5 comments about Peter Pan (2005 Studio Cast) - Leonard Bernstein.

1. This recording is a valuable addition to the music of Leonard Bernstein, but rather an embarassment in the scholarship of assembling a lost show. On the plus side, the music is enchanting, Linda Eder truly stunning in a mix of musical innocence and sophistication, and it is conducted and played quite well. On the negative side, Daniel Narducci's soft baritone has neither enough menace or comedy.
   
   As to reconstructing a lost score, the scholarship is not so hot: what actually existed from the original show and orchestrations? Who orchestrated what among the new pieces? As far as that goes, what of Trude Rittmann and Hershy Kay: who orchestrated what in the original? How does the size of the orchestra on the recording compare to the original production orchestration?
   
   On the music not used in the original, what pieces exist in full and what choices were made in completing others? The recording's notes are woefully inept.
   
   Why use the lovely, but over-inflated, arrangement of "Dream With Me" from the 1977 BY BERNSTEIN revue at the Chelsea Theatre instead of newly orchestrating the extant song sheet? The song, written for ON THE TOWN, needs to fit the song style of PETER PAN's incidental music and not turn into a concert number. In the original production, there were only two Mermaids singing "Neverland." Why a women's chorus with a bad top soprano?
   
   I've always felt the Bernstein score should be available for productions of the play, but this "edition" needs some thought before it's published or made available for performance.



2. For those familiar with the earlier recording of Bernstein's Peter Pan (Arthur/Karloff), the release of an expanded recording of this neglected Bernstein work is a real excitement. The tracks include an indepth study by Frey of the music score, in its wholistic beauty, including even small segments of under a minute. Other works are resurrected, originally cut from the final score; why they would cut "Dream of Me" is beyond me.
   
   However, Eder cast as Wendy does not sit well. Timid, motherly Wendy is not synonymous with big, broadway star. What should be simple songs, as they are written as well as should be sung, are instead aggrandized broadway hits. Yes, Eder has a gorgeous voice, but here a bit misplaced. I much prefer the casting of Wendy in the original recording. However, in favor of Eder, the CD is not replicating the narrative and non-music portions as did the original CD, so the work may as well be a set of disjointed pieces, not a flowing piece of arias and spoken scenes. Therefore, her portrayal of Wendy as a whole is not as crucial had there been a script to read.
   
   The "bonus track" reinstalled an appreciation for the thematic material of the second Chichester pslam. I'm left wondering if there are other restorations to be made from the abandonded "Skin of Our Teeth" project. Here, I have no qualms with Eder's interpretation; soft, delicate, flowing.
   
   This is certainly a hallmark in Bernstein recordings. A must for any Bernstein fan.



3. A fabulous recording-beautifully sung, beautifully conducted
   This world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein's Peter Pan should win a Grammy. With a steller cast led by Broadway superstars Linda Eder and Daniel Narducci, and fabulously conducted by Alexander Frey (who restored and brought this lost masterpiece to life), this great music sings and dances for the first time. I'm absolutely enchanted and you will be as well.



4. Please allow me to add a few comments about this recording for which Kevin Killian, Michael G. Brennan, Larry Moore and others have already written excellent reviews. I am in total agreement with most of their observations, and a say a hearty "Amen" to Mr. Moore's input regarding the lack of information in the liner notes.
   
   This is not your ordinary PETER PAN, which you will see upon removing the disc from the case. You are now staring into the gaping jaws of a crocodile. Not nearly as popular as the Jule Styne/Betty Comden/Adolph Green version, and far darker, it's easy to understand why Bernstein's version is rarely staged. In fact, it's not really a musical, but rather a play with songs and incidental music. The handful of songs are all performed by Wendy, Captain Hook, and the pirates -- "none for Peter, none for Nana, none for John and Michael." Furthermore, two of the songs included on this recording ("Captain Hook's Soliloquy" and "Dream with Me") were dropped from the original production because they were too difficult for the stars. I guess Boris Karloff just didn't have the chops to sing Hook's "aria."
   
   Bernstein's incidental music also never made it to Broadway, perhaps because of its complexity and challenge to the average Broadway pit orchestra. Instead, Alec Wilder wrote new incidental music for the play.
   
   Alexander Frey conducts what is called the Amber Orchestra, which I assume is the orchestra of the Karlin Theater in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the ensemble he conducts as his "day job." Orchestra and conductor do great honor to the original orchestrations by Trude Rittman & Hershy Kay and also to the additional orchestrations of conductor Frey and others. But, like Larry Moore, I wish the liner notes would have told us who orchestrated what. (You can find all that information on archivmusic.com.) The voices were recorded in New York and later mixed with the orchestra. Broadway goes Eastern European! Similarly, not one, but two Eastern European orchestras ar heard on the recording of SHERRY: the Czech Philharmonic Chamber & the Bratislava Radio Symphony. Pity it's too costly to record orchestras in America.
   
   When it comes to writing music for the theater, no one comes close to Leonard Bernstein. There are multiple recordings of ON THE TOWN, WONDERFUL TOWN, WEST SIDE STORY, & CANDIDE and now we have Alexander Frey and the folks at KOCH Classics to thank for resurrecting and preserving this little known Bernstein score. In addition to Bernstein's Broadway scores, I enthusiastically recommend "The White House Cantata" (assembled from the score of 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE), "The Chichester Psalms," the chamber opera "Trouble in Tahiti," and any of the fine recording of his songs.
   
   I doubt if we'll ever see another composer who will write so beautifully for the American theatre.



