Antonio Banderas- Page 2

Posted: 10/20/03 at 3:21am

Thats Ok! Poodle...but now I have heard the whole Cd I disagree with you even more :) LOL!!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/20/03 at 6:45pm

just watched a tape I made of him in the HBO movie re Pancho Villa - Quite good.

[jo]

Posted: 10/20/03 at 10:24pm

The album was released yesterday.

Here's a photo of Antonio and Michael looking as if they were having fun while doing the recording.



Hope they include this filmed recording session in the upcoming video of Michael Ball's concert tour.


Jo

[kec]

Posted: 10/21/03 at 1:30am

Thanks, Jo, for posting this. It does look as though they enjoyed themselves working on that song, despite the problems caused by the blackout!

[sharon1]

Posted: 10/21/03 at 4:08am

And it looks like the joke about shirts continues

Posted: 10/21/03 at 9:05am

Who cares about the shirt? The voice, the smile....It's all good

Posted: 10/21/03 at 9:31am

...I am a total fan of both but...

"Don't they Make a Cute Couple?"

[DofB5]

Posted: 10/21/03 at 6:36pm

Cute picture. Ok, Sharon, tell the shirt story--either here or home.

D

[sharon1]

Posted: 10/21/03 at 8:30pm

Remember, Banderas had to borrow a shirt from MB for the Andrew Lloyd Weber birthday bash because the one he brought was not "right". So the black one in the video is MB's. Joke has been ongoing for several years that he never returned it.

[Inspires!]

Posted: 10/22/03 at 4:52pm

This whole album including the input of Antonio Banderas will do nothing to actually invite other people to hear Michael Ball at his best!Of course his 'die-hard' fans will never say anything bad about him, but again I reiterate this album falls short of introducing new fans.
Michael is a man of enormous talent, but this album although a beautiful concept is too similar to his one man show 'Alone Together' which brilliantly interpreted the life of a person on stage.
Mr Ball's 'A Love Story' is sung as usual from the heart, but lacks ingenuity by not presenting new songs or up-to-date songs. Come on now, we know Michael has written or co-written songs in the past. Please do not disappoint us - venture out, you've got everything to gain and nothing to lose.
'A Love Story' - Distinctively average!!!

[Lori]

Posted: 10/22/03 at 6:35pm

With all due respect Inspires, doing 8 shows a week (okay 6 for the last 3 months) in the biggest musical ever produced in the West End does not leave a lot of time for other creative endeavors. I agree that it would be wonderful to hear more original material from Michael...what he's done shows promise, but I think it was important for and to him to produce a new album this year. "A Love Story" may be close in concept to "Alone Together", but that was the intent. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I think it's a mature and beautiful CD (and though I am a fan of MB's I have not liked everything he has recorded). There are no real "belter's" here (with the exception of "God Give Me Strength"), but the emotion is still there. People should give it a listen and decide for themselves.

[kec]

Posted: 10/22/03 at 9:39pm

"Michael is a man of enormous talent, but this album although a beautiful concept is too similar to his one man show 'Alone Together' which brilliantly interpreted the life of a person on stage."

And just what, pray tell, is wrong with this? Alone Together, if I remember correctly, was a big success, surprising even the harshest of Michael's critics. Keep in mind, too, that Alone Together did not use any new, original music. As I understand it, the stipulation was that Michael was to sing songs he had never sung before. With one or two exceptions (one line from Love Changes Everything being one I can think of) he did that, and that is what he's done in this new cd -- taken songs he's never sung before and given them HIS interpretation.

Writing music is not an easy thing to do. I have a friend who writes music and he's constantly fiddling with his creations making them better. Given the fact that Michael was working in Chitty for the last 18 months, he very likely didn't have as much time to devote to writing music as he would have liked to have. For all we know, he's got some original songs in the works that will appear on the NEXT cd he does.

