A furry marsupial review of Dream of You

[cw]

Track by track
Our Wedding Day: When I first read the name of this track, my internal "Ickmeter" started to hit warpmode but was happily reassured that this was merely an alternate title for "She Moved Through The Fair". I like this track ... sufficiently moody without being overpowering. Special plaudits to Billy Farrell on the production side with the background being synthesised without feeling "overproduced". 8/10

Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime: Probably the biggest "miss" on the album. It probably get's back to the song itself which has never enthused me. I don't hate it but rather I remain supremely indifferent to it & frankly find it repetitive & boring. This cover does nothing to provoke a change of opinion. The Warner mandated re-mix adds nothing & is probably the one point in the album where the production is actually intrusive. It may be a "known" song but it's choice as a single was puzzling. 5/10

It's Not A Dream: The first single & the first track from the album that most of us heard. A very, very pleasant track but, in the current climate, not a particularly commercial one. Lyrically a very soft, romantic number & it is a testament to the talents & good taste of Billy Farrell & Fiachra Trench that they did not descend into the overly lush arrangements/production that would have made this too sickly sweet for consumption. This song, however, deserves better than to be buried for all time & could well be taken up productively by another artist, maybe in the C&W field. 7.5 - 8/10

Mna Na h'Eireann: The first of the "wow" tracks. On it's own, without the Jeff Beck contributions, this is a very, very fine arrangement but the Jeff Beck/Sharon connection really has "gelled" as has been evidenced with their live performances of this number. It's a long track but stays the right side of the line & Beck's contributions gell with the overall production rather than being an ego vehicle which can be the case with some guest artists. The ultimate vindication of this collaboration is the fact that Jeff Beck has adopted MNE as part of his own setlist. 9.5/10

Buenos Aires: I think this track may be harshly judged by some due to their comparing it to Sharon's initial collaboration with Spanish artist Alex Ubago. Amarrado A Ti WAS an absolutely gorgeous pop track & the combination just sparkled. This is a much softer, slower number & maybe the combination hasn't gelled as well. Lyrically, quite a good track but I think this one will be a slowburner as regards people's acceptance. 7/10

So Long Ago: The 3rd single & probably the strongest ... with the disclaimer that this album is unlikely to produce a "charting" single. Lyrically strong & altogether a very strong production. 8-8.5/10

Smalltown Boy: This IS a great cover !! Sharon's conception of this song has turned what was originally a "synthpop" anthem on it's head & really encapsulated the sadness & pathos of the underlying theme of the song. Sharon's vocal is probably her strongest of the entire album & everything comes together perfectly. Again plaudits to Billy Farrell's production & Fiachra Trench's orchestration for the Irish Film Orchestra is flawless with Anto Drennan's closing guitar solo expressing the repressed anger in the song. 10 plus

Cooley's Reel: An absolutely gorgeous instrumental. Melding trad with rock is not always easily but it works perfectly here. Peerless playing by all concerned & the production & engineering by Billy Farrell & Tim Martin allows us to here every contributor. 10/10

Butterflies: By all reports, a late entry to the album but a worthy one. A very simple track with only vocal & piano backing but the lyrics are some of the strongest of the original material. Not single material but most definitely not a "skip" track. 8.5/10

Dream Of You: The title track was one first introduced to fans at the Isle Of Wight & it captured many people's fancies. My view of the finished product has waxed & waned a little with a final judgement being a slight disappointment. Probably not the most inspired number lyrically, this is also one track where female backing vocals may have helped. in my opinion, the highlight musically is the interplay-mock duel between Sharon's violin & Anto Drennan's guitar which could actually have been used to greater effect earlier in the track. 8/10

Real World: Some fans have labelled this track as a "Karen Carpenter" number and OMG, they are right. This is a number that those who were familiar with KC's voice could totally picture her singing. One of the better lyrics of the original material & again flawless production & arrangement by Messrs Farrell & Trench. 9/10

Love Me Better: Sorry to say but this final track doesn't do it for me. By no means is this a shocker but merely it comes across to me as "trying too hard" to be country. Not a particularly strong lyric or vocal. If she was looking to essay a C&W excursion, I feel her "culled" number "Ears Painted On" had far more personality & spark. 6/10

[cw]

General comments
This is a very beautiful album in that the playing is absolutely glorious by all concerned be they her regular crew; guest artists; trad players AND the wonderful Irish Film Orchestra. Furthermore the production/engineering by Billy Farrell & Tim Martin allows this quality to shine. Indeed,apart from the Warner mandated remix on EGTLS, the production is superb and along with Fiachra Trench's orchestration allows the music to breathe & flower in it's own right rather than be a showpiece for the producer's ego.

When I first heard of Sharon's solo project, I felt that she was more than capable of writing numbers of sufficient quality but I nursed a slight concern whether she possessed sufficient vocal "chops" to be able to carry an entire album. Whilst she undoubtedly had the capacity to front a number or two for the band (and was an outstanding b-vox); did she possess the strength & range.

