River of Dreams - Best Of (UK & NZ)

[gra7890]

"emotion free vocals" ......

Another possibility is he means........ ' a clear pure sound' ........as distinct to when ones emotions are high a voice often has a ' tremble '
But I doubt we will never know for sure


Graham

[annie]

I looked in the WalMart in town today and there are 6 copies of Hayley's River of Dreams CD on the shelf. The girls stocking the shelves said that is how many they got in. I didn't buy one as it is on my Christmas wish list!!
Annie

[martindn]

Hi Dean,

Yes, I agree about Hayley live. Without doubt her live performances are one of the most intense musical and emotional experiences possible, so you will perhaps understand here I am coming from in objecting to "emotion-free". I should have mentioned that the fist hearing of Hayley that I referred to above was in fact live.

And yes, there are many treasures to be found. This is what makes being a Hayley fan so fascinating. There is just so much stuff around, all of it wonderful. I am still finding new things. The other day Hayley's "Live from New Zealand" DVD arrived for example. Hardly a day goes by when I don't find something new (to me anyway).

Martin

[roger]

Nov 25, 2008 23:10:20 GMT @annie said:

I looked in the WalMart in town today and there are 6 copies of Hayley's River of Dreams CD on the shelf.

Hi Annie,

Thanks very much for the information. It is pleasing to know that WalMart are stocking the album. Let's hope people buy all six so they have to order more!

Have any other US members seen it anywhere?

Roger

[Dean McCarten]

Nov 25, 2008 23:15:04 GMT martindn said:

Without doubt her live performances are one of the most intense musical and emotional experiences possible, so you will perhaps understand here I am coming from in objecting to "emotion-free". I should have mentioned that the fist hearing of Hayley that I referred to above was in fact live.

I certainly can understand, I have seen many videos here prior to seeing Hayley live but the one that really got my attention was drew's recording of Songbird @ iTunes Live 08.

I hope that one day I will get to hear Hayley sing "Across the Universe of Time" Live, but for now the Live from NZ DVD will have to do.

Also the recent Festival of Remembrance: "Today Won't Come Again" was another song that amazed me yet again.

[Joe]

Hi Annie,

Thanks for this information! I was just going to ask if you are in the USA or Canada

I have not seen RoD at my local Wal-mart. I'm still planning to buy the NZ version online one of these evenings.

Joe

[martindn]

Hi Dean,

I have been trying to send you a PM, but for some reason your name is not recognised. It appears twice in the list that appears, but neither works.

I hopr somebody can sort this out. Ot Dean, senfd me a PM and I'll see if I can reply.

Martin

[milewalker]

Nov 26, 2008 0:18:05 GMT martindn said:

Hi Dean,

I have been trying to send you a PM, but for some reason your name is not recognised. It appears twice in the list that appears, but neither works.

I hopr somebody can sort this out. Ot Dean, senfd me a PM and I'll see if I can reply.

Martin

Hi Martin,

I would suggest clicking his name on anything he posts. This links directly to the profile page.

Jon

[milewalker]

Nov 25, 2008 23:23:46 GMT @roger said:

Nov 25, 2008 23:10:20 GMT @annie said:

I looked in the WalMart in town today and there are 6 copies of Hayley's River of Dreams CD on the shelf.

Hi Annie,

Thanks very much for the information. It is pleasing to know that WalMart are stocking the album. Let's hope people buy all six so they have to order more!

Have any other US members seen it anywhere?

Roger

Hi Roger,

It isnt surprising to note that Walmart alone (and likely only Walmart's within certain areas) would stock this record. They cater to a specific clientelle - and there would be some possible overlap between that and people who might be prone to become Hayley fans.

I dont ordinarily shop at Walmart (which might reveal something about me ) but I will make an exception this weekend just to see if it is in stock.

I have been looking around St Louis - I ordered a copy through a local vendor where I do a lot of busines. The manager there knew about the release - but did not stock the record. He did mention I was the second person who ordered it. I also checked Barnes and Nobel, who did not have it.

Jon

[milewalker]

Nov 25, 2008 23:15:04 GMT martindn said:

Hi Dean,

Yes, I agree about Hayley live. Without doubt her live performances are one of the most intense musical and emotional experiences possible, so you will perhaps understand here I am coming from in objecting to "emotion-free". I should have mentioned that the fist hearing of Hayley that I referred to above was in fact live.


Martin

Heh

One thing very hard for the Hayley initiate to comprehend is that those who are not among the converted simply dont respond to her voice in the same way some of us do.

I recently tried to "sell" Hayley to two people where I work - both of them moderate classical music afficiandos (by which I mean that they also branch out into other kinds of music and therefore should be among the people who would theoretically like Hayley). The reponse I got from them was interesting. One of them said he found her voice lacking in "color" - the other said that he felt no emotion.

Also, I do a lot of research into what people say off site (my attempt to find objectivity) - and this criticism of Hayley is actually quite widespread. For obvious reasons I see no benefit in posting much of this commentary here . However, I see no reason to expect a mainstream reviewer to be particularly impressed with this - in particular as it is a "best of" album containing a lot of her earlier work.

