Posted by Teejae
I was hesitant, at first, to buy the two new albums, but I said: What the heck? Juris is my ADDUHS95-mate, and as our batch slogan goes: Batchmate Ko, Sagot Ko. I bought both "Beyond Acoustic", their sophomore album and "Versions", their cover album.
I do not know why they thought of simultaneously releasing two albums. I thought it was a big gamble. But I guess if your launching album hit platinum, you can take those kinds of risks. Looking at the album leaf/s, I can say they spent more on photography for the two new ones,versus the previous ones (where their pictures looked like they were taken from someone's personal photo-album). They also look better than the first album.
First up, I want to discuss their cover album: VERSIONS, which contains 12 tracks. [Let me warn you though, covers, generally do not excite me. I think, generally, cover albums were created by record labels to squeeze money out of consumers without necessarily using the music artist's creativity (or the lack of it). But my latest purchase of Regine Velasquez's "Covers" made me realize that some artists do think about how to make COVERS sound new and worth the buy.]
Production-wise, I'd say VERSIONS sounded very raw -- maybe too raw -- it sounded as if the songs were recorded in someone's home studio, or from a live, small-audience performance in a small club. Juris' voice was quite loud, minimal microphone tricks, and minimal instrumental accompaniment, just the guitar, mostly, and a few percussions here and there. The fact that it sounds raw is sort of a double-edged sword: on one hand, you might say the production quality is poor, you can hear all the flaws in the guitar plucking or the vocal acrobatics...but on the other hand, you can say that it sounds INTIMATE. I'm leaning towards the latter analysis.
With all due respect to Chin, it was Juris who got showcased in this particular album. Her voice had so much emotion, she delivered the words with so much clarity, she hit the high notes that need to be hit, both the highs and the lows, employed some whispering techniques and only belted when she needed to. I can't say what my favorite tracks are, because I might need to write down the entire tracklist of 12 songs, but I'd say, my least liked version was Beauty and Madness (respect!) and Eternal Flame (only because it sounds so close to the original). In fact, I like the album so much, I can forgive the fact that Juris didn't get any help in Especially for You (sinolo niya ang duet na original) and that they put the wrong title for track no. 12. [In the album it said AT YOUR BEST, YOU ARE LOVED. But the song is entitled "At Your Best, You are Love", because the word love is used as a noun, not a verb. It's as if saying, "At your best, you are sweetheart" or "the best ka talaga, baby!]
Now let's take a moment to focus on their sophomore album: BEYOND ACOUSTIC, which has 12 tracks. A think the album was aptly titled because there's a little less acoustic here...you'll be able to hear some electric guitars, some drums bangin and a host of other instruments...as if signalling their growth as a band. I like this album better than VERSIONS, mainly because it showcases their artistry--> Juris' singing, Chin's musical talent, with both of them penning songs for the album. Compared to their freshman album: "Soulful Acoustic", they covered various themes, in their sophomore album: Love, Hope, Life, and even FAITH. And as for the lovesongs in this album, they also cover a variety of emotions,versus the otherwise pop/cheesy themes of the lovesongs in the first (with all due respect...).
My favorite original tracks include the songs Juris wrote/co-wrote: Magical Feeling, which has a Sheryl Crow vibe to it and Rush, which sounds very pleasant when driving.
I also like Get Me (which has a THE CORRS touch to it), When I Dream (truly moving vocal rendition), Jam (theme of the Jam 88.3 radio station) and Talaga Naman (where Juris sounded like Regine Velasquez). I also think they gave a very good new spin to Kathy Trocolli's "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and my friends, who were with me in the car when I was listening to the album, all went gaga over their version of Smokey Mountain's "Kailan" and Ogie Alcasid's "Sa Kanya".
So thats 9 great tracks out of the 12 tracks in the album.
If you got money, you can opt to buy both, anyway, its just PHp250 a piece. But if you are cash-strapped you can choose to buy either of them...whatever is your deal...if you're into versions of some good ole' sentimental lovesongs, buy VERSIONS, but if you're craving for something new, get BEYOND ACOUSTIC.
