Too long to wait?

[roger]

In most countries where both Pure and Odyssey have been released, there was a gap of approximately two years between them. This has been discussed many times between certain members when we have met up at concerts so let's throw it wide open in the form of a poll.

As ever, please add any comments below.

Thanks,
Roger

[1littlegirl]

I think two years is probably a good amount of time between Hayley's albums.

Being a huge Hayley fan, I naturally love to hear new songs all the time. And Hayley gives us that in the form of Special Editions and bonus tracks.

Somehow I think that waiting two years as opposed to one or half a year just works out better in the production of the album. It seems to me that more space inbetween albums allows more time to work on arrangements and recording, thereby resulting in a beautiful well-produced album.

[Andrew]

Hi All,

I've just responded to Roger's poll with a vote of "No".

During interview, Hayley has commented that the time between releasing 'Pure' and 'Odyssey' was an important transition for her, both in terms of allowing her to develop her singing voice and concentrating on the selection of new material for 'Odyssey'.

As a result, we have been treated to 2 very unique albums. Having said that, on attending my last Hayley concert, I was delighted by the repertoire, which featured a number of songs from both albums. The mix of material was "seamless" , i.e. the songs were all perfectly compatible with one another.
I always love to hear Hayley singing songs from 'Pure' such as 'Amazing Grace', 'Hine E Hine' and of course. 'Pokarekare Ana'. She will never "outgrow" such material.

Despite the competition from certain "rivals" to release as many albums as possible under the sun, within a short space of time, I enjoyed the anticipation of waiting 2 years for 'Odyssey'.

The phrase, "QUALITY not quanity" springs to mind!

Regards,

Andrew

[kcuteus1]

I had to put yes as that she is classical crossover and there are more and more and more people that are doing this kind of music as the new people can make some of the others fade that it is imporant not to take so long with cds.

[roger]

I have voted but I will not reveal which way or give my reasons for a few days. I don't want to influence the vote by having you lot vote against me!

Thanks for voting so far - keep 'em coming.

Roger

[Joe]

I say that two years between albums is a fair amount of time. I agree w/ Cathleen and Andrew also. A two-year gap I feel is just enough time to select and record tracks and to visit places on a staggered release schedule to promote the album. Later on comes a tour that might include new songs to appear on a future album.

[alien]

Since Pure was only released around April 2004 in Canada and there was the release of the Live in NZ dvd mid 2005, it didn't feel that long before Odyssey. Afterall, it's all about quality not quantity!

So I voted "No" for Roger's poll.

Allen

[Dave]

In view of Allen's comments, I think Roger's remarks imply that we are being asked to vote on whether a two year gap is too much (though I haven't asked Roger!). Judging it on an eighteen months gap, as in North America, may produce a different answer.

Therefore, I agree with Kimberly's comments and I have voted "yes". Whatever the reasons for the two year interval (in most Countries) events have, I think, proven that it was a mistake. I am absolutely certain that had Odyssey or an album similar to it been released twelve months earlier, it would have sold at least half as many as "Pure" by now and not less than one fifth of it, as has happened in NZ and the UK. That is a lot of album sales and income lost - which could have been used to make an even better third album and promote it accordingly.

Allowing lots of time to select songs and make everything just "perfect" (for some people) is all very well... but it does not help a new International singer in a minority genre, like Hayley, to become established. In this newly intensely competitive classical crosover market, you need to strike while the iron is hot.

The "delay" will not stop Hayley progressing but it has slowed things down by a couple of years. That is why I think the two year gap was too long - I am impatient for Hayley to achieve the full recognition that I believe she deserves.

But of course, there may be a 10 year master plan of which we all know very little...

Dave

[Oksana]

I voted "yes." I have to agree with Kimberly. Between the releases of Pure and Odyssey were albums by Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, Celtic Woman, and Il Divo; and Hayley was basically forgotten among them.

And, of course, it was an extremely hard wait for us Hayley fans! Luckily (or rather, unluckily), I didn't have to wait as long because I discovered Hayley later than many of you.

Oksana

[roger]

Okay, with several votes and comments having been made, I will add my two-penn'orth. I also voted that two years was too long, basically for reasons stated by Kimberly and Dave.

I think this discussion should be considered together with the question, "has there been enough promo for Odyssey?" Had it been released withing a year of Pure, it would not have needed quite so much as one would have helped promote the other. This theory seems to be borne out by the fact that Katherine has all three discs at the top of the charts at once. I am sure many people have bought one of them (no matter which that might be), have liked it and gone out to buy one or both of the others. Conversely, by the time Odyssey was released, Pure was becoming a distant memory for many, and not easily available.

About a year after the release of Pure, people were asking me questions like, "what happened to Hayley?", "isn't she singing any more?" and one even said, "What a shame she has disappeared". Of course, I always explained that she was still very much around and that another album would be produced in due course but I can't tell the whole world and not everyone looks for information online. Consequently, I fear that many people will have given up waiting, moved on, and forgotten her.

I have to admit that the results so far are a lot closer than I expected. It's more exciting than the Eurovision Song Contest! Keep voting everyone.

Roger

[Richard]

Hello Roger and everybody!

This is a very interesting discussion, but I'm still undecided, so I voted "Maybe". I'm inclined to think that a year to eighteen months would have been a better interval, but the staggered release dates of "Pure" around the world could well have been a factor. On the other hand, Hayley's excellent DVD was released about eighteen months after "Pure", and it does include a few songs from "Odyssey", so it filled the gap rather nicely for me.

Best Wishes,

Richard

Edit: Roger made the previous post while I was typing this one, but I'm still undecided!

[roger]

Yeah, I do things like that just to make your life interesting!

Indeed, the release of the DVD did help fill the gap. Yet its sales figures (do you have the latest, Dave?) suggest that the gap remained unfilled for many. Again, that may be partly due to very limited promo. And if you don't know something exists, you don't go looking for it.

Roger

[specialjenny]

I voted Yes, but I agree with what everyone else have said. I hope we don't exactly have to wait as long this time.

[Dave]

roger said:

Indeed, the release of the DVD did help fill the gap. Yet its sales figures (do you have the latest, Dave?) suggest that the gap remained unfilled for many. Again, that may be partly due to very limited promo. And if you don't know something exists, you don't go looking for it.
Roger

Sales information on the DVD is almost non existent because the only official chart it entered was in NZ where it went platinum, probably selling about 6,000 (+/- 2,000). It was in the unofficial HK HMV chart too.

The only other place it will have sold significant numbers in Worldwide terms is the UK where it never entered the top 50 so sales are probably well below 10,000. NZ and the UK together usually make up around half of Hayley's Worldwide sales so my guess is less than 30,000 DVD sales Worldwide. I think this is insignificant in terms of filling the gap betwen Pure and Odyssey - the DVD caused hardly a ripple outside NZ (and possibly Hong Kong) and it wasn't promoted adequately in the UK.

The big unknown is how many it sold by pledge at the time of the original PBS broadcasts in the US. We may never know... but I wouldn't have thought many, due to the high cost of pledges compared to the usual cost of DVDs in the shops.

Dave

[roger]

Ah, but if I remember rightly, at the time of the pledges, there was significant doubt as to whether it would be available in the shops. That may have pursuaded a few more people to pledge. (?)

I think we heard that the DVD would also get some promo during the UK leg of the Il Divo tour as well as Odyssey.

Thanks for the info, Dave.

Roger