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1 comments so far

1. At 01:47 on 05 Sep 2004, MargoK rates it: and wrote:

I have a real love/hate relationship with this CD. When I first listened to it I hated it and I never imagined it would become a CD that I cannot stop puttng on the CD player! But it has -- that is why I gave it 3 stars rather than the 2 stars I gave it on my amazon.com review.

Joshua Payne' voice is gorgeous at times and imbued with so many different timbres. He uses these to color almost every note he sings. Singing that like brings out goosebumps. The more I listen to this CD the more goosebumps I get.

Unfortunately, there is a lot wrong with this CD. Although Mr. Payne possesses many colors in his voice, he seems to overdo the loud passages to the point where it sounds as if he is shouting rather than singing. I do not understand why a singer would want to push his sound that far. As a flutist, it is akin to a player who overblows and produces a raucous sound rather than a full sound. I cannnot believe that Payne's producer or vocal coach did not alert him to this flaw in his singing. The absolute breathtaking beauty of his softer tones would stand out more if he would just sing rather than push on the loud passages.

Listening to some of these songs I want to tell Mr. Payne to use some of his "classical" vocal training and enunciate more. At times his diction is horrendous, almost as if he is attempting to swallow his words. Perhaps he is afraid of being labeled a "broadway singer" as Clay Aiken was accused of on American Idol.

The other problem with this CD is the songs. Many of them seem to go nowhere and are quite boring. The worst is Payne's remake of Let it Be Me, which he sings painfully slowly, almost at the tempo of a dirge. Of his other two remakes, "If You Leave Me Now" is a total disaster as Payne again oversings on the loud passages, almost becoming a parody of himself. His remake of "If" is absolutely beautiful, although Payne even manages to oversing a bit of this song as well.

I wish Joshua Payne had sent his song "The Moon" to someone like Michael Buble who could have done it justice. Payne's recording of his penned song is admirable, but definitely lacking in something.

The opening track is the strongest on the CD and very moving, if not oversung like the others.

I find myself liking this CD the more I listen to it, as I find some unexpected phrasing or shading in Payne's singing. I think that if Mr. Payne tones down some of his singing and finds some better material his next release just might merit more stars.