Album Review: Jonathan Estabrooks "These Miles"

Back in October I decided I need more classical/classy/opera music in my life. I didn't really know too many artists in that genre so I was kinda stuck. However, it happened the day after I thought about this that I got an email from Twitter that said, "Jonathan Estabrooks is now following you on Twitter!" I was like, "Hmm, who is this guy?" So I went to his profile and thought, "Hey, he seems pretty cool. I wonder what his music sounds like." Then I went to iTunes. I listened to one clip of the first track and was hooked and knew I didn't need to listen to the others before buying it. Needless to say, he got a quick follow back, and an immediate fan. His voice was exactly what I was looking for. It's smooth, deep, powerful, perfect. In fact, if I could fall in love with a voice, it would be his....but that would be weird for both him and myself.

Track listings are:
1. "Play Me"
2. "Kathy's Song"
3. "Time After Time"
4. "Le Cose Che Tu Sei"
5. "Calling You"
6. "She"
7. "Por Una Cabeza" (featuring Jonathan Antoine) - This is one of my very favorite songs; many times have I put it on repeat and listened to it over and over and over again because I love it that much!
8. "Always On My Mind"
9. "Away From The Roll of The Sea"
10. "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home"
11. "All The Things You Are/Hymne a L'amour"
12. "Fly Away" (Bonus Track)

So the first time I heard that little clip of "Play Me" on iTunes I fell in love (umm, not with him) and even though I listened to it only once, it would still get stuck in my head and I couldn't wait to buy the whole album! I was definitely not disappointed.
His album has opera, pop, jazz, big-band sound, all that good stuff.
The song "Fly Away" was written by him. The lyrics and music (kinda pop-ish) are fantastic. His voice is totally what makes the song so wonderful.
I've only heard the original version of "Time After Time" once and, well, I can't say that I cared for it, but Jonathan was able to make it sound classy with that voice of his, and I love it!
"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" has that big-band feel to it and though one may think a man with an operatic voice couldn't pull it off, he did and I think it's amazing.
"Por Una Cabeza" with the amazing opera singer Jonathan Antoine. Wow. Where do I start? I so enjoy this song! Their powerful, operatic voices go together wonderfully! And because of this song I am now a huge fan of Jonathan Antoine as well and have his album (which is also fantastic and I highly recommend it).
"Kathy's Song," "Always On My Mind," and "Away From The Roll of The Sea" are all soft songs. I love when he sings soft songs....and that deep baritone voice of his....wow, so lovely and smooth.
"Calling You" kind of has a jazzy feel to it. I don't like jazz, but once again Jonathan is able to take some genre of music or song I don't care for and turn it into something I very much enjoy, and I really enjoy this song.
"Le Cose Che Tu Sei," "She," and "All The Things You Are" are lovely, romantic songs. Even the way he sings them sounds romantic; soft and powerful.

I realize my review may sound a bit over the top or too fantastic, but I'm simply giving you my honest opinion of how I feel about his album.

In short: "These Miles" is a beautiful arrangement of classy, opera, pop, jazzy, big-band music and his voice is simply phenomenal.
I give the album and his voice 100/10....if that's even possible.
He also has a Christmas single of "O Holy Night," which is also beautiful and should be added to any Christmas music collection.
You need "These Miles" in your music collection. You just do.

Buy his album here.
Visit his website here.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Check him out on ReverbNation.
And here's his YouTube channel.


Grace be with you.

Album Review: Branches Arc

 

I really like this album. It is folkie, ambient, and, in my opinion, all around beautiful. I'm not sure to what artist I can compare them, but I think they have kind of a unique sound anyway, and it's great....almost enchanting. I have to say, I really, really like the lyrics, they are very poetic, deep, and lovely - like beautiful poems put to beautiful music - they're great.
I really like the vocals, too, they're kind of soft, and perfect (I think) for this kind of music.
A couple of the songs have kind of a haunting sound which I think is lovely.
The whole album just kind of flows along smoothly and it's quite nice. Even the album artwork is great, it's very creative and artistic; the whole thing is basically a perfect little package with the way everything goes along so wonderfully: the lyrics, song titles, music, vocals, artwork - just lovely.
Track listings are as follows:
"The Bell Maker Awakens"
"Memory"
"Fall"
"A Daybreak On Wooden Limbs"
"Venus"
"Garden Rains"
"Fall Again" (my personal favorite)

They're all like songs of hope and peace, they're comforting.
I highly recommend Branches Arc.

Now, let me say:
It just so happens that one of the members is my friend, but that's not why I'm giving this album so much praise, I really do like it. However, if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have heard of them...but I'd be missing out on some lovely music.

Click here to visit their website and such.

I hope you listen to their music and that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Grace be with you. 

Celtic Thunder "Heritage" Review

Celtic Thunder's latest CD, "Heritage", is possibly my favorite album of theirs. After "It's Entertainment!", I was a little apprehensive about one after that, seems like they were going downhill. If anything, this album has made them shoot uphill! It is exactly the kind of CD I would expect from a group by the name of "Celtic Thunder", it's perfect.

