Posted: 4/14/17 at 3:01am
I'm obviously a big fan of Kelli's and this album is filled with some great work, but I wanted to post a track by track review of it on here, because I had some mixed feelings about it, and thought an analysis would be interesting. Thanks Ol Blue Eyes for inadvertently giving me the idea when you gave your opinion of The Art Of Elegance, which I agree with you on :)
Always(Kelli O'Hara):
1. What More Do I Need?: This song has grown on me a lot since I first listened to it and is highly enjoyable. Kelli's phrasing is wonderful and the song is a fun wild ride. That said, I dislike the strings in the accompaniment and the orchestrations themselves(you'll find this as a recurring problem for me): They just don't blend well which makes the song less pleasing to listen to. The song is much better with a full orchestra backing her(Check the broadcast of her live from Carimore Concert here(http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/listen-live-kelli-ohara-headlines-caramoors-opening-night-gala/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=carousel&utm_content=item0)
2. Something Wonderful: I wish she would sing this more, because her version of the song really is ravishing and in my opinion, better then Ruthie's version. But again, something with the orchestrations bothered me. The blending of the instruments just feels oddly off throughout the whole album: Not the intonation of the instruments, but like I said, the blend. Anyway, moving on...
3. How Glory Goes: This is probably my favorite song on the album: Her interpretation of the song is amazing, her vocals beautiful, and the accompaniment doesn't bother me at all on this one! Another I wish she would perform more.
4. He Loves Me: Not my favorite one- I get tired of this song after hearing it so many times and the violin is less then perfect here. Not bad at all and Kelli is great, but it's just not my favorite.
5. Always (Title Song!): I'm sure you're sick of hearing this, but I don't care for the orchestrations on this either. Anyway, her vocals are great as always(no pun intended), but the lyrics are rather repetitive and limit her interpretative abilities, but still, it hits the spot.
6. Finishing The Hat: Hmmm, don't care for this one at all really. It fits a male voice better(although she changed the key), and it's hard for anybody to perform outside of the context of the show.
7. This Nearly Was Mine: The arrangement isn't my favorite(too slow, the original is much better), her interpretation of the lyrics isn't the right fit for the song in my opinion(too sweet and not dramatic enough; too intimate) , and the live version is better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAYrFFquiGE.
8. Once I Was: A snooze-fest. Look at her My Life With Albertine vocals for a better representation of her singing Ricky Ian Gordon's music. Nothing bad, but dull and bland.
9. Another Life: This is one of my favorite songs from Bridges and although the show version is better, Kelli still does a beautiful job here. But there are similar songs to this one already on the album and it comes across as a little bland.
10. They Don't Let You In The Opera If You're A Country Star: This is a really great song and a great showcase for Kelli's talents: Her unleashing her large operatic soprano and singing coloratura passages are very exciting and thrilling as well as funny. It's a great chance for her to sing notes in her range that she doesn't get to in Musical Theatre. Some of the really high notes aren't as pristine as an opera singer's would be(more so in other renditions of the song), since she hasn't sung in that range exclusively for almost 20 years: she was trained as a coloratura soprano in college and played the Queen Of The Night, a very demanding soprano role with a high F above high C in it. But the song certainly is a favorite of mine. And I don't mind the strings as much on here, lol.
11. You're Always Here: A short, but funny song. It hits the spot. It is a little weird to hear her swear in it, but the song is definitely terrific. Love the last note too.
12. The Party's Over: Simply heart aching: she sings this wonderfully, full of yearning and integrity, you can really feel the finality that the lyrics are conveying in this version.
13. I Could Have Danced All Night: Again, the strings but it's one of the very best songs in her repertoire. There are better renditions of her singing it though. Look to those instead.
So, that's it! I overall feel that the album is definitely worth a listen to and Kelli's vocals are perfect as always, but some of the songs are too similar or are just a miss in my book. And the arrangements of the majority of the songs are just not my cup of tea. Still, I'd recommend it to anybody who is into MT and is a fan of Kelli O'Hara. My grade: 7/10.
Your thoughts? Have any of you guys listened to this album?
Updated On: 12/20/22 at 03:01 AM
