It's only been seven years between Just Whitney and 2009's I Look to You, not even Houston's longest time between albums, but it feels much, much longer, her glory days obscured in hazy memories of lost luster chiefly deriving from a bad marriage with Bobby Brown, chronicled in an embarrassing reality show for Bravo in 2004. I Look to You attempts to wash this all away with something of a return to roots – a celebration of Houston's deep disco beginnings, tempered with a few skyscraping ballads designed to showcase her soaring voice. Houston's rocky decade isn't ignored, but it isn't explored, either: songs allude to Whitney's strength, her willpower as a survivor struggling through some unnamed struggle – enough for listeners to fill in the blanks, either with their own experience or their imaginings of Houston's life.
It's only been seven years between Just Whitney and 2009's I Look to You, not even Houston's longest time between albums, but it feels much, much longer, her glory days obscured in hazy memories of lost luster chiefly deriving from a bad marriage with Bobby Brown, chronicled in an embarrassing reality show for Bravo in 2004. I Look to You attempts to wash this all away with something of a return to roots – a celebration of Houston's deep disco beginnings, tempered with a few skyscraping ballads designed to showcase her soaring voice. Houston's rocky decade isn't ignored, but it isn't explored, either: songs allude to Whitney's strength, her willpower as a survivor struggling through some unnamed struggle – enough for listeners to fill in the blanks, either with their own experience or their imaginings of Houston's life.
'I am: Celine Dion', the upcoming original documentary on Prime Video, gives us a raw, behind-the-scenes look at the iconic superstar's struggle with a life-altering illness. This inspirational documentary highlights the music that has guided Celine's life, while also showcasing the resilience of the human spirit. 'I am: Celine Dion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' includes 13 classic hits, along with 7 score tracks.
The Triple Feature series by Sony Legacy compiles three – usually well-known – catalog albums by big-name artists, assembles them in a slipcase box, and sells them at a budget price to consumers. While the reason may be simply a new package in order to clear shelves of excess inventory, this exercise also serves a purpose for collectors and fans filling in holes for a favorite artist. In the case of Frank Sinatra, Sony actually compiled three previously issued compilations – Classics & Standards, I’ve Got a Crush on You, and Songs from the Movies. Sinatra-philes already know that the earliest part of his career was spent recording for Columbia, and these titles reflect more the crooner than the finger-popping swing daddy of jazz and pop. It’s not that the music here isn’t worth hearing…
Originally scheduled for release in 1981, the double-album I'm a Rainbow was shelved at the last minute. In the proocess, it became legendary among Donna Summer fanatics. In 1996, I'm a Rainbow was finally released as a single compact disc. Like most of Summer's recordings from the late '70s and early '80s, it was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who give the stylish disco a sleek, sexy sheen. The difference between I'm a Rainbow and its predecessors – and, indeed, its sequels – is the subject matter. Throughout I'm a Rainbow, Summer turns in some of her most personal, introspective lyrics and singing, which gives the album an emotional force her albums sometimes lacked. In fact, given the quality of the music, it's hard to see why this was shelved at the time because it is stronger than the majority of her official studio albums.
Mieczyslav Weinberg was in fact born and raised in Poland, but the vast majority of his compositional career was in the Soviet Union and he remained there for the rest of his life, in Minsk (now the capital of independent Belarus). He therefore comes well within the definition of 'Russian' for the purpose of this series and was certainly treated as such by the authorities. This and the succeeding album (dda25107) which includes the remaining three sonatas, were originally released on the now defunct Olympia label but had a relativley short life and restricted distribution, and …………..