Charlotte Church Album: “Prelude: The Best of Charlotte Church [Japan Bonus Tracks]”

A review of the songs in Prelude suggests to me that most were someone elses best and not Miss Church's. Of particular note is the song Pie Jesu which Miss Church claims as her "theme song". In fact, the song was originally written for and became the theme song of Sarah Brightman. A listen to this piece done by Ms Brightman, which is here on Amazon[.com], will also demonstrate that Sarah Brightman's version is vastly superior. The majority of other songs fall into the same category including Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Having heard all of Miss Church's CDs, I would have thought that she would have included some traditional Irish songs herein including Danny Boy and Carrickfergus which she performed reasonably well on her 1st and 4th CDs. But she opted to include those songs which others have done previously and in a manner which is vastly inferior to the originals or subsequent renditions.

There certainly is a place in music for Miss Church, however you will not find it here in other than traditional Irish Folk.

As a singer of light classical and pop, I was disappointed to hear Charlotte's progression (digression) from a child prodigy to what amounts to being a pedestrian vocalist. I concur with another reviewer who suggested they should have re-issued her first CD "Voice of an Angel". However even that work could not even hold a candle to 12-year-old Aselin Debison. Charlotte needs to go to a conservatory of music and attempt to recapture whatever she had early on. Prelude can only be interpreted as a prelude to retirement.

In reviewing the selections on this CD, I noticed only one original work and that was the song, "Just Wave Hello". I am totally amazed that this song would be included herein as it was billed as "The Ford Global Anthem". When people heard it, it simply engendered feelings of the "Rollerball Syndrome" where corporations had control of an Orwellean world, and their anthem was played before the beginning of sporting events. The song was quickly pulled when Ford sales tanked. In any case, to put in a song which was produced to be part of a commercial is, IMHO, to short-change the public.

The remainder of the songs we hear are simply renditions which almost any girl Charlotte's age could have sung. There is nothing special here and certainly nothing which any music lover would consider a hit. If this is the "Best of", then it is best left in the vaults of Sony. When this girl's career is finished, then is the time to see if there is a "Best of" worth offering to the music-listening public.

I believe that the title of this CD is gramatically incorrect. It should read "A Prelude To The Best Of Charlotte Church. I say that because what is included in this CD cannot possibly be her best within her entire lifetime. All of the songs are juvenile and child-like renditions. As one reviewer commented, she needs another 10 or so albums before she is ready for a "Best of" or "Greatest Hits" album. For her age, she sings fine. However, I would not attempt to advertise these works as anything special, because they are not.

Having listened to all of Charlotte's albums and having read all of her reviews, I'm surprised that this mix of songs was compiled for release. Charlotte has many faults and few virtues now. And in this CD, we see too many of the faulted songs or genre's of music. She no longer has the power or volume to sing opera. She does not have the vocal control to sing classical properly and she does not have the range to sing pop. You need to be more of a mezzo to do that and she had demonstrated via Habanera that she cannot perform at those octaves. What this leaves is her ability to sing traditional folk songs; specifically Irish Folk, which may be attributed to the Irish in her. She did a great job with Danny Boy (where I first saw her sing on TV)and Carrickfergus was also well done. My Lagan Love is another example of how well she comes across in this area. However, both Carrickfergus and Danny Boy are left out of this album. Charlotte, her label, and the listening public would have been much better served by an album of Irish/Celtic Folk songs. To have us all look at again, songs which she is at best, marginally qualified to sing, are not in anyones best interest.