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Author Topic: CWazy Tom's Voices of Angles Review  (Read 1941 times)
CWazyTom
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One CWazy Canadian! Chlovër for life!


« on: December 03, 2016, 04:08PM »

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Some of you have read my previous reactions.

Here is the consolidated version with all 20 songs (including the 2 CD-only songs and the 2 Target-exclusive songs.

It also reflects my updated opinion on the two non-target CD-only songs, now that I've had over a week to reflect on the songs and this wonderful album.


Voices of Angels - Review and Reactions

My Heart Will Go On (Group)
- Very nice group song
- Fitting that this song would begin with Eabha's haunting voice
- During the first chorus they all sing the same notes together. It feels like they were holding all the harmony back for later in the song.
- The harmony near the end is spectacular!

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears (Eabha)
- An emotional song powered by Eabha's beautiful voice and moving orchestration.
- The Songs from the Heart version of this song is one of my favourite two Celtic Woman songs ever. It's hard to live up to that kind of billing.
- The orchestral swells don't quite reach the epic peaks they did in the original version.
- However, the orchestration does come close at times to drowning out Eabha's voice.
- The massive choir and instrumental surge in the original version worked because 4 girls with high and tremendously powerful voices were able to sing above it. Eabha's voice is deeper, so the higher pitch of the orchestra is relatively more noticeable.

As She Moved Through The Fair - 2016 Version (Susan)
- This song underutilized Susan's skillset somewhat
- However, a variety of supporting instruments, including the harp and uilleann pipes added some intreague to this song
- The bridge in the middle of the song and at the end was surprising but beautiful. Those were my favourite parts of the song and I REALLY enjoyed them.

Mo Ghile Mear (Group)
- Different words and a different beat
- Epic percussion
- Powerful orchestral and choral backing
- The original is one of my favourite songs! I love this even more than the original arrangement
- One of the few criticisms I have of the Mo Ghile Mear arrangements from A New Journey and Emerald was that the drum solo in the middle of the song, while it was fun, sort of suspended the momentum of the song.
- In this version, there's a brief section of harmonious a cappella before the finale
- The original arrangement sort of builds towards an epic finale, whereas this new version sustains a higher energy throughout and a thrilling if slightly less explosive ending

Ave Maria (Mairead Carlin)
- Mairead showcases her impressive range
- Similar to Chloë's version from the original Celtic Woman album and every bit as good
- If anything, Mairead has more vibrato than Chloë did in her original version when her voice was still young and developing
- Chloë is one of my favourite singers ever but my goodness so there will always be a special place in my heart for everything she's ever sung ... but my goodness Mairead Carlin is amazing!

For The Love Of A Princess (Tara)
- Tara showcases her classical style
- This is extremely well done! She draws a tremendous amount of emotion out of her violin.
- The orchestration is deeply moving and supports her well
- The part with the uilleann pipes are quite appropriate to the song

Time to Say Goodbye (Group)
- Mairead Carlin opens the song.
- Mairead really lets loose in this song! Her opera voice is spectacular!
- The group harmony in the last half of the song is very nice

Dulaman
- It has Meav!
- More epic percussion and orchestration than the previous versions.
- I mean no disrespect to the previous CW versions and the CaraNua arrangement. I enjoyed them greatly. Méav's solo version in particular was spectacular.
- But this new arrangement is my favourite version of Dulaman by a huge margin.

Walk Beside Me (Group)
- They take turns singing and the group parts are even better than the Destiny version
- The orchestration and uilleann pipes are incredibly moving (so strong it almost drowns out their voices at times)

O, America (Group)
- It's fantastic that Meav finally got an opportunity to sing this
- Might be even more moving than the Isle of Hope tour / Songs from the Heart verions
- The harmony feels more intricate than the original version
- The orchestra and choir backing are gripping and intense
- The uilleann pipes add a celtic feel
- The orchestral swell is breathtaking
- The finale is spectacular (even more spectacular than the previous arrangement)!

A Time For Us (Mairead Carlin, Tara)
- Mairead Carlin shows off her awesome range and power
- Tara's string-work is passionate
- It's not the catchiest of songs, but it is very pretty
- The key change at the start of the chorus is breathtaking
- Strong, sweeping orchestration

Across The World (Tara)
- Similar style to Mairead Nesbitt's slow-fast songs from previous Celtic Woman albums
- The back half of the song is fast-paced, catchy and extremely fun!
- Tara and her violin gets an intense workout.
- If there was any doubt that Tara was up to the challenge, this song will silence those doubts. Tara maintains a relentless and exhilerating pace through the last half of the song.
- This definitely lives up to the standard set by Mariead Nesbitt.

Teir Abhaile Riu - 2016 Version (group)
- Similar to the Destiny tour arrangement, but with significantly more orchestral backing
- Intense underlying percussion and lively string accompaniment
- It's very different from the Believe and Emerald arrangements. Those arrangements were highly entertaining theatrical pieces. The Destiny tour version was playful, though less theatrical than its predecesors. This version is slightly less playful but more epic.
- The Believe/Emerald versions had a major-key bridge. This version sticks to a minor key throughout.