If you think the cd is "distinctively average," fine, thank you for your opinion. But please don't assume that others will think the same, and that new fans won't be interested. I have seen on other message boards that Banderas' fans are ordering the cd and LOVE the duet. Who knows, these people may just become sufficiently interested in Michael to the point where they will check out his other cds.
Updated On: 10/22/03 at 09:39 PM

[Inspires!]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 7:45am

Kec if you read my message correctly I didn't say anything was wrong with Miichael's one man show 'Alone Together!' It was an enormous success and rightly so.
His latest album 'A Love Story' is distinctively average, yes I will reiterate, because its contents are just that. There is nothing new to exhibit his amazing talent. Sure, the best track is 'God Give Me Strength' yet there is nothing concrete to actually reveal the inner depths to this man's talents.
Yes, I do know he's been very busy working in Chitty, and this shows in his somewhat haste to get this album out in time for his tour.
Kec your attitude is very condescending, but then again, most of your comments regarding Michael appear to be seen through your 'rose colored spectacles' so your judgment is not entirely translucent in this respect.
Michael has built up a fine fan base, but I am sure he would like us all to express our opinions as accurately as we see them, and not just because 'he can do no wrong' as appears in your case?
Writing is not easy? Of course it isn't easy, who said it was? I certainly didn't imply such an idea as I have written many articles and reviews in the past, and know only too well all the pitfalls.
Kec, I assume you get the picture, or is this rather too blurry for you?
Michael Ball's 'A Love Story' is distinctively average and will do nothing to APPEAL to new fans - OK?
Now if all you're attempting to do is to bring your opinions from the MBFC Forum, then fine, but this is not the place for 'airy fairy' discussions.
IMHO, Michael should have taken time out before releasing his latest offering to the people, and trust me Broadway will eject this mediocre venture.
Call it bad management, call it what you want, but the call to Broadway will be long time in coming via this way!!!

[jo]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 8:44am

I had initial reservations about this album re the choice of songs, but now that I have listened to the full album I admit to being wrong. I am generally partial to musical theatre songs from Michael ( which is why, contrary to fan favorites, "This Time It's Personal" and "One Careful Owner" are my least-liked of his albums). But this time, the choices and the seamlessly fashioned sequence of songs is very effective. It sets the right mood and evokes the right emotion for telling this story of a love affair ( a concept which I have not encountered heretofore). Michael shows a newfound maturity in the way he chose the songs ( Songs by Al Jolson, Richard Rodgers, Michel LeGrand, Burt Bacharach, Charles Trenet, etc. - that's not bad, eh?), the manner of his musical delivery and even the arrangements are fresh ( particularly in the manner in which a single instrument mainly accompany some of the songs - a guitar, a trumpet, a piano) as they don't drown out his voice anymore as it used to do so in the past... It is bluesy, jazzy - quite sophisticated sounds compared to what we used to hear from Michael.

Oh, and the duet with Antonio is a real blast

I enjoyed this album - I hope many others will do, too!


Jo

[sharon1]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 8:54am

Inspires,
I have not heard the complete cd, but where I must disagree, is with the statement, "yes I will reiterate, because its contents are just that." Average???? I feel the song selection is anything but average. They are all terrific songs, as written, but maybe you just don't like how he performs them. Which I believe is what you meant. Correct???

[kec]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 9:07am

If my message appeared "condescending," to you, my apologies, as it was certainly not my intention to "sound" so. Yes, I did read your message correctly, but it came across to me as though you didn't like the idea that Michael was repeating the format that proved so successful to him before. I never thought you didn't like the original show.

From what I have read from other fans in the past, many don't realize what it takes to write music, which is why I wrote what I did. Since I don't know anything about you, there is no way I could possibly know how "well-versed" you are or are not in the music business.

Rose-colored specticles? Hardly. I do not subscribe to the theory that he can "do no wrong." He is not a perfect human being, none of us are. IN the year since I "discovered" this singer, I have heard some things that I don't like as much as I like others, and I have said so, not here so much but elsewhere. But I don't write "harsh" criticism."

