous classical piece, “Quanta Qualia.” ... Hayley reaches some very high notes in this piece, and they are very good!

...And finally “My Heart Belongs to You” is a soft pop song. Hayley pulls off this song very well. She reaches some incredibly low notes in this song. Hayley is really increasing her vocal range!

Well Cathleen, with comments like that, i just had to investigate! So I did a spectrum analysis on the PC... and also compared it with my daughter's old keyboard just to make sure

Hayley's vocal range on Odyssey seems to go from the F sharp below middle C (On My Heart Belongs to You) up to the D above High A - two octaves and one note above middle C (in Quantia Qualia, of course).

If I am right, that makes a range of two octaves plus five and a half notes. I don't know how to express that correctly! It sounds like a pretty wide range to me and wider, I think, than Hayley achieved on "Pure" by quite a bit

I'll say no more because I'm scared of the singers who inhabit this forum but it sounds pretty impressive to me! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Edit: corrected after re-checking

[1littlegirl]

I'm so glad you all like my review. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Hmm...I thought Hayley went higher than high A. It seems like it anyway.

[Oksana]

Dave, I have no idea what "a range of two octaves plus two and a half notes" means, but it sounds pretty good, and I'm glad to see Hayley is increasing her range. As your vocal range increases and you can sing different songs, your audience gets broader too.

[roger]

According to an online music dictionary here, the soprano range covers about 2 full octaves rising from about middle C. If Hayley's vocal range is five semitones greater than that, it sounds pretty impressive to me.

Roger

[roger]

.....But according to Wikipedia here, the lower end of the range goes down to A.

Quote: "In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C (i.e. A3-C6)."

Roger

[Oksana]

roger said:

.....But according to Wikipedia here, the lower end of the range goes down to A.

Quote: "In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C (i.e. A3-C6)."

Roger

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia anyone can edit / add to, so I would trust the first piece of information more.

[roger]

someone said:

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia anyone can edit / add to, so I would trust the first piece of information more.

Thank you very much, Someone. I didn't realise that.

Roger

[Dave]

Nooo!!!!!! I sampled the wrong bit in QQ - Cathleen is right, Hayley goes upto the D that is TWO octaves above middle C, Sorry folks. So that ,makes it the F# below middle C to the D that's two octaves and one note above middle C.

Better, don'tcha think? i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[PS I'll edit the original post to avoid utter confusion.]