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Post by Roger-G on Oct 6, 2011 13:22:22 GMT
Yes Libby I agree with you 100%. Winter Magic did not show Hayley at her best (although much of that was due to the heavy over-production). Paradiso has demonstrated to everyone and most importantly to Hayley herself how much versatility there is in her voice. The old songs are behind her now and I believe we can expect more originality in the future. I saw Hayley's Winter Magic Tour in three different cities and I thought she was excellent. Larry Just to be clear Larry, I think Libby was comparing the two albums. I certainly was. Hayley's live performances of the Winter Magic songs were infinitely better than the CD because we were allowed to hear her voice directly and soaring free. After experiencing that I can hardly bear to hear the WM CD again. |
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Post by tireman on Oct 6, 2011 18:38:16 GMT
I saw Hayley's Winter Magic Tour in three different cities and I thought she was excellent. Larry Just to be clear Larry, I think Libby was comparing the two albums. I certainly was. Hayley's live performances of the Winter Magic songs were infinitely better than the CD because we were allowed to hear her voice directly and soaring free. After experiencing that I can hardly bear to hear the WM CD again. Hi Roger Well my CD sounds fine. But then again I do have a hearing problem. I had a hearing aid but I hated it and took it back. Larry |
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Post by Libby on Oct 7, 2011 5:43:18 GMT
Larry, nobody's saying Hayley didn't sound good on Winter Magic. But can you seriously listen to Chestnuts and tell me that she sounds like you were expecting her to? I don't generally like that song anyway, so it was even more disappointing to me at how bland she sounded compared to her voice on Treasure, etc.
I LOVE Winter Magic, though, don't get me wrong. I love All With You, Peace Shall Come, Veni Veni Emmanuel, and others, but a couple of the songs were not quite what I was expecting. And as I said, there are several reviewers on Amazon.com who seemed to feel the same way, although part of their disappointment was the small number of familiar Christmas songs.
Also, I never said anything about Morricone helping her in the U.S. I meant that her work with him will most likely have an affect on what she does in the future. That's why I say her next album will be all the better for it.
Another thing, if she'd done just another regular album, she would probably not be getting quite as much media attention she's getting now for Paradiso. She would still have been on the UK shows, but maybe not as many, and maybe there wouldn't have been as many articles about her.
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Post by cloudbusting.heights on Oct 7, 2011 17:13:33 GMT
Larry, nobody's saying Hayley didn't sound good on Winter Magic. But can you seriously listen to Chestnuts and tell me that she sounds like you were expecting her to? I don't generally like that song anyway, so it was even more disappointing to me at how bland she sounded compared to her voice on Treasure, etc. I LOVE Winter Magic, though, don't get me wrong. I love All With You, Peace Shall Come, Veni Veni Emmanuel, and others, but a couple of the songs were not quite what I was expecting. And as I said, there are several reviewers on Amazon.com who seemed to feel the same way, although part of their disappointment was the small number of familiar Christmas songs. Also, I never said anything about Morricone helping her in the U.S. I meant that her work with him will most likely have an affect on what she does in the future. That's why I say her next album will be all the better for it. Another thing, if she'd done just another regular album, she would probably not be getting quite as much media attention she's getting now for Paradiso. She would still have been on the UK shows, but maybe not as many, and maybe there wouldn't have been as many articles about her. Just a tiny bit off-topic and then we can get back to Paradiso--Little Road to Bethlehem is my ABSOLUTE favorite! Ok, now back on topic. This may have already been said, but, taking into consideration that a few of Ennio Morricone's movies/music have a 'western' theme and are familiar to many Americans (i.e. all the "Spaghetti Westerns"), I think if the Maestro or his works were promoted or 'advertised,' for lack of better word, alongside Hayley's Paradiso the attention of many would be brought to not only Morricone but also Hayley. But that's just one of my many ideas! Happy Autumn, Paige |
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Post by Libby on Oct 8, 2011 4:50:59 GMT
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Post by stevemacdonald on Oct 8, 2011 4:57:21 GMT
...This may have already been said, but, taking into consideration that a few of Ennio Morricone's movies/music have a 'western' theme and are familiar to many Americans (i.e. all the "Spaghetti Westerns"), I think if the Maestro or his works were promoted or 'advertised,' for lack of better word, alongside Hayley's Paradiso the attention of many would be brought to not only Morricone but also Hayley. ... That is an awesome idea! They could even give Paradiso the moniker "Spaghetti Westenra"! |
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Post by Richard on Oct 9, 2011 7:31:00 GMT
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Post by martindn on Oct 9, 2011 21:21:33 GMT
The Winter Magic issue was more about the material than Hayley's capabilities. I don't beleive WM stretched Hayley at all - Christmas songs are made to be sung by anyone - even I can do it. So there is not way Hayley can show off her true ability singing songs like that.
