Post by Dave on Mar 3, 2004 4:01:37 GMT
A couple of days ago, I saw what was possibly the first play on UK TV of the full Wuthering Heights video, on Classic FM TV. Although it's a "new version", on first hearing it's very similar to the one on "Pure". There is some added echo but not too much, I'd say.
Hayley's voice is as sensational as ever but her expressiveness is getting better. She puts it to good use in this ghostly love story and it's nice to hear the feeling she manages to inject at times. Based on the vocals alone, I prefer it to the album version - but I don't like the way the instrumental at the end is rapidly faded out. This makes the video some 30 seconds shorter than the album version and I hope this is only done on the pre-release versions for TV and radio.
What really makes this performance work for me is the video - once you've seen it, you will always remember it when playing the audio track. It opens with a shot of Hayley (as the ghost of Catherine) walking upto and through the large gates of the mansion, Wuthering Heights. She is dressed in period costume of long red dress with a black top under and a black shawl over, which she is holding and frequently twirls about quite effectively.
We see shots of her her through closed gates, then in the garden and up at the windows, fading in and out as all good ghosts should do. I also like the way Hayley's flowing locks are used to add atmosphere, when she throws them wildly backwards and up! Soon, as the song builds, she is pressing her hands on the window glass, with a shadowy Heathcliff just visible inside.
Next the scene moves indoors, where Catherine anxiously paces around as we imagine a lost soul might do, sometimes up at the windows, this time on the inside. We occasionally see Heathcliff, seated on a chair near the big window and deep in thought. Or walking through the large room, interspersed with shots of Catherine, anxiously wandering about as she (Hayley!) sings. He seems sad, perhaps oblivious to his soulmate's ghostly presence.
But as we reach the end of this all too short video and the vocals finish, Catherine seems suddenly to calm a little. Her pace is less frantic and finally, after a shot of her fading away as she runs through the field outside, she is in the house again. In the final scene, she looks contented as she leans towards a candle, to blow out the flame. Perhaps, at last, she has found peace with the soulmate she haunted and desires...
So how will it do as a single? Well the video certainly enhances *this* song more than most pop videos I've seen in recent years. It's far more low-key than most pop videos and may help people unfamiliar with the story to understand the song . So yes, for me it works. But I still think it was a bold move to release WH as a single. Perhaps Decca should do some adverts on MTV to give the kids who haven't read the book a potted explanation!
*IF* WH gets a fair crack of the whip on the pop music radio and TV stations, I now think it will do very well indeed; top 10 in the pop chart is my guess. I am reluctant to go further than that except to say it's *possible* it will get to number one and be a massive hit. It's too soon to tell... but stranger things have happened and if it does, I can imagine the reaction out there in popland... "Hayley Who?" But they ain't seen nothing yet... i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
My verdict? Brilliant!
Hayley's voice is as sensational as ever but her expressiveness is getting better. She puts it to good use in this ghostly love story and it's nice to hear the feeling she manages to inject at times. Based on the vocals alone, I prefer it to the album version - but I don't like the way the instrumental at the end is rapidly faded out. This makes the video some 30 seconds shorter than the album version and I hope this is only done on the pre-release versions for TV and radio.
What really makes this performance work for me is the video - once you've seen it, you will always remember it when playing the audio track. It opens with a shot of Hayley (as the ghost of Catherine) walking upto and through the large gates of the mansion, Wuthering Heights. She is dressed in period costume of long red dress with a black top under and a black shawl over, which she is holding and frequently twirls about quite effectively.
We see shots of her her through closed gates, then in the garden and up at the windows, fading in and out as all good ghosts should do. I also like the way Hayley's flowing locks are used to add atmosphere, when she throws them wildly backwards and up! Soon, as the song builds, she is pressing her hands on the window glass, with a shadowy Heathcliff just visible inside.
Next the scene moves indoors, where Catherine anxiously paces around as we imagine a lost soul might do, sometimes up at the windows, this time on the inside. We occasionally see Heathcliff, seated on a chair near the big window and deep in thought. Or walking through the large room, interspersed with shots of Catherine, anxiously wandering about as she (Hayley!) sings. He seems sad, perhaps oblivious to his soulmate's ghostly presence.
But as we reach the end of this all too short video and the vocals finish, Catherine seems suddenly to calm a little. Her pace is less frantic and finally, after a shot of her fading away as she runs through the field outside, she is in the house again. In the final scene, she looks contented as she leans towards a candle, to blow out the flame. Perhaps, at last, she has found peace with the soulmate she haunted and desires...
So how will it do as a single? Well the video certainly enhances *this* song more than most pop videos I've seen in recent years. It's far more low-key than most pop videos and may help people unfamiliar with the story to understand the song . So yes, for me it works. But I still think it was a bold move to release WH as a single. Perhaps Decca should do some adverts on MTV to give the kids who haven't read the book a potted explanation!
*IF* WH gets a fair crack of the whip on the pop music radio and TV stations, I now think it will do very well indeed; top 10 in the pop chart is my guess. I am reluctant to go further than that except to say it's *possible* it will get to number one and be a massive hit. It's too soon to tell... but stranger things have happened and if it does, I can imagine the reaction out there in popland... "Hayley Who?" But they ain't seen nothing yet... i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
My verdict? Brilliant!