You think the cd is average -- fine. What bothered me is the fact that you presume to speak for others based on your own opinion. If that was not your intention, again, I apologize for the incorrect assumption.

We'll have to agree to disagree. on this. Updated On: 10/23/03 at 09:07 AM

[kec]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 9:07am

If my message appeared "condescending," to you, my apologies, as it was certainly not my intention to "sound" so. Yes, I did read your message correctly, but it came across to me as though you didn't like the idea that Michael was repeating the format that proved so successful to him before. I never thought you didn't like the original show.

From what I have read from other fans in the past, many don't realize what it takes to write music, which is why I wrote what I did. Since I don't know anything about you, there is no way I could possibly know how "well-versed" you are or are not in the music business.

Rose-colored specticles? Hardly. I do not subscribe to the theory that he can "do no wrong." He is not a perfect human being, none of us are. IN the year since I "discovered" this singer, I have heard some things that I don't like as much as I like others, and I have said so, not here so much but elsewhere. But I don't write "harsh" criticism."

You think the cd is average -- fine. What bothered me is the fact that you presume to speak for others based on your own opinion. If that was not your intention, again, I apologize for the incorrect assumption.

We'll have to agree to disagree. on this. Updated On: 10/23/03 at 09:07 AM

[Lori]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 9:08am

Agree with you Jo, I think it does show a newfound maturity. Inspires, I don't think that this CD was intended to solicit "The Call From Broadway". Sixteen months as the lead in Chitty would be certainly be more effective in that respect. MB said from the beginning that he wanted to create something different with this CD and he's accomplished that. If you're tastes run more to his musical theatre recordings this one ain't necessarily gonna do it for you. But the "bluesy, jazzy" feel of this CD certainly suits his voice and I think the choice of material tells the story the artist intended to tell very effectively.

[kec]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 9:09am

my apologies for the double post -- I"m not trying to reiterate my postion, but I'm working on a new laptop that is very sensitive to touch and does things I don't want to do!

Posted: 10/24/03 at 5:49am

Lori I totally agree,unfortunately those of us who have praised the new Cd,Will probably all be seen as die-hard fans who love everything Michael has ever recorded and are not able to form a
constructive opinion of our own.I can live with that if that's the way people want to interpret it fine I wont ever change their
opinion anyway :)

IMO This album is the closest any studio album has ever got to capturing how Michael sounds when he sings live.I think it could well appeal to a wider audience than his regular fanbase.There seems to be a movement these days here in the UK at least,of people wanting to hear a good voice(and someone who can deliver the goods in a live setting).They want to be able to understand every word being sung and hear the melody of a song.

There were several ways this album could have gone.They could've used music from all sorts of different genres within the business.I would have laid money on 'This is the moment' being on
there,it had been a huge hit with audiences and this would have been an ideal chance to record it but I can see now it wouldn't have fitted in.Brand new self penned material could've been used but for whatever reason it was not to be this time.That doesn't mean that future projects wont contain such material.

I agree that 16 months in 'CCBB' coupled with 'alone together' would show any broadway producer what Michael Ball is capable of he doesn't need this cd to do that.

I can only speak for myself but for me it's his best album yet. I've played it through from begining to end everytime I've played
it and that has never happened with me before.I don't think it matters that the songs are of the type they are and not more current songs.We have that before on previous albums anyway.As far as I'm aware only two of the songs on 'A Love Story' have been performed by Michael before 'Didn't we' was done as a duet on an album and 'What are you doing the rest of your life' was sung in concert with Michel Legrand,either way both songs were performed some years ago and have been re-done for this new Cd (I guess I should say two lines of M&MS were included in the Donmar show to keep things accurate).

The other tracks are not songs that are heard everyday on the radiothey are all in keeping with each other and because of this five/ten years down the road I don't think this CD will have
dated at all,whereas more current material if it had been used,
may well have done so.

Updated On: 10/25/03 at 05:49 AM