Hayley's best album (2007 poll)

[martindn]

Well, from the choice that is available I have to go for Treasure. I loved Pure of course, my first Hayley album 4 years ago, and it blew me away. But she has moved on since, and is evolving rapidly. Even Treasure now is old hat. I also love Prayer, this is a sort of "best of" from everywhere except Pure, and I find myself listening to that more than any other. Also WSS was wonderful.
The thing is an album can only be a snapshot of an artist at the time it was made. The Hayley of Pure, and even of Treasure no longer exists. She has moved on, and IMHO, improved a lot.
Listening to Pure again after a long time I thought it sounded almost robotic, although I couldn't deny the magic that is her voice. I think the difference is that on Pure, I would say that Hayley probably has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. On treasure, she still has the voice (like some others at that time I feared it would not last), but has learned to express emotion in a much more powerful way! So Pure is about beauty,Treasure is about emotion.

Martin

[Tin]

Yes I like Pure a lot, its repertoire is great. But still I chose Treasure because in Treasure we finally get to see Hayley in a more personal aspect. What I mean is, she finally got to write songs (exclude What You Never Know) and had more control over what she conceived.
Her voice has changed a lot and many people love her 'Pure' voice more, but if all of us just remember Pure, then all the hard work Hayley has done now would be neglected and this would be a bit unfair.

[petertong]

I like Pure the most. I can't say exactly why. Hayley's voice has improved since to be sure, but Pure was the album where I would listen to her and just think... "wow is her voice beautiful!" Pure and and some songs on Odyssey kind of inoculated me in a way, so that my emotional response to her later stuff isn't quite is high somehow... I still love it though.

[martindn]

Today I was listening to my latest acquisition, the New World soundtrack album. This is interesting, as James Horner uses Hayley's voice playing along with the orchestra like a musical instrument, somewhere between a flute and a clarinet seems to be where she fits. It is only the purity of her voice and the accuracy of her pitch that makes such a thing possible, and that album is interesting for that reason. And Listen to the Wind is about as far away from Pure as you can get IMO.

[milewalker]

martindn said:

Well, from the choice that is available I have to go for Treasure. I loved Pure of course, my first Hayley album 4 years ago, and it blew me away. But she has moved on since, and is evolving rapidly. Even Treasure now is old hat. I also love Prayer, this is a sort of "best of" from everywhere except Pure, and I find myself listening to that more than any other. Also WSS was wonderful.
The thing is an album can only be a snapshot of an artist at the time it was made. The Hayley of Pure, and even of Treasure no longer exists. She has moved on, and IMHO, improved a lot.
Listening to Pure again after a long time I thought it sounded almost robotic, although I couldn't deny the magic that is her voice. I think the difference is that on Pure, I would say that Hayley probably has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. On treasure, she still has the voice (like some others at that time I feared it would not last), but has learned to express emotion in a much more powerful way! So Pure is about beauty,Treasure is about emotion.

Martin

Hi Martin,

Treasure is my personal pick as well, as I think I stated above....

Having said this, I think that there is a definitive difference in her voice now than in the days of Pure. The timbre is deeper (and richer), and apart from the whistle tone, which seems to be doing just fine, she might have lost about a third of an octive at the upper reaches of her "regular" voice. I say "might" because a number of arrangements have been changed to accomodate the change in her voice over time.

Whatever the case, she has gained other abilities which more than compensate for this in my opinion - but I can understand why people might prefer Pure. Beyond the first impressions it produced noted by Petertong above, a well placed adolecent female voice is simply a very pleasant thing to hear. In fact, in my own case, my favorite Hayley musical moment actually occurred before Pure.

I agree with you that the single biggest improvement in the "new" Hayley lies in the development of her interpretive abilties - as well as the ability to credibly deliver very different kinds of songs.

Jon

[lebkuecher]

martindn said:

I think the difference is that on Pure, I would say that Hayley probably has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. On treasure, she still has the voice (like some others at that time I feared it would not last), but has learned to express emotion in a much more powerful way! So Pure is about beauty,Treasure is about emotion.

Martin

Very nicely said Martin and I could agree more.

I would have to vote for Pure as my favorite. Pure has a very special place in my heart because Pure was my first Hayley CD and instantly turned me into a classical fan. I love all of Hayley’s CDs and I listen to them almost everyday but when I need something to really pick me up I listen to Pure.

[Mr Yang]

Or the next one?

[howard]

Hi All,

I hesitated to post something here. I just avoided this topic.

My question is how can a question like this be asked?

We are talking about 2 CD's from Universal & 3 from Decca and I am not going to count
"West Side Story".

1. We are talking about CD's with different songs on each.
2. There is also an age difference.
How can you do a comparison?

They are all great of the time they were recorded and all 5 stand alone today as being great.