It's a pleasant surprise to state that this reservation has essentially been answered in the positive. Whilst she does not bring as much to the table vocally as her youngest sister in her prime; her's is an efffective instrument in it's range & with the right material & the material on this album, for the most part, fit's her voice well & in some instances astonishingly well. Sharon has clearly developed her power & her range has been a surprise; she has every right to front some more numbers in a reformed Corrs.

I also feel she chose wisely in her key collaborators. Whilst John Hughes undoubtedly proved invaluable as an advisor & facilitator; this has essentially been a self-funded & self-managed project (aided & abetted by poor long-suffering hubby). The presence of Anto Drennan & the Duffy brothers as her "Corr" team not only provided her with the security of the finest quality musicians alongside her but also people she has personal & musical chemistry.

Billy Farrell & Tim Martin have also been long-term Corr collaborators as is Fiachra Trench. Sharon made many very valuable new connections throughout this project but I feel that a great deal of the "artistic success" of this album is due to Sharon surrounding herself with a quality team of people who were clearly committed to this album & beleived in Sharon & this project.

Nonetheless, I feel this album falls short of what it could have been. There is a lack of "light & shade" with only Cooley's Reel providing any semblance of counterbalance to the prevailing slow to moderate tempo. Sharon claimed that "you get all of me" with this album but regrettably I must differ with the lady. Whilst we do see a good cross-section of her talents; one vital component of both her personality & musical oputput is missing from the final product.

Namely her wit, her spark, her humour. Any viewing of any media appearance or clip evidences that these components are very much to the fore with Sharon & live performances of songs like Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way demonstrate that Sharon can shine vocally in uptempo numbers. I feel that the addition of at least brighter uptempo number such as Ears Painted On or Over It would not only have provided a counterbalamce in the album but also demonstrated a wider cross-section of her talents.

Whilst the big stirring self-penned instrumentals such as Rebel Heart or Silver Strand are not present; Sharon's capacity as a musician with "breadth of vision" is clearly evident in her conception of such numbers as Smalltown Boy & Mna Na h'Eireann. Who knows the final commercial outcome for this album but tracks like these deserve far better than to be forgotten. Sharon has skillfully trod the path of remaining accessable to the Corrs "base" whilst productively investigating new avenues.

A very strong first solo outing. 4.25 stars from 5.

[DazedOblivion]

Excellent critique, Wombat. I might have scored a few of the tracks higher, but I AM a fanboy! What's most important is that you articulated the reasons behind your assessment of each track.

I was hoping someone else might come in and make a comment or participate in the poll regarding Dream of You tracks.

As an aside, unfortunately, this forum appears to have become dormant. I understand the reasons. So many other alternatives to the old message board format: Twitter, Facebook (and those addictive games that sucked in some of our members). Sadly, we don't have anyone currently posting, other than you, Wombat, who has an ear to the ground of what is happening in Sharon's regions of focus. I find Sharon's official forum hard to jump in and get the latest information, since the index page does not provide a "last 20 posts" and the topics of the "last post" in each category are not named. When I have gone to COL, my anti-virus software always lights up that it is potentially unsafe. Also, for a long while, there were some people at COL that believed that the Corrs had not done anything decent since 1998 and that kinda put me off.

[magnficentfan]

My apologies for not posting recently. I enjoy this board immensely; what it's missing, though, is the option to have email updates when there's a new post in a thread. That's one of the reasons why it's easier for me to keep up with SCF. Once classes started in September, my free time to check out all of the Corrs boards became just about nonexistent. Anyhow...

Great review, Wombat. Now that I've been listening to the album for a few months, my opinions of some of the tracks have changed slightly.

For one thing, EGTLS has grown on me. I can't put my finger on what exactly it is, but it seems less "techno" and more "another song" on Sharon's album. By that I mean that it seems to blend in more now, and sticks out less than when I first got the album.

Although I find Mna Na h'Eireann beautiful, it's lost a bit of the luster that it originally had. I'm not sure if that's because I've become jaded from seeing so many YouTube clips of Sharon playing it or what. It's still beautiful - and incredibly impressive that Jeff Beck plays on the track - but I wouldn't necessarily miss it if I skipped the song while listening to the album.

I'm very intrigued by So Long Ago. I asked Sharon on Twitter what it was about and I didn't get an answer, so I won't press. I read in some interview that she said that she didn't want to get into it, which is fine. I completely respect that. But of course.... it makes me (and I'm sure others) all the more curious.

I still can't get that "into" Dream Of You. It's a pretty song, and I know that Sharon said that she wrote it while she was pregnant with Cal, and in my opinion, that's a really beautiful thing. But I can't help but compare it to the track that Caroline penned, "Miracle." To me, that song describes what it must be like to be expecting a child. I can't quite get Sharon's comparisons in Dream Of You. I'm certainly not saying that she's "wrong" with what she sings; absolutely not - they're her feelings and emotions that she put into lyrics. But I just don't quite get what she's singing about.

Real World is her masterpiece. I'm still amazed at how candid Sharon was in her lyrics. That's got to be intensely personal.

-- Marie

[shankar]

no words to say...sharon did amazing and excellent album...so emotional and so heart touching one....best album and sounds like a corrs.........