Track listings & reviews:

1. "The Dutchman" sung by Keith.
This song is very nice. The lyrics are touching, with a story of true love. The music is quiet and beautiful, and Keith's voice is perfect for this song and sounds very nice. 5/5

2. "Buachaill on Eirne" (which is also on their first one and also known as "Come By The Hills") sung by Damian.
I've always liked this song, it is very nice and makes me long to go to Ireland. Though in the other version, he also sings in English, I do love the Gaelic language and just might like this version better than the other. I've complained about Damian's voice in the past, since he got older, but it sounds really nice on this song, though, at times, he kinda does a weird thing with his voice but, that would be the only complaint, and it's not bad at all. 4/5


3. "Black Is The Color" sung by Ryan.
Ryan has the perfect voice for this song. It's one of those songs that he has to get kinda raspy and it's really nice (I love a raspy voice!), the other ones could not pull it off. His voice even goes well with the music, whereas, I can't imagine the other ones sounding so well. He's got kind of a dark kind of voice, which is very nice for the songs he sings; this is a good one. 5/5


4. "My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose" sung by Paul.
I like Paul's voice, and I like this song. At times, I don't really like how he has to go high-pitched, but at the same time, I really like this song by him. He sings it smoothly and clear, it's a really lovely sound, especially at the parts when the music gets a touch stronger (I hesitate to say 'loud') and he sings along with it wonderfully. 3-1/2 /5


5. "Home From The Sea"
I really like the music in this song and the lyrics are really nice as well. When the guys sing the chorus together, it sounds SO good. I love it when they all sing together, all of their voices mixed together sound really nice and I like it a lot. If I'm to be honest in my review, I must say that I don't think Keith should sing a solo in this song, I mean, he sounds good but, in my opinion, he sings his part too soft. That doesn't take away my love for this song and I will still give it 5/5.


6. "Just A Song At Twilight" sung by Paul & Damian.
Paul sounds really nice as the first one to sing and I like how it leads up to Damian. I do find it a touch disturbing that the two of them sing a song like this together. They do sound good together, but it's still disturbing. Especially when they say, "still to us at twilight, comes love's own song, comes love's own sweet song". Yeah, disturbing. I like it anyway. 3/5


7. "The Galway Girl"
The new dude, Emmet, starts out this song and he sounds really nice. I really like this song and all the noises they make in the background, tis a  fun song and nicely sung. Love the music, too. Damian sounds nice, singing the softer part. Once again, love all their voices together. 5/5


8. "Gold & Silver Days" sung by George & Ryan.
This is a really nice song and I like it a lot. The lyrics are sweet and touching, and the soft music and Ryan's background vocals make it sound even sweeter. It's really lovely. 5/5


9. "Noreen" sung by Neil.
Yet another sweet and touching song. Sung softly and sweetly. You can almost hear the sadness in his voice as though he's singing it as something that happened to him. It is very nice. 5/5


10. "Kindred Spirits" sung by Emmet.
Another touching song about someone who has just lost their mother who has now joined his father. He sings it passionately and sounds so nice. The lyrics are touching and it's as though every lyric touches his heart. Very nice. 5/5


11. "Whiskey In The Jar" sung by Keith & Neil.
This is probably my very favorite song on the album! I just love it for some reason; if you knew the lyrics, you would find it very odd that I love this song so much, lol. I really like how the two of them sing it and I love the music. In my opinion, there is NOTHING wrong with this song and it's perfect! The two of them just sound really good together on this song. I can't get enough of this song! This is one of  Celtic Thunder's songs that I wish I could see them sing it live! Chris found a video on youtube for me the other day, of them singing it live but I wasn't able to watch it then, and now it's not even there anymore, which makes me sad :( Lol, one part that I really like in this song is when Keith sings, "and I shot him with both barrels", he kinda gets raspy when he says, "shot him" and, therefore, I like it! 10/10


12. "Red Rose Cafe"
I like this song. George sings most of this song, except near the end, when the other dudes sing background. Tis a good one. 5/5


13. "A Place In The Choir"
This is my second favorite song. It is very nicely sung by all of them and I like the solos as well. I like the lyrics, the tune, and the music, it's all very nicely put together. Very good, gentlemen. 10/10


All in all, I will give the CD 10/10, even though not all the songs have the best rating. It was a really good purchase and I highly recommend it. I purchased it last Sabbath and can't stop listening to it.
I hope you enjoyed my review, especially since I sat here listening to the whole thing and, occasionally, had to go back and re-listen to some of the songs (not that I minded, of course).
Honestly, I still can't get over how much I love this CD, it's perfect, exactly what I've been waiting for since I heard of them, let me tell you, it was well worth the wait!
Now that you know how marvelous it is, go and buy it. Tell them, 'Katie Bekah' sent you, and then you will get 5 dollars off!.....No, not really, please don't do that, you'd just be embarrassing yourself, and the employees would look at you funny-like, and ask, "Who is she?", and you would say, "Heck, I don't know, just some blogger girl. She told me to say it.", then it could go on forever and you and the employee really wouldn't have time to argue about this. Just pay the right price and support the dudes, and both you, and they, will be happy.

Grace be with you.