That being said, it is still and enjoyable album
Paradiso on the other hand does have Hayley "pushing the envelope". The experience of making it will have taught Hayley more about whay she can do. So much so, that I suspect anything else she did for the album before Morricone got involved may never see the light of day.
Paradiso will be a hard one to follow. But I'm sure that follow it Hayley will. I'm sure that there is lots more good stuff to come from Hayley in the future. I think after every Hayley album, people say "this is it". Some even regarded Pure as her greatest album - a pale shadow of what she can do now. So please, don't jump the gun. I still feel that the best is yet to come.
Martin D
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Post by Libby on Oct 10, 2011 4:36:24 GMT
Martin, I don't know if she'll completely abandon everything she had ready for the album before. I believe she has some ideas up her sleeve.  As for Christmas songs, imagine if she had made a Christmas album anywhere in between the time of Pure and Treasure. It would've been absolutely breath-taking! So, it's not just the songs, it is partly because her voice was different in 2009 than it was in 2003, 2005, and 2006-7. It's a fact that people's voices change. |
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Post by martindn on Oct 10, 2011 13:13:44 GMT
Hi Libby,
Yes, I know her voice has changed - for the better in my opinion. Are you suggesting her voice was worse in 2009 than earlier. I think the opposite. Every time I hear her live, she seems to take another step forward.
There are one or two things I think we both agree might have made WM a better album, but it is more an issue with choice of material than her vocal performances. I would have liked "Love Came Down at Christmas" to have been included - I loved her live performances of it, and above all "O Holy Night" which she sings like nobody else.
I thought that the shaky period in her vocal development - if there was one - was round about the time West Side Story was recorded in 2007. I think her voice was changing rapidly then, and she was having to work hard to keep up with it.
Before I drift too far off topic - I have to say that her voice and vocal performances on Paradiso are breathtaking. I don't think she could have done that album as well as she did if it had happened earlier in her career.
Martin D
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Post by cloudbusting.heights on Oct 10, 2011 17:42:36 GMT
Funny you say that, Libby. My friend here at college frequently tells me that my addiction to Hayley is unhealthy (said sarcastically and jokingly) and maybe I should use that 'addiction' to further my chances of employment for her (also said VERY sarcastically and jokingly!). Even funnier is that I am majoring in Interpersonal Communications (i.e. Public Relations and things like that)!! You gave me a good laugh  Happy Autumn, Paige |
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Post by stevemacdonald on Oct 10, 2011 19:30:32 GMT
Even though I read many posts in this forum I chose not to read about Paradiso until I had a copy of my own. I mean, why know too much beforehand?
Now that I have heard the entire album a good eight or nine times I'm curious what others have to say about it. The overwhelming challenge is: Where to begin?? There are too many pages to sift through, too much back and forth chit-chat. Is there one specific thread in here dedicated to individual fan reviews of Paradiso?
Well that may be too much to ask for, but I can assure you Hayley's newest album is her best and will most likely be the highest benchmark ever set in classical crossover music. Yeah, we said the same about Pure, but that was when she was much younger. Now she's at the point where full maturity as a singer has set in and there's not that much further to go artistically (except more of the same).
I have already turned two others on to Hayley via Paradiso. It's more accessible than her previous work and much more cohesive. The accompaniment is phenomenal all throughout. It's as though someone who fully appreciates her singing figured out what works best and built each piece around her singing, not the other way around.