As for me, am happy with my purchases.
I do not know why they thought of simultaneously releasing two albums. I thought it was a big gamble. But I guess if your launching album hit platinum, you can take those kinds of risks. Looking at the album leaf/s, I can say they spent more on photography for the two new ones,versus the previous ones (where their pictures looked like they were taken from someone's personal photo-album). They also look better than the first album.
First up, I want to discuss their cover album: VERSIONS, which contains 12 tracks. [Let me warn you though, covers, generally do not excite me. I think, generally, cover albums were created by record labels to squeeze money out of consumers without necessarily using the music artist's creativity (or the lack of it). But my latest purchase of Regine Velasquez's "Covers" made me realize that some artists do think about how to make COVERS sound new and worth the buy.]
Production-wise, I'd say VERSIONS sounded very raw -- maybe too raw -- it sounded as if the songs were recorded in someone's home studio, or from a live, small-audience performance in a small club. Juris' voice was quite loud, minimal microphone tricks, and minimal instrumental accompaniment, just the guitar, mostly, and a few percussions here and there. The fact that it sounds raw is sort of a double-edged sword: on one hand, you might say the production quality is poor, you can hear all the flaws in the guitar plucking or the vocal acrobatics...but on the other hand, you can say that it sounds INTIMATE. I'm leaning towards the latter analysis.
With all due respect to Chin, it was Juris who got showcased in this particular album. Her voice had so much emotion, she delivered the words with so much clarity, she hit the high notes that need to be hit, both the highs and the lows, employed some whispering techniques and only belted when she needed to. I can't say what my favorite tracks are, because I might need to write down the entire tracklist of 12 songs, but I'd say, my least liked version was Beauty and Madness (respect!) and Eternal Flame (only because it sounds so close to the original). In fact, I like the album so much, I can forgive the fact that Juris didn't get any help in Especially for You (sinolo niya ang duet na original) and that they put the wrong title for track no. 12. [In the album it said AT YOUR BEST, YOU ARE LOVED. But the song is entitled "At Your Best, You are Love", because the word love is used as a noun, not a verb. It's as if saying, "At your best, you are sweetheart" or "the best ka talaga, baby!]
Now let's take a moment to focus on their sophomore album: BEYOND ACOUSTIC, which has 12 tracks. A think the album was aptly titled because there's a little less acoustic here...you'll be able to hear some electric guitars, some drums bangin and a host of other instruments...as if signalling their growth as a band. I like this album better than VERSIONS, mainly because it showcases their artistry--> Juris' singing, Chin's musical talent, with both of them penning songs for the album. Compared to their freshman album: "Soulful Acoustic", they covered various themes, in their sophomore album: Love, Hope, Life, and even FAITH. And as for the lovesongs in this album, they also cover a variety of emotions,versus the otherwise pop/cheesy themes of the lovesongs in the first (with all due respect...).
My favorite original tracks include the songs Juris wrote/co-wrote: Magical Feeling, which has a Sheryl Crow vibe to it and Rush, which sounds very pleasant when driving.
I also like Get Me (which has a THE CORRS touch to it), When I Dream (truly moving vocal rendition), Jam (theme of the Jam 88.3 radio station) and Talaga Naman (where Juris sounded like Regine Velasquez). I also think they gave a very good new spin to Kathy Trocolli's "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and my friends, who were with me in the car when I was listening to the album, all went gaga over their version of Smokey Mountain's "Kailan" and Ogie Alcasid's "Sa Kanya".
So thats 9 great tracks out of the 12 tracks in the album.
If you got money, you can opt to buy both, anyway, its just PHp250 a piece. But if you are cash-strapped you can choose to buy either of them...whatever is your deal...if you're into versions of some good ole' sentimental lovesongs, buy VERSIONS, but if you're craving for something new, get BEYOND ACOUSTIC.
As for me, am happy with my purchases.
