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Albums
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CdeB Mailing List Review Beautiful Dreams "This is the album I've always wanted to make; a live studio recording of personal favourites, old classics and new songs, with full orchestra and choir." "It was recorded in London over a period of eight days (instead of the usual three-four months) in July '95, and to sing each track surrounded by an orchestra, without the benefit of the safety-net of modern technology, was immensely exciting - everything in one take, the way it used to be!"
Indeed, a very different yet very typical CdB album. The first track, "Missing You", comes from the Flying Colours album. Diane Scholfield wrote in her review: "This love song's strong point is a singable melody and a chorus that lingers pleasantly in thebrain. Pleasant words, pleasant tune, a pleasant experience." Too true. But in the FC version, it is an upbeat, happy "singalong song", with a rhythm part that sounds like it comes straight from a 41-key portable Casio keyboard and backing vocals coo-ing "Missing You ...". On Beautiful Dreams, it is presented in a far more romantic atmosphere ... the first verse being accompanied only on piano. As the song progresses, it is expanded to a soft guitar and gentle strings, with a soft, subtle rhythm being added towards the end. Now I can see it being a love song - and he really sounds like he is missing her! The next track is an old Beatles song, "Girl", written by Messrs John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Having never been a Beatles fan myself, I do not know what the original version sounds like. I DO know however that the first time I listened to this, I skipped to the next track after about 20 seconds! But ... I've been back, made an effort to listen through it, and now find that it has grown on me! Chris's voice is strangely very appropriate, and he sings it with considerable emotion, so that it really falls very nicely on the ear, though it will never be deemed a favourite by me. The third track is a favourite: "Carry Me". From the Flying Colours album, it is a comforting, positive look at the passing of a loved one. Addressed to a friend, it emphasises that our stay on earth is a temporary one, and that all of us have to move on eventually. The mood is set with a haunting, almost eerie clarinet, playing the the tune to the last lines of the chorus ... then a solo piano with the first verse, and building gradually with full strings, and the clarinet returning every now and then - a truly beautiful arrangement to a wonderful song. "Discovery" is another favourite. From "End of a Perfect Day". it is a tribute to Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the Italian mathematician, astronomer and physicist. Galileo perfected the refracting telescope, and discovered Jupier's satelites, sunspots and craters on the moon. He was however forced by the Inquisition to withdraw his support of the Copernican theory of the solar system which was published in 1543, and which stated that the earth and the planets rotated around the sun. Sorry about the little history lesson, but it is relevant in order to understand the lyrics! ... "But now I know for certain, the world is round ... I have seen, My eyes have seen ...". "Snows of New York" was written by Chris and Albert Hammond, with the lyrics by Chris. The first time I heard this song, it was as the highlight of the "This Way Up" album - one which has been described by many as "average" and "mediocre". A fairly simple tune, with a chillingly powerful chorus, in the same vein as "Leather on My Shoes" and "A Spaceman Came Travelling". A friend has to leave, and is flying back to New York ... and is encouraged to, "when ...feeling lost in the snows of New York, lift your heart and think of me." I find this this version far more powerful than the original on the "This Side Up" album. Instead of a distorted electric guitar, the intro accompaniment is acoustic, the base line is far more interesting, and the song just builds and builds to an enormous climax. The one verse that really grips me, is:
The emotion is emphasised with little bursts from horns and brass, and it is a riveting experience. I suspect that Chris used some poetic licence here: I have definitely read these words before - on a wall poster I think - but it is the most fitting orchestration. Add to this the GWALIA Welsh Male Voice Choir, and it simply cannot but give you goosebumps all over! "In Love Forever" is one of the three new songs on the album. It is a lovely ballad, quiet yet intense, and probably of some really personal value to Chris. A man is declaring his love for a woman, in spite of doing and saying things that hurt her and the relationship. The opening lines set the mood:
I do not wish to speculate about possible references here. Suffice to say that it is a lovely, passionate song. "Shine On" is another song with a powerful, memorable chorus, which you find yourself humming at the weirdest times! Off the "Power of Ten" album, it resembles 2 fundamental ideas: The concept of Carpe Diem - Seize the Moment - and the fact that we have to "leave here a garden for our children, when we are gone forever". Also with a lovely, powerful chorus, which really comes to its own right with the backing of a full orchestra. I do however feel that the Welsh Chorus bit was a little too strong - but still a beautiful arrangement. Inevitably, "Lady in Red" had to be there. A lovely version of the song that introduced him to a lot of new fans. Performed with piano and strings, one can picture him just like in one of the videos: Alone, by candle light, at the piano ... very romantic. And if radio hadn't killed it so mercilessly, I am sure more of us would still be listening to it regularly! The next song was written by Roy Orbison - and it shows a mile off! I don't know much about Roy's music, and haven't listened to it much. But I can hear him in this one. Typical of the genre, "In Dreams" is performed adequately - but I don't like it much. I do not quite understand why "I'm Not Crying Over You" is on this album. The second new track by Chris on this album, a man tries to convince himself and his ex-girlfriend/wife that he is over her, when he clearly is not. Not bad, but really not specatcular - not in the lyrics, or the music. The next track was a pleasant surprise. Not quite old enough to have been an Elvis fan, it took me a while to place the tune. But Chris's rendition of "Always On My Mind" is beautiful. He sings it with feeling, and the orchestration compliments the voice and the lyrics, with the strings coming through stronger with the chorus, and then fading for a beautiful instrumental on acoustic guitar, with a sad cello droning along ... really very effective, and a real tear jerker! "Say Goodbye to it All" was released on "Into the Light" as the follow-up on "Borderline" from "The Getaway". Once again he has chosen to do away with the "rock" version, and turned it into a much more "personal" version, starting off not with the ending chorus of its predecessor, but with a lone French horn playing the last lines of the chorus. Then singing with only piano, he "tells" the story. Very effective, and the lamenting strings added later adds to the sadness of war, but the positive rebuilding after destruction. The last song on the album, "One More Mile to Go", is another one of those simple yet powerful songs where you have to jump in in and sing along at the top of your voice. Christmas time, a man is on his way home, by train .... his lady is waiting at the station, and he is really looking forward to seeing her! A very positive message, ending off with a more generic thought:
With the Welsh Male Voice Choir "aaah"-ing in the background, and then joining full scale into the chorus .... I just wish it were longer! And those then are the Beautiful Dreams of Chris de Burgh. This is NOT a greatest hits album. I am sure that the songs were chosen with care, but I am convinced that there could easily have been two dozen more. In all I think it made me realise that I miss the "old" Chris de Burgh - Not the rock star, but the story-teller, the romantic, the musician. |
File last modified on October 11th, 1996