Well anyway, here's suggestion to everyone who's alreqdy contributed a review of Paradiso: Let's set up a "review only" thread and copy 'n paste your review — and nothing else — there.
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Post by Libby on Oct 10, 2011 22:08:58 GMT
Martin, I'm not saying her voice was "worse". There were just times it didn't sound quite the same. Too nasally and thin, and "little-girly". I must say, I liked how she sounded in Christmas concerts in 2010 than I did of those in 2009. BUT, I still enjoyed the 2009 performances, and more than the album versions, at that.
You say the WM songs are not challenging for Hayley. The thing is, although the songs still would not have challenged her much back in 2003-4, she would have sounded more incredible with the way her voice was back then, as far as the angelic purity she had then. A pure, angelic soprano coming from a young person appeals to people more than a 22-year-old's voice would. It would've sold a lot better back then, I'm sure, just as Jackie Evancho's Christmas album sold well. Maybe not as well as Jackie though, but still a lot better than WM did.
As I told you, I LOVE Winter Magic. I love the songs. But, I admit that, like those Amazon reviewers, at first I was disappointed at the lack of recognizable Christmas carols. So initially I was disappointed by the tracklist (before I heard them), and even when I did hear them for the first time, I was a bit disappointed, that's all, but I've gotten over it since then. With the exception of the lack of O Holy Night and Love Came Down at Christmas. I'm still hoping she'll record those 2 songs someday.
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Post by Libby on Oct 10, 2011 22:26:34 GMT
I think this is starting to drift off topic - so might need moving somewhere else. I can't claim to know much about the American market - but one thing I can do is look at the artists that DID make it big over there and see what they have in common. I think Simba is right when he says that being American is a huge help. Americans seem to love their home-grown talent. Perhaps they regard Canadian as almost home-grown, which covers Dion and Buble. If there is enough of that why look elsewhere. And I'm sure there is plenty. So what do foreign artists have to do to make it in America? There don't seem to be many that do. Many more seem to fail than succeed. The Beatles were perhaps the biggest foreign success of recent decades. Are any of you old enough to remember how they were promoted? And why they had more success than the home-grown Beach Boys for example? I also notice that many American artists get known through TV and Movies - that happens here too but is perhaps more pronounced in America. I think it is true that the mass market is more influenced by image than quality anyway. I have heard some appalling singers who have sold shedloads of records - becuse of an appealing image. If they can sing well too (like little Jackie or Streisand) it helps I'm sure, but if needs be with the right image that can be dispensed with. Hayley has no image in America. She is just one beautiful young lady singer among many, and there are plenty of those that are American. I suspect that a lot of Pure's success over there was the fact that nobody else had sung Maori songs to them before. Paradiso contains no Maori songs - so that won't help sell it. There is nothing remotely connected to New Zealand on Paradiso. So she can't sell it on the NZ ticket. In that respect, as far as "image" goes, Paradiso is quite weak. I agree that musically it is superb - but I am a person that puts the music first, and I think that is unusual in the mass markets both here and in the US. Hayley's people could spend a lot of money promoting Hayley in America. But my gut feeling is that she needs a distinctive image to promote that is her own - and although I hate to be negative about this - Pasradiso's image is perhaps more Morricone and Italy/Rome than Hayley. I'm not sure that is enough to impress most Americans, despite the wonderful music. I'd be delighted if the Americans here can tell me I'm wrong. But I fear I might not be. Martin D MartinDn, I don't think having Maori songs would have helped. If she'd had Maori songs on all of her US releases (E Pari Ra is not on the US release), then people would complain that that's all she sings, or something. I think perhaps the novelty of somebody singing Maori songs might also have worn off by now, too, if she'd kept on with the Maori songs. But maybe you're right. Maybe if she has some Maori on her next album... maybe one that she wrote... that might do her some good. Sorry, other Martin. It's hard to reply to somebody in the more appropriate thread, when the posts I'm replying to are still over here. |
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