Adiemus/Karl Jenkins - Vocalise: Adiemus/Karl Jenkins

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Music reviews of Vocalise: Adiemus/Karl Jenkins

Music Review: Adiemus still going strong
Rating: 5 Stars

Three classical pieces arranged for singing (Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, Rakhmaninov), all nicely done. The two last are some of the most beautiful melodies ever written - it seems almost logical that Adiemus should make their own versions of them. Maybe we can expect more of the same.
The singing: Yes, Miriam Stockley's voice was stunningly beautiful. She's not a part of Adiemus anymore - but her replacements are doing a very nice job.
The ethnic stuff - and the mixing of different styles: This CD, like all the Adiemus albums except #3, forms a whole. The new instruments (saxophone, etc) blend perfectly into the mix. It's a little peppier, jazzier and livelier than some of the other albums but whoever said that the everything should always stay the same? Adiemus can't just make more of the same, they need to evolve and they're doing just that.

...

My top 6 Adiemus albums:

# 1: Adiemus 2 - Still my favorite. One of the best CDs I own. Soothing music for the down days: It's the CD I pop into the CD player when I'm in that mood.
# 2: Adiemus 5 - The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
# 3: Adiemus 1 - The first I heard. I still remember how much I liked it - and I still do.
# 4: Adiemus 4 - The Celt album. I was sceptic before hearing it and waited long before buying it - but Karl Jenkins is like a great cook who can mix different things into his dishes and still make them taste great. (Of course, there's a strong tradition for this in classical music. Rimsky-Korsakov never went to Arabia, but Scheherazade is still gorgeous music, often performed in Arabia. Puccini never went to Japan or China).
# 5: Karl Jenkins: Imagined Oceans. I count this as an Adiemus album. I honestly don't know why it isn't one. Another batch of great melodies - maybe lacking that final magical touch of some of the best Adiemus CDs.
# 6: Adiemus 3. It's funny that this is the last on the list since it contains some of the most riveting Adiemus songs, the reason being that it's too uneven. Some wonderful songs with Miriam Stockley, some not-so-fantastic stuff with the Finnish singers. It's the only Adiemus CD I don't listen to regularly. Still more that worth it's price.

Adiemus 2, 5 and 1 are outstanding. The others are very good.

But, wait, there's more: Any Adiemus fan should check out Karl Jenkins: Diamond Music (no singing, more like classical chamber music, as always great melodies many of which can be heard on other Adiemus albums) and the two albums by Miriam Stockley.

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