|
An acoustic CD on Metal Perspective, you say? What an outrage! No, it's not. I got this promo, because this does belong on here. When I mention names like The Gathering, John Wetton and Ayreon? Yes, I thought so. Anneke van Giersbergen needs no introduction she's a nightingale and once she was the songbird for Dutch band The Gathering. She was a guest on loads of projects including Ayreon. Another reason for me to get this promo was because of Joris Dirks. I'm fortunate to have met the guy and I absolutely love his work with Moodswing and as a solo artist. I really love these two artists before Agua de Annique (their current band) was born and so keeping an eye on this band was the right thing to do.
"Pure Air" is mainly filled with covers. The few songs left not being covers are acoustic versions of songs featured on Agua de Annique's "Air". The album opener is "The Blower's Daughter" which is written and originally performed by Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice. Musically this is a perfect cover with no flaws whatsoever. What made the original song so beautiful and captivating was the warm and deep voice of Damien Rice. Anneke's voice is not quite cut for this song to be honest. Technically Anneke is superior to Damien Rice, but it's the emotions captured in Rice' voice that distinguish the original from this song. The addition of Anathema's Daniel Cavanagh is a big mystery to me though. His contribution to this song is, except for the few male vocal parts, not that big a deal. "Beautiful One" is the worst Agua de Annique song on this platter and is a bit out of tune, stylistically speaking. "Wild Flowers" is a translated cover from a Dutch song by Frank Boeijen. If I had to pick one song of this CD which would fit the album title most, it's this one. Very pure indeed. "Wilde Bloemen" - the original - is a great song full of emotional lyrics and the translation for this acoustic version by Van Giersbergen is great. I think it's great that an international audience get to experience this great song and even understand what it is about. "Day After Yesterday" is one of Agua de Annique's best songs and this acoustic version comes close to the quality of the original. Soothing keys accompany Van Giersbergen for this slow and warm song and make it to one of the highlights on this CD. Van Giersbergen has mastered "Come Wander With Me" by now as she has sung it a million times. This version is excellent and intimate until Kyteman (Kyteman's Hip Hop Orkest) blows his trumpet and turns a folk song into a jazzy song. This is not quite how the original song, sung by Bonnie Bleecher, was meant. I think own perceptions of a song are great, but this version just doesn't quite cut it. Major let-down. "Valley of the Queens" is way better than the original Ayreon song which is listed on "Into the Electric Castle"."Into the Electric Castle" is a classic progressive metal album, but I always thought that this song was way too pompous for Van Giersbergen's vocals and the general story behind the song. This version is way more tuned down and naked. I'm not sure if this version was recorded for "Pure Air" or if it was something that Arjen Lucassen had lying around. I think I also own an acoustic version on a single CD somewhere. Nonetheless, this is a hell of a version of this song. "To Catch a Thief" comes from the second Icon album, named "Rubicon". Icon is a collaboration between original Asia members Geoff Downes and John Wetton. Just like this acoustic version, the original was a male/female duet. The male on the original was, just as on this version, John Wetton and the female was British singer/songwriter Anne-Marie Helder. Van Giersbergen does a way better job than Helder. Too bad that Wetton isn't up to par. It might be that his voice has too much volume for acoustic songs and he has to hold back. Regardless of that, I'd take this acoustic version any day over the original one. "Ironic" is an iconic (no pun intended) rock song from the nineties. This version by Van Giersbergen, who is accompanied by Dirks, works out to be very harmonious. There you also have the major problem with this version. This song isn't meant to be broken down into an acoustic version. It lacks the power to make this song interesting. The original is a whacky song with a healthy dose of cynical lyrics. It's meant to be like that, not a cosy campfire song. "What's the Reason?" is an excellent acoustic version of the Silkstone song. Silkstone's lead vocalist Niels Geusebroek assists Van Giersbergen in singing this song and he does a perfect job. He should; It's his song! I already loved the original and I love this goose bump version. Van Giersbergen's vocals are tailor-made for these kind of songs. "Yalin" is another great Agua de Annique song and fits in perfectly in between these songs. A sober song filled with great instrumentation. "Somewhere" was originally released on "The Silent Force", an album made by Within Temptation in 2005. Within Temptation lead singer Sharon den Adel shares the spotlight with Van Giersbergen for this one and the two are a perfect match. The original song is way too sweet for my taste. Too much sound, too little space. This acoustic version betters the original in my opinion. The acoustic guitars of Dirks fit way better than the piano on the original. "Witnesses" could be tagged as filler and should've been kept off the album as far as I'm concerned. Way too dark for this bright and fresh album. I love Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love", but it has more power and drama than the acoustic version on this platter. The power and drama is needed to make an acoustic version of this song worth listening. Usually you save the best for last, but Van Giersbergen decided to save the worst for last.
This record is nothing groundbreaking. We all have heard it before, literally. I now understand why this record is marketed and labelled as Anneke van Giersbergen with Agua de Annique. There are not enough Agua de Annique songs and/or contributions on this record to link it to the band. Maybe another album title would've been better too considering the previous Agua de Annique album title was used for this one. This will keep the diehard Anneke van Giersbergen fans satisfied for the moment until she releases a new CD. Let's hope it will be new material then.
|
