Harem

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0724355757425 Format: Enhanced Label: EMI Classics Manufacturer: EMI Classics Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: EMI Classics Release Date: 2003-09-29 Studio: EMI Classics
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Missing Track 14 Comment: Well I am absolutely staggered. I looked this album up on iTunes because I loved the song "You Take My Breath Away". Track no. 14 according to iTunes. For some nostalgic reason, I wanted to buy the hard product for my collection so I bought the Harem album on Amazon. Imagine my perplexity and horror when I realised that my beloved track was not on the CD. Track 14 is a mysterious obscure bonus track of some sort. Now I have to buy it on iTunes as well as the hard copy CD. I am not pleased - so beware, there are obviously two versions of this album. Make sure you get the one you want. Customer Rating: Summary: Superb! Comment: This album doesn't disappoint - it sends you away with the music - as usual, Sarah's voice is fantastic! I can listen to this album whilst on my computer and it is both calming and relaxing to listen to. A very good buy indeed! Customer Rating: Summary: Magical but flawed Comment: This is the strangest phenomenon - I adore this DVD but its flaws glare at me every time - it's not so much like watching a car crash, more like watching two circus trains crash - picturesque and exotic and wrong! Sarah Brightman is exquisitely beautiful and she looks like some flight-of-fancy princess from the Arabian Nights, or Scheherazade herself, in this DVD, and I can't take my eyes off her - despite the fact that I'm female and as straight as they come. The video production of Harem is top-notch; it has been extraordinarily well planned and the attention to detail is stunning. The result is a visual feast that really is dizzying. Every track has its own flavour and 'look' and the DVD as a production is like a banquet of delicate and intoxicating courses - all, that is, except for the baffling inclusion of a track from Sarah's "La Luna" tour which annoys me every time for pointlessly breaking the continuity of Harem. The musical production is good too from what I can tell (I'm a choreographer but I'm married to a Sound Designer so I do have half a clue). The Lyrics in many of the songs are laughably weak from an artistic point of view ("What you never know can't hurt you / what you never know can't lie / what you never know can't desert you / what you never know can't make you cry" - must have taken about 15 minutes to come up with that), but if you consider that Sarah is trying to appeal to the widest cross-section of people possible, then I guess she has probably done that by making the songs easy to understand. So it's only a downside if you try to look at Harem as Art rather than Entertainment. Entertaining it certainly is: as I've already been waxing lyrical, the whole thing is an absolute delight for the senses. It is dynamic in tempo, sound, and emotion; the colour palettes are a joy and the details, from the set right down to the colour of Sarah's eyeshadow, have all been planned to the Nth degree. I guess that is what annoys me so much about the flaws: to have such a high degree of excellence in so many ways, but then hit the epitomy of lowbrow in just a few key areas, seems like a cruel letdown. Possibly the biggest annoyance is the enduring love affair Brightman has with her own image in the camera lens. She has about two or three stock facial expressions that she rotates and uses a different combination of in each song (I'm beautiful/I'm sad/I'm in a state of wonder - or something like that) and this to me is a travesty on a face so beautiful and a voice so expressive. The whole production is just gorgeous, and I squirm watching Brightman thinking herself the epitome of beauty, when all around her are so many natural and cultural wonders - it is as if she's unwilling to surrender herself to the rapturous Middle-Eastern theme she's trying to evoke, and will not give up her place as Grand High Princess Sarah. It's entirely possible I'm being very unfair to her but I think at least a degree of this criticism IS actually warranted so forgive me if I'm being too hard. Many will disagree with me on my criticisms - but I think not many will disagree with my praises for that gloriously wonderful DVD that I keep on watching despite everything else! It's one of my favourites! Customer Rating: Summary: Harem Comment: This is the first Sarah Brightman album I bought, and I immediately fell in love with it. Not only is this my favourite Sarah Brightman album, it is one of my favourite albums ever. This album is startlingly original and imaginative. The combination of middle-eastern folk, orchestral, dance, operatic and pop styles creates a sound which you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. All of the songs on this album are good, however, the cover of Un Bel Di is delightfully weird, and like marmite you'll either love or loath it; the cover of What A Wonderful World is questionable, and Misere Mei slightly pointless. The other tracks are brilliant. Harem, an upbeat track combines dance and ethnic styles, which compliment eachother perfectly, War is Over is beautiful and uplifting and features Kadim Al Sahir who sings in Arabic(?). Arabian Nights is eight minutes of your life well spent, it consists of five memorable parts, one of which is, I believe sung in sanskrit; and Mysterious Days is a lush Bollywood piece. And not only that, Sarah Brightman's voice is brilliant. Customer Rating: Summary: uniquely brightman Comment: This is the first album that I have heard from Sarah Brightman. I didn't know she existed until July of 2004 when I was lucky enough to catch her Harem tour here in Australia. How could majority of the population be not aware of the talent this lady showcases? This album is a very enjoyable mix of materials with Middle-Eastern feel. It starts off strong with the title song - Harem - and it sets off the album to a perfect start. It also includes a few cover songs, most notably What a Wonderful World. Now, I have no idea who originally did this, but I heard a version sung by a male with a very husky voice. So I guess I'm a bit biased if I say that this is the superior version. Another cover is the song Beautiful. It is a very haunting piece that gave me the chills, and in fact it can still do. Looking at the cover booklet, I saw that she co-wrote a few of the songs as well, including Free and the War is Over now. In my opinion, these two songs are the most powerful in the album. But then again, I might be a little biased :) I highly recommend the purchase of this wonderful album, you wouldn't regret it. I'm loving it, and I've acquired some of her older works as I'm now a devoted fan. Although I've met a few of her older fans, those who prefer her musical pieces and they are not impressed much by Harem. More Reviews