Cheapest I Dreamed A Dream

Okay, we all know who Susah Boyle is by now, right? So I'll just get right to it.

I am a music producer and I listen to recordings with a most critical ear to detail.

To begin: The song choices seemed odd to me... until I heard the arrangements and her vocal renditions. Who would have thought "Daydream Believer" would actually be such a tender song in her care? Or "Wild Horses"? But for the blown final line (wherein she did NOT sing "... we'll ride them someday"), my only real disappointment with her take on this song, it was well crafted and presented. And I love "Who I Was Born To Be", which was written specifically for Susan. And, yes, "I Dreamed A Dream" is here as well. It is a worthwhile rendition, though her first live performance all the world witnessed (thank you Youtube, you've earned your right to exist!) was superior simply because she was singing for her "life" and full of adrenalin and in front of an audience in a make or break circumstance.

Yes, if we want to be overly critical, some choices seem trite. But Susan sings them all with such a conviction and sincerity (her producer must be commended for letting her do nothing less!) that you forgive the odd mis-steps and choices of instrumentation (along with the use of the choir behind her on a few - a bit much at times, but which actually did serve to knit things together across the album's breadth). I am glad they gave Susan the nod to do the hymns, too. Commendable choices here as well and you could tell they were important to her.

Second: The production. Well, I would have liked to have heard a real string section on some of the tunes. The overly fat sounding synth and sampled strings certainly created "atmosphere", and this album does have that, even a little too much at times. But in some offerings I felt this took away from the intimacy that was evident in the arrangements of a few of the songs. I wanted them to be as if sung directly for me, just the two of us alone in a room somewhere.

Now I said this was an inspiring freshman effort. And it really is. I am so glad this was produced in the UK because if it had been done in the USA, they surely would have felt the need to make the album "pop", which is to say, include some really trite, shallow and flavour of the day tune(s) we would all forget in a month. This is not to say that the UK doesn't fall prey to this trivial approach. But Susan Boyle really deserves a true shot at a real and lasting career. And with this first effort, she has been afforded the solid foundation for just such a run.

This album sits in my player and will be heard again and again, not because of the novelty, but because Susan is talented, and her voice is capable of quite a bit of variety; and it was so well crafted as the choice of material actually works and holds together through repeated listening. And that is praise we all would love to have for our labours.

And that means that I wait with great expectation for her sophomore effort, hoping the producers don't stumble and try to "outdo" themselves in the process. They will, I pray, take their time, choose the songs wisely - and give Susan a fair hand in selections and choices to include. Oh, and could you dial down that "atmosphere" thing a bit in the process while you're at it? Thank you.

And with the sales count running in excess of 4 million and counting, they had better be giving her a fair royalty point! She's earned it. Hey, Susan. Renegotiate your contract to make it happen. How can they refuse?
Get more detail about I Dreamed A Dream.