KC

So there we go, I have been anticipating this album ever since Joe told the was going to create another album. The booklet looks nice, quite a few good pictures, tough I must be picky the pictures in the booklet are each nicer than the one on the front. I love his little acknowledgements it oozes Joe, you can practically hear him saying it.

Canto Della Terra

It is great to finally hear this piece in full without Cheryls voice on it and with Joe´s voice fully warmed up. He starts of slightly lower than any of the previous recordings of Canto Della Terra but this allows him to climb until the song nearly reaches it´s climax. Only to pull back and go back to a nice soothing melody, just to build up to some beautiful long notes. The one thing Syco got right with the climb, Joe´s belting sounds amazing with a choir. When the song concludes on that last note, you feel the sincerity and you know that they´ve got it right.
Canto Della Terra is a beautiful song on it self, with Joe´s voice and the beautiful orchestra they have really done it justice. 

She was Beautiful

I might have to give this song a few more listens I´m afraid. I love Joe’s voice but the song it self only gets interesting if it allows Joe to showcase his full register. He has so many unique tones in his voice and this song does not do it justice completely. I love the arrangement they have given him, because the arrangement allows his voice to have the upper hand, so listening to it is pleasantly. Not my fave sadly. Don’t get me wrong, I cannot fault Joe’s voice anywhere in the song, but it is the song itself that I’m not so keen on.

Over The Rainbow

This song provides a beautiful contrast with the previous songs, where they left you breathless, Over The Rainbow allows you to breathe again in a good way. With the first note you feel relaxed, and he keeps you in that state trough out the entire song. With the subtle oohs and aahs he really captures the essence of the song. In terms of the arrangement, when Joe stops singing the music carries on in such a relaxing fashion that you don´t mind that Joe doesn´t sing for that instance, and just when you begin to wonder where his voice is he starts singing and humming you back to relaxation, and just when that last ooh fades out in the last bit of music, you realize you have been entranced trough out the entire song. Perhaps a crazy side note but I love when he speeds up a little when he says ‘and wake up’, those little changes in the song make what keeps the song interesting while you are completely relaxed.

I dreamed A dream

I must admit that I was one of the doubters, I was unsure whether this would be the right song for Joe, but just as he starts singing, you know that he commands this song. He sings some beautiful long notes and when he finally belts he knows how to subtly slip back into a softer melody. And when you thing it can not get any better, the orchestra picks up the pace and so does Joe´s voice all building up to that final climax, and again Joe finishes with slow soft and pure notes fading out into the music. WOW

Time To say goodbye

This piece has always been one of my favorites, ever since I heard it for the very first time. Part of me knew Joe could do it. But part of me was frightened that he would not live up to my very very high anticipation. The beauty of time to say goodbye lies in the first part, where there is just music and the music paves the way for the singer, and those notes have to be spot on otherwise the entire effect of the song is gone. Joe does not trip and he picks up the song at exactly the right fashion. As the song builds up to its climax Joe´s voice starts getting deeper and deeper, and he hits the high notes with the perfection of a sharpshooter. You can feel the agony and the sadness, and when the music builds up to the final note, You hold your breath, will he reach that final note? When you hear the song fading out, you realize whilst gasping for breath that he did make that last note and that the entire song was absolutely gobsmacking. 

Il Mio Cuore Va

This song holds an emotional value to me, as the Titanic is my all time fave movie, and just with Time To say Goodbye the music is amazing before the voice starts. And Joe starts like it should be he softly whispers his first words and starts stretching out those syllables to the point where the singing becomes louder, but stays as pure as ever. Because I know the song so well, I get the English lyrics in my head immediately. Singing it in Italian gives Joe the edge over Celine. The song goes on with some amazing violin playing, and Joe’s voice reaches above it all. Switching to English he demonstrates exactly why this version holds more power than Celines, going from Italian to English gives him the ability to make those words felt even more. And he ends on a perfect note after belting out the English like never before.

Hear my Prayer

You feel the start of Nessun Dorma, yet he sings English, odd? No, because the arrangement is different so it allows the song to be different too. Because he belts out so early in the song and the song descends from the first climax you can feel the shivers run down your spine. The Choir beautiful as ever, the drums are a real addition to the song, it enforces what Joe is singing yet does not overpower his amazing vocal range by a bit.

Solitaire

My favourite Carpenters song, I practically grew up with this song, when I was little my father used to have the carpenters on repeat. So loads of expectations on this one. He begins in a low register, and when you just start to get comfortable with the lowness of his voice. The most clear sound comes out of my speakers when Joe gets to the refrain. He stretches his notes, yet he keeps the pace low and his singing soft. Just as this song is intended to be. And when you think you have heard it all, just after a nice and anticipating drumbeats he picks the song up, and toys with it just as he is taking it higher. His voice becomes louder, his notes become longer, he pauses…. And out comes the oooooooh and then the most beautiful note of the song, he almost overshoots the climax, just before he binds in and finishes the song on a relaxed slow note.

Dance With My Father

First audition, all those memories. Joe sang a Luther VanDross song. No longer he is singing Luther’s song, that much is clear when you hear the first notes from the orchestra. This is Joe’s song he has managed to make his signature song his own. The pause in his singing leads up to more beautiful notes. He doesn’t belt out yet, but you can feel the change coming in the notes, in Joe’s singing until the song builds up faster and faster. And finally Joe belts out those amazing notes. He holds in before belting out the notes on ‘dream’. The song is done vastly different from what we have heard up until now. It is amazing yet it is the only song so far I wish to hear live because I’m absolutely sure he will do it way better. The arrangement is good his singing is good, but I miss something, something we heard in every one of his live performances, his amazing vibrato, if they had kept a little bit more of vibrato in it would have been more than absolute perfection. But none the less an amazing effort, and the song has definitely earned it’s spot on this Classis album.

Va Pensiero

To my shame I must admit I had never heard Va Pensiero before. Nor have I looked up another version of the song, so Joe’s version is the first time I hear the song. And instantly I like it, he sings the song over all in a higher register and he allows his voice to roll more, which makes the song an absolute master piece. 
To Where You Are
I love the beginning with his voice rolling, and you feel the hopefulness in his voice when he sings that you are mine. To let his voice lift the song to another level, with the orchestra keeping pace like no other. The chorus are thought out well, the switch between chorus and refrain is done perfectly, he starts singing a bit slower and it a lower register and the chorus starts after a beautiful long note and once again you can hear the clarity of his voice when he goes into the refrains, as the pace quickens he sends shivers down your spine on that last soft note. The song has done a 360 and he has finished it to perfection

Nessun Dorma

This song was everything and more, from the live performances I gathered that I liked it a lot. But it is absolutely amazing to hear it in full, from the slow easy going refrains to the completely gobsmacking long high notes in the chorus. And every time he does one of those high one’s you think he can’t go any higher and he belts out ‘Soooole’ Just before the choir cuts in and together they take the song beyond this word. I stand by what I said previously Joe and a choir is a match made in heaven. And every single note he hits is absolute perfection and right until the very last ‘Vincero’ it is a mighty song indeed.

I have not given the songs marks, because I believe they don’t need a rating. Each song stands on his own, and each song complements the other song. Where one leaves you gasping for breath after a totally mesmerizing high note, the other sweeps in and makes you care about nothing else but that song. Some songs are sung higher whilst others are sung lower. The album is an ode to the amazing register of Joe’s voice and the amazingness of the cunning minds who chose these songs for him. This is indeed an album that captures Joe’s ability to take those beautiful lush ballads to another level and to portray so much emotion in his words no matter if he is singing in Italian or English, he excels in it.