Music Monday--Michael Bolton Gems CD Review

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Can you believe it?  I finally listened to another CD!!  This is a wonderful CD that I won a little while ago, and it did not disappoint.  Before I do the review, let me tell you a part of the story behind this CD--at least from my point of view.


I remember seeing the giveaway for this CD on a blog I do not normally follow:  www.livelovelaughwithleslie.com.  I read the review, and thought I may as well enter.  I had only ever heard of Michael Bolton and had never heard any of his music.


When I found out I won, I thought, "Well, at least I get to hear a different singer."  And I was taken in from the beginning!  I became and instant Michael Bolton fan, and I wondered why on earth I had never listened to him before. 


So, to the review.


This album is a very special one.  It is an album of Duets with various musicians, and it is his 21st studio album.  Quite  career, I must say.  And how on earth did I miss him all these years?


The album begins with a duet with Rascal Flatts, and it is a fine start to the album.  It was actually a good song for both him and the Flatts--Love is Everything.  He moves on to a lovely duet with Eva Cassidy--Fields of Gold.  Sajna with A.R. Rahman was a fine-sounding song, just rather strange.  Pride (In the Name of Love) was a nice duet with Ann Akiko Meyers. I probably haven't said too much about the last songs because I am not as familiar with the other singers.  But the next song transcended all of that.


His fifth track is I'm Not Ready with Delta Goodrem, and I have to say this is the first diamond in his Gems. It is absolutely dynamite!  I already loved this album, but I was enthralled.  I just didn't think it could get better.  Over the Rainbow with Paula Fernandez continued this.  It was a great version of this well-known song.  It didn't make any difference that I knew the song so well--I found it fresh and inviting.  A nice follow-up to this song was When a Man Loves a Woman/It's a Man's Man's Man's World with Seal.  I found this a clever arrangement, and it was extremely enjoyable.


Then I came to the song that touched my soul.  I saw that he was going to be singing The Prayer and I expected a pop version of it.  I don't know Laura Fabian, but I figured I'd like it since I love the song.  Michael Bolton literally blew me away!  He sang in Italian, and he even sounded somewhat operatic at times!  I was nearly brought to tears.  I have heard many glorious versions of this song, but as far as pop singers go, he takes the cake!


The next song was absolutely glorious as well. (I am struggling to find different vocabulary to describe the album!) His version of You are So Beautiful with Chris Botti was classy and emotive. Make You Feel My Love with Helene Fischer was nice, but it was only the preamble to the second to last track.


When I saw that he was going to sing Hallelujah, I wasn't sure which song it would be  It was the song featured in Shrek, and the moment I heard him sing it, accompanied by the MB's Children's Choir, I was again enthralled.  This song was the ideal song for him, and he gave a brilliant performance.


I would have preferred the second to the last song as the ending song, but he added one more. Steel Bars featuring Orianthi.  A nice song, but not nearly as nice and strong as the previous song.


In short, there was not a single song I didn't like.  Every arrangement was outstanding, and I could not recommend this album highly enough.


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About Michael Bolton (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Michael-Bolton-Biography/E703C029C383FD7F4825688E000C95E2)

One of the music industry's most successful singer/songwriters, Michael Bolton has also gained recognition as an author and human rights activist. Most recently, he authored his first children's book (The Secret Of The Lost Kingdom, published by Hyperion/Disney Press in the fall of 1997) and recorded "Go The Distance" -- the theme song for the Disney animated film, Hercules. Michael brings the same passion, devotion, and commitment to his other major projects that have made him -- with sales of more than 40 million albums -- one of the world's most popular singers.

n 1993, Michael established the Michael Bolton Foundation, which provides assistance, through local and national charities and "safe house" shelters, to children and women at risk from poverty, as well as from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. He's the honorary chairman of the National Committee To Prevent Child Abuse and National Chairman for This Close For Cancer Research. In 1994, he received the prestigious Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee. In 1995, he was named a Hendon Fellow at Yale University. In January 1996, Michael became the recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr./C.O.R.E. Award. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for One-To-One, a youth mentoring program and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

Michael's predilection for good works dovetailed with his developing love of opera recently when he joined Luciano Pavarotti on stage in Modena, Italy, at the "Luciano & Friends Together For The Children of Bosnia" benefit concert. "The experience was indescribable," he remembers.

"There's something incredibly fulfilling in singing beautiful classical music."

Michael Bolton, arguably America's premier pop singer and songwriter, grew up idolizing such pioneers of R&B as Ray Charles and Otis Redding.

Blessed with an incomparable voice and a keen songwriting ability, he began hitting radio playlists in 1983 with "Fool's Game," from his self-titled Columbia Records album debut. After the release of The Hunger (1987), fans and critics began to take notice of this fast-emerging talent, but it was 1989's multi-platinum Soul Provider, with hit singles like the Grammy-winning "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" (which has been played more than four million times on the radio) and the title track, that catapulted Michael to the upper echelon of pop music luminaries.

Having begun his career as a songwriter, it's no surprise that Bolton's songs have been recorded by an astonishing array of artists. Michael has written songs for Barbra Streisand ("We're Not Making Love Anymore"); KISS ("Forever"); Joe Cocker ("Living Without Your Love"); Kenny Rogers ("Just The Thought Of Losing You"); Cher ("I Found Someone"); and Kenny G and Peabo Bryson (the 1993 BMI Pop Award-winning "By The Time This Night Is Over"). Other noted artists, such as Patti LaBelle, the Pointer Sisters, Gregg Allman, Lee Greenwood and Conway Twitty have also covered Bolton songs. Michael is among the scant handful of songwriters to have collaborated with Bob Dylan; their song "Steel Bars" is a highlight of both Time, Love & Tenderness and Bolton's Greatest Hits album.

The music industry honored Bolton's songwriting with the 1995 Hitmaker's Award, from the National Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and the prestigious "Million Performance Song Award" five times. (A "million performance" song is one which has received at least 50,000 hours -- more than 5.7 years! -- of airplay.)

"Between writing, performing, recording, and everything else, far and away, performing before my audience is the best," Michael says. From 1991 through 1995, Michael embarked on a series of international marathon concert tours including the 1991-1992 Time, Love & Tenderness Tour and the 1994-1995 The One Thing Tour. He has appeared at hundreds of concerts and performed for millions of fans; Michael's many memorable concert experiences included several visits to the White House at the invitation of President Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Despite his full plate of activities, Michael wouldn't have it any other way: "I'm working on enjoying each moment a bit more. It feels like it's always time to move onward and upward; at the same time, that means moving deeper into the gift of music. That will always take me where I want to go."