Joy To The World - 2016 Version (group)
- A lovely arrangement
- The horn gives parts of this song a British feel
- Strong choir backing
- Not quite as thunderous an arrangement as in Home for Christmas

Silent Night (group)
- A change of pace from the previous songs
- Eahba's haunting voice and Tara's enchanting string-work open the song, then the other girls join in
- The voices blend together very well
- Has some intreaguing and intricate harmony

Once In Royal David's City (group)
- Sweet and soothing harmony and supporting choir / orchestration
- The melody is very pleasant
- The most hymn-like song on the album
- They truly have voices of angels

Amazing Grace
- Brand new arrangement
- Softer, sweeter sound than the classic Celtic Woman arrangement
- A lot of the power has been stripped away
- The harmony has been watered down in places
- The choir and pipes (rather than the girls) lead the chorus that precedes that ending of the song
- The ending is far more mellow than the previous version, but though it's less thrilling of a conclusion, perhaps it's more appropriate to this particular song
- May not be as breathtaking as the classic Celtic Woman arrangement
- I do prefer the Classic celtic woman arrangement
- While this new arrangement is less spectacular, it has a more deeply soothing quality


You Raise Me Up
- Like Amazing Grace, this is a predominantly soft arrangement
- The chorus does have a powerful treatment near the end before the mellow conclusion
- The classic Celtic Woman arrangement is sligly more spectacular
- But in the new arrangement, because the girls aren't belting out the chorus as loud as they can, the intricacies of the harmony stand out a bit more and it's quite pretty


Nil Se'n La
- Quite different in places than the classic Celtic Woman arrangement
- There's a bridge near the middle of the song that they could have probably done without, but it's ok
- It has some jazzy elements
- The orchestration reminds me of a James Bond theme song for some reason
- The orchestration does a particularly good job of supporting the girls and contributing to the energy in the song
- Overall, good pace and fun throughout


Danny Boy
- Like they other re-arrangements in the CD-only and Target-exclusive songs, it's softer and less spectacular than the Classic celtic woman a cappella + Mairead arrangement from Songs from the Heart
- The harmony is different, but still very pleasant
- The light orchestration does fill out the song nicely


Balance:

Celtic Woman has always been known for their epic harmony. I thought Meav, Gavin, and the girls did a very good job of achieving vocal balance when our ladies sang together.

Tara did an excellent job of blending in on the vocal tracks, complimenting their voices perfectly without overshadowing them.

The orchestration was REALLY good. It was way more prevalent than I was expecting, as was the percussion. At some points, the orchestration was so strong that the singers were almost supporting the orchestra instead of the other way around. Even so, it sounded amazing.


Least favourite song:

Amazing Grace

VERY pretty, but maybe not as good as the classic version and everything else on the album just happened to be even better than this song. I did have to listen to this song a few times before I really started to like it.


Favourite song:

Mo Ghile Mear

An improved version of a song that was already one of my favourites!


Favourite moment:

The back half of Across the World ... Extremely fun! Epic pace!


Most emotional moment:

O, America

That might come as a surprise for those who know I'm from Canada. I grew up right next the border and watching American TV and lots of my friends are American ... just some of the reasons I can still connect deeply with this song. But perhaps the most important reason is that this song was a thank you from Celtic Woman to their largest fan base. The US audience made Celtic Woman a success and for that I will forever be grateful.

This sweeping orchestration, the wonderful harmony and the spectacular finale were just overwhelmingly beautiful at times.

Note: For a couple of days, I was in a bit of shock over a couple of the songs because they were so different than I was expecting. So that was pretty emotional. But I got over that relatively quickly.


Overall impressions:

This is Celtic Woman's most uplifting album, in my opinion! It didn't let up! There isn't a single song on this album I didn't love and every moment was incredible!

Over the years, Celtic Woman has produced many songs that are beautiful and powerful beyond description. For me, this album was less about overwhealming emotional peaks as it was about sustained bliss.

Before the album released, I knew I was going to love it no matter what.

But this album somehow exceeded my every expectation.

The lush, sweeping orchestration and the exhilarating percussion were far beyond what I had anticipated. The harmony was sublime. Tara was breathtaking in every way! And WOW did they ever unleash Mairead Carlin in this album! I mean ... WOW!!!

I was expecting to be thrilled like I am with every Celtic Woman album. Instead, I was totally blown away!

The new songs are fantastic but the real surprise was how different, yet how spectacular almost all of the re-arrangements were. Taking songs that were almost perfect already and re-arranging them must have been very difficult and risky. I know some fans will think re-arranging the classics is blasphemous. Some of the songs, like Amazing Grace, were so different than I was expecting that it took some getting used to, but I enjoy each song and the album as a whole every time I listen to it. But for the most part, they succeeded in making the old classics sound very different yet incredibly beautiful.

This is a legitimate contender for my favourite Celtic Woman album ever and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Thank you Celtic Woman and everyone involved for another album that has touched me deeply. I will cherish it forever.



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