- Audio CD (May 15 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Elektra / Wea
- ASIN: B000059QWI
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. Farther Than The Sun |
| 2. Anxiety |
| 3. Anima Rising |
| 4. She Said |
| 5. All I Have |
| 6. The Fall |
| 7. Siamant'o |
| 8. Karma |
| 9. Mangoes |
| 10. Le Pourquoi |
| 11. Firefly Night |
| 12. Universal |
| 13. Twisted Ends |
| 14. All I Have (Kid Loco's Crazy Love Mix) |
Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
As a session musician, cellist and singer Caroline Lavelle has a seriously classy track record, and this pedigree shows through on Brilliant Midnight 2.0, her second solo album. Mixing classical arrangements with contemporary programming, Lavelle here delivers a quite exquisite set of songs, each wildly varying in style, but all held together by her surprisingly powerful voice and richly poetic lyrics (some of them seemingly based on a bad relationship with a music-biz type). Opening with the dramatic "Lost Voices", the album moves into "Karma" (a less tortured Portishead), the breathy, Celtic "Anima Rising" and the layered, trip-hop folk of "Firefly Night". Then, it just keeps getting better, through the pained, piano-led "The Fall" and the Middle Eastern gothic of "Anxiety", to "Le Pourquoi", a kind of French classical-vaudeville hybrid, and the closing, cello-powered "Twisted Ends", ending with a wicked chuckle deflecting any accusations of pomposity. The only drawbacks are the bland pop of "All I Have" and a poor version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", where an inappropriate electro backing overruns the vocal. Nevertheless, it's a superb album. --Dominic Wills
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you think the US release of Brilliant Midnight was good..,
By
This review is from: Brilliant Midnight (Audio CD)
...go over to Amazon UK and buy the latest release there. It feels like an almost different album (showing my age there). I own both versions, now, and far prefer the release that was on her own label.Along with a few extra tracks, you get a far more vibrant feel, and a deeper, richer tone to each track. Do yourself a favor and splurge - get both - one for the car and one for the house. You will not be sorry. BTW, anyone who already knows the spectacular talent of this composer and lyricist needs no further explanation. Anyone who hasn't given her a listen should hurry and buy either copy NOW. Timeless music, folks...so heartrendingly lovely that there are no words that can possibly describe the experience. Nuff said.
3.0 out of 5 stars
For People Who Think They Are New Age,
By MaddKhameleon (Singapore: The City of Sin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brilliant Midnight (Audio CD)
Among thousands of my CDs, less than ten of them are filed under the category 'New Age'. Personally, I don't really fancy this genre as a whole due to its sound being too ethereal without sounding human and the general over-tranquility nature of the music really bores me to my deep well. I always think of this audiophile quality and over-polishness as something that's catering to yuppies who crave for something different for the sake of looking good. They are ashamed of listening to Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, at the same time, they want something different but pleasant to their delicate ears. So they go for Enya, Sarah Brightman and Kitaro and try to relax after a hard day's work... bearing this in mind, let's get into the album. Caroline has quite a versatile voice and apparently she is classically trained as a vocalist and celloist, however, at most of the time, she sounds like someone else instead of herself. 'Farther Than the Sun' is like a Sarah McLachlan who is even more classically trained but without Sinead O'Connor's influence. In 'She Said' and 'All I Have', she sounds like Dido trying to come up with something less poppish. While the beginning of 'Anxiety' is disarmingly similar to Laurie Anderson's 'O Superman', she surprises everyone by turning into a Heather Nova in the middle. Also, I could imagine 'Anima Rising' being the lost theme song from 'Titanic', and the two song adepted from poems do nothing to me since I don't understand the French lyrics, who knows, maybe she is trying to promote bilingualism just like what the country I am in is doing. Overall, this album is definitely more organic than her debut which is produced by William Orbit. And the arrangement for most of the tracks is quite complex for a pop album, far more complicated than the overrated Dido and Sarah McLachlan. It will definitely win fans for her due to the sheer beauty of the music and the technically perfect production, in the meantime, there is really nothing groundbreaking about it. To sum it up, Caroline Lavelle would have delivered a masterpiece if the setting were ten years ago. But now, let's just wait for her next...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Musical sexual chocolate.,
By Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brilliant Midnight (Audio CD)
The word "beautiful" is a bit ubiquitous in my reviews, I think, but the adjective definitely applies to Caroline Lavelle's music. Her voice is extremely gorgeous, and she hits notes with an indescribable sultry technique that will make any man shiver (97% chance). However, what makes the listening experience truly enjoyable is that Lavelle writes great songs and she's a clever lyricist. Her talent is truly brought forward by her second album (which she produced herself). The musicianship on Brilliant Midnight (great name!) is a lot more elaborate and intense. Granted, it's still slow and moody, but the compositions have a greater overall sense of space and vigor. "She Said" shows this, with its quaking, emotionally intense chorus and robust orchestration. The first song, "Farther than the Sun", is an evocative stunner that would fit nicely on the debut. There is a lot more acoustic instrumentation on this album as well (compared to her debut, which was dominated by electronics), with nicely composed string arrangements, and Lavelle's cello a lot more involved in the music. "Twisted Ends" is a short little instrumental at the end of the disc, where Lavelle plays piano and cello in soft, tranquil melodies. The odd "Siamant'o", based on a poem called "A Handful of Ash", is exquisite, bare music of cello, keys, and guitar under a haunting vocal melody. Seven-minutes long and based just around a few chords, it shows that the simplest music is sometimes the best. "Universal" is calculated beauty, with a mysterious lyric and a whispering vocal. Also interesting are the delicate pop-flavored "All I Have", the exotic percussion of "Anxiety", and the enchanting "The Fall". There was a six year wait between Spirit and Brilliant Midnight...now we know good things were being done in that interim! I just hope the wait isn't as long for album #3.
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