I can't vote on this.

Good Luck,
Howard

[I-H-F]

What a tough question!

I have went for Hayley's first album. But thats because I listen to it the most, at the moment. But my preferred album changes depending on what mood I'm in.

All her albums are great, so I think this subject should be renamed 'Your preferred Hayley album....at the moment' or something along those lines...

[martindn]

It is a bit like trying to decide on your favourite Hayley song. For me it is often the last one I heard, And hearing her perform live can change everything.
But in my opinion,a vote for Pure is a vote for what was, and can never be again. It was wonderful, it blew me away, but is in the past and things have moved on. Listen to Hayley live these days, and she still performs some of the songs from Pure, but they have changed, she sings them differently to suit her changing and maturing voice.
Gone are the incredible high notes, perhaps she can't do it any more, just as Aled Jones would struggle to sing his boy soprano songs, even though I recently heard hin claim he would still do it (but I noticed he didn't demonstrate).
But what Hayley has gained is a new complexity and expressivity. She is maturing like a fine wine, and there are nuances in her voice that just weren't there when she was fifteen.
Even treasure now is a long way behind where Hayley is. If you listen to what she has done since, West Side Story or her sublime performance on Music of the Spheres, you might start to understand what I mean. But hearing her live is best. I fully expect her next album will blow all of the others out of the water and finally settle the argument.
Hayley has a long way to go. She certainly didn't reach her peak at fifteen!

Martin

[gra7890]

Hi Martin,
Thanks for posting on this thread, I had not registered my vote on it before !
I have voted for Pure , but it is a bit like her favourite song. I keep changing my mind !
However Pure has most of my favourite songs on it ( especially if you take the different versions ) so it must get my vote.
Yes I am sure she will do a better album but will it replace Pure as people's favourite, only time will tell.
It will have to be some album though, but I would not bet against it i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Graham

[martindn]

Hi Graham,

Well, I happen to know that you have heard Hayley perform live recently. and I am sure you will agree that she has come a long way since Treasure, let alone Pure.
If you want to be specific though, I love every song on Treasure, but there are a couple on Pure I'm not too keen on. I have never much liked Wuthering Heights, although I concede that Hayley sings it very well, and I dislike the Maori version of Hine with a passion, it really annoys me (but I love the straight version).
Also, Treasure is a much longer album, and introduces the new "emotional" Hayley. It has many of my own favourites, Sonny, Abide with Me, One fine day etc. plus four of Hayley's own compositions. I think it is a much truer picture of the Hayley we know and love.
But I am sure that if Hayley re-recorded Treasure today, it would be better than the original. The same might go for Pure too, although I' sure it would be very different, because of her maturing voice. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I think her voice made a big change in the middle of last year, and everything since has been awesome. The fine wine analogy works well I think; her voice is gaining in smoothness and complexity as she matures. Long may it continue.

God Bless

Martin

[gra7890]

Hi Martin,
I suppose it depends on your interpretation of the word 'best'

I agree Hayley is still improving and therefore each new album should be 'better' than the last.

However the one I enjoy listening to the most is Pure and therefore it is the 'best' for me. There were a few tracks that did not originally appeal to me when I originally heard them on Classic fm. That delayed me 'finding' Hayley for a couple of years (These were some of the ones included to 'qualify' for the classical tag.) However such is Hayley that now I have 'found' her I now enjoy them all.
Treasure is great but the quality for her age on Pure is incredible.
I may well change my mind in the future but overall now Pure is 'best' for me.

Best Wishes,

Graham

[grant]

Hello everyone

I've just read through this thread again because I couldn't remember how I voted. For completeness, the answer is I voted for "Treasure" just over a year ago.

I think if I were coming to this thread as a 'newbie' now and considering how Hayley's voice has matured since Treasure, and continues to mature to the extent that we are not even certain of how she will sound at the next concert, I would find voting for this very difficult.

I think the truest answer to the question may well be "The last one she ever makes" and I hope that is a very, very long time in the future.

Best wishes
Grant

[martindn]

Graham and Grant,

Well, I see where you both are coming from. But I felt that she was a bit ragged in the middle of last year, when she was doing West Side Story, and I worried that she might be losing it . I think she must have been trying to get used to changes in her voice. She succeeded magnificently, and I first noticed this in the videos of her pre-Christmas concerts. This continued through her New Zealand concerts and recent UK performances.
Right now she is awesome. We need to take in everything we can. Every moment is special, every performance is not to be missed. In my experience all artists eventually end up living on past glories. Hayley has not reached that point yet, she is still developing and improving, but some day she will. Like you Grant, I hope it will not be soon.
I have to say that I would not have known about any of this if it hadn't been for HWI, and the dedication of certain members in recording Hayley's career. We all owe them our thanks. Has any artist ever been so well documented?

Martin