In order for any communication to occur, the sender and the receiver have to have certain intrinsic things in common which we often take for granted - for example if you are speaking Japanese and I dont understand it, there isnt a lot you can do to directly communicate with me. The simple fact that it doesnt occur doesnt imply a shortcoming in either the person sending or the person receiving. In Hayley's case, she is going to get much further in most cases when she has a listener who has been listening to, and prefers the type of music she sings. The off site chatter does suggest that she nails an occasional headbanger - but this is the exception, not the rule. Most Celine Dion fans are going to listen to Hayley and still prefer Celine.

One other note - if the effect in question is more pronounced when experiencing Hayley live, it is important to note that virtually all of North America are going to be bereft of this benefit.

Jon

[georgina]

Nov 26, 2008 3:34:04 GMT milewalker said:

Heh

One thing very hard for the Hayley initiate to comprehend is that those who are not among the converted simply dont respond to her voice in the same way some of us do.

I recently tried to "sell" Hayley to two people where I work - both of them moderate classical music afficiandos (by which I mean that they also branch out into other kinds of music and therefore should be among the people who would theoretically like Hayley). The reponse I got from them was interesting. One of them said he found her voice lacking in "color" - the other said that he felt no emotion.

Also, I do a lot of research into what people say off site (my attempt to find objectivity) - and this criticism of Hayley is actually quite widespread. For obvious reasons I see no benefit in posting much of this commentary here .

Personally I think its like a lock and key. Hayley has a key which fits certain locks very well - but simply doesnt fit others well at all.

Jon

Hayley is not popular in the opera forums or those who see themselves as high-brow. Some of the talk of her being bland is just people following a line. I think Hayley expresses a lot of emotion but her voice may be emotion-free compared with that of Nina Simone. It is pure and light - on the songs the BBC reviewer is hearing but not necessarily a voice that cannot express emotion. For a high-brow reviewer he is almost quite favourable saying Shenadoah, etc gain something. I don't agree or understand what he means about Amazing Grace. And to expect "grandeur" from a "helium-high teenage soprano is silly.

[Libby]

Nov 26, 2008 3:48:55 GMT milewalker said:

One thing very hard for the Hayley initiate to comprehend is that those who are not among the converted simply dont respond to her voice in the same way some of us do.

I recently tried to "sell" Hayley to two people where I work - both of them moderate classical music afficiandos (by which I mean that they also branch out into other kinds of music and therefore should be among the people who would theoretically like Hayley). The reponse I got from them was interesting. One of them said he found her voice lacking in "color" - the other said that he felt no emotion.

Also, I do a lot of research into what people say off site (my attempt to find objectivity) - and this criticism of Hayley is actually quite widespread. For obvious reasons I see no benefit in posting much of this commentary here . However, I see no reason to expect a mainstream reviewer to be particularly impressed with this - in particular as it is a "best of" album containing a lot of her earlier work.

One other note - if the effect in question is more pronounced when experiencing Hayley live, it is important to note that virtually all of North America are going to be bereft of this benefit.

I started a thread for Hayley on the Josh Groban forum recently, and everyone who responded was already aware of Hayley, mostly because of Celtic Woman, but a few had known of her since "Pure". None of them knew about RoD, so I got them interested in that. One person even joined the official forum!
However, I also read a few negative things about Hayley on other places in the forum. Again, one person said that she sings with no emotion. Maybe when she was younger the emotion didn't show as much. Nowadays, though, she does show more emotion. Maybe the reason is that it's harder to show emotion when you're concentrating on hitting high notes, but I still don't agree with them.
One said after listening to a song someone posted that it's pretty, but they prefer "heavier" voices. Another said that they thought she sounded "awful" singing Time to Say Goodbye with Russell Watson, and that they'd "had to endure a lot of her lately". I saw positive and negative comments about Hayley's version of "Wuthering Heights".

I'm surprised WalMart would get RoD, since it's not even released in the U.S. Are they getting the UK or the Canadian release? I'm interested in whether my local WalMart has it, but I'm not going to go there just to see, since I already have one.

Sorry, I think this is getting a little off-topic.

[roger]

Nov 26, 2008 3:44:19 GMT milewalker said:

I have been looking around St Louis - I ordered a copy through a local vendor where I do a lot of busines. The manager there knew about the release - but did not stock the record. He did mention I was the second person who ordered it.

Hi Jon,

The fact that the manager knew of its existance is encouraging and two orders just might lead to them ordering a third to place on their display racks. It is a drop in the ocean to what is needed but, if other branches do likewise, it just might make a difference.

Thanks for the information.

Roger

[annie]

Hello Joe and Roger - I was shopping in a WalMart very close to the border of Canada and the US. So maybe it is a "Canadian" version of the CD. Though I don't know how to tell! I am not allowed to say where I live.
Annie

[roger]

Hi Annie,

Don't worry about withholding your location; that is perfectly understandable.

Thank you for the information. If you look at the back of the case, it should say in very small print where it was made. The UK version, for example says "Made in the EU". If you look at yours, it may say "Made in Canada". That doesn't absolutely guarantee that it is the Canadian version but it is a good indicator.

Enjoy the album no matter which version it is!

Roger