5. There is much to recommend about this recording of Leonard Bernstein's incidental and vocal music written for the 1950 Broadway production of "Peter Pan," which starred Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff. Most (though not all) of the vocal music has been commercially recorded before, but the incidental music hasn't been, with one partial exception: track 20 -- "Tinkerbell Sick! Tinkerbell Lives!" -- contains a bit of ballet music from "On the Town."
   
   As is often the case with incidental music for plays, many of the numbers are quite short. Some of the music is nothing special and can't be said to represent Bernstein at anything like his best, but some is quite lovely.
   
   The orchestral performance here is generally very clean and the playing is nicely expressive. Conductor Alexander Frey deserves credit for that, as well for being the person who got this music back out there.
   
   Linda Eder sings Wendy's songs. (Peter doesn't sing at all in this version, which isn't really a full musical.) She understandably eschews her usual style to try to sound like an adolescent girl, singing mostly in head voice and with little vibrato. Because of this, I find her sound rather piercing and somewhat unpleasant at times. While she's putting forth a good effort that I have to admire, I do wish that she had managed to sound less piercing. It's not as if all adolescent girls sound that way when they sing.
   
   I also wish she had managed to convey a bit more specificity in her phrasing of the lyrics. When I listen to Marcia Henderson on the recording of the 1950 production, I hear someone who wasn't much of a singer but who knew how to convey lyrics.
   
   The other major soloist, Daniel Narducci, playing Captain Hook, sings quite well, but he isn't ideal casting. Boris Karloff on the 1950 recording makes much more of the words in the music that he sings (which doesn't include "Captain Hook's Soliloquy," heard on this recording but which was not in the 1950 Broadway production). And Karloff is funny. For one thing, he doesn't have a very pleasant voice so when he sings "Eat blood! Drink blood! Think blood! Dream blood!" to Bernstein's mellifluous melody and tries to sound beautiful, it's funny because he can't manage it. When Daniel Narducci sings it, he does sound beautiful, which is pleasant but less interesting. Narducci sings very nicely and he has the right general idea most of the time, but (as with Eder) his phrasing lacks specificity and he also lacks the sense of ridiculous seriousness that would make him funny.
   
   The male chorus of pirates performs well, but the rougher chorus in the 1950 recording is funnier and more characterful.
   
   "Neverland," a lovely choral number for women, sounds very pretty, but it might sound better still with a smaller chorus that conveyed the words more clearly.
   
   I don't want to be too negative about this recording, which I'm very glad to have. It's an important document, and everyone involved is talented and accomplished and puts forth a good effort. I'm just not sure that all of them were the best choices. Still, there's some very good music here, some of which hasn't been recorded before, so if you're a Bernstein fan, you're going to want this.
   
   Now I'll explain the "don't trust everything you read" statement above: In the booklet for this recording, Alexander Frey writes that "in the original 1950 production, most of the music was actually instrumental underscoring ... that had been composed by Alec Wilder." This is not correct. No music by Alec Wilder was heard in the 1950 Broadway production.
   
   Some time after this recording was issued, Garth Edwin Sunderland (one of the orchestrators credited on this recording) did correct this misinformation in an article that appeared in the Bernstein Society's publication, "prelude, fugue and riffs." Sunderland wrote:
   
   "For the original cast recording, Bernstein's instrumental numbers, for reasons unknown, were replaced with new cues by Alec Wilder (which has led to the misconception that Bernstein's incidental music was not used in the Broadway production)."
   
   A number of people knew all along that only Bernstein's music was heard in the production, among them the writer on Broadway musicals Ken Mandelbaum, who mentioned it in his online review of the recording. It's odd that both Frey, who was said to have done years of research to restore the score, and the people in charge of the Bernstein estate didn't know such basic information. If such a basic part of the research wasn't done, it's a little hard to trust that the rest of the work was done correctly.
   
   Making it odder is that elsewhere in the booklet, notes by Daniel Felsenfeld quote from opening night reviews that praised Bernstein for his (as one of the critics put it) "excellent musical accompaniment for the action." Surely if Wilder had written the incidental music, the critics would have mentioned Wilder (who was hardly unknown in 1950) as well as Bernstein. So it really is a bit of a mystery why Frey and the Bernstein people didn't realize that Wilder's music wasn't heard in the production.
   
   There's also an incorrect statement in Felsenfeld's notes. He writes that "Captain Hook's Soliloquy" was one of two vocal numbers not in the Broadway production "mostly due to lack of vocal ability on the part of the actors," but the aria wasn't even written till later, specifically for Lawrence Tibbett, who played Hook in a post-Broadway tour.
   
   And it would have been nice if the history of "Dream With Me" had been addressed. As Larry Moore mentions in his Amazon customer's review of this recording, there's reason to believe that it was written for "On the Town," although it was not used in that show. Bernstein wanted to include it in "Peter Pan," but it went unused there as well. When asked about the song many years later, Adolph Green, who wrote the lyrics for "On the Town" with Betty Comden, said that he and Comden wrote the lyric, except perhaps for a few lines that Bernstein may have contributed. Yet Comden and Green receive no credit in the booklet here.
   
   Also, Trude Rittman made important contributions to the score, but they are not mentioned in the notes, though at least she gets credit as one of the original orchestrators.

1 comments about A Renaissance Christmas Celebration with the Waverly Consort.

1. This is my family's very favorite Christmas recording. I fondly hope that the Waverly Consort's brilliant output will some day be fully available via mp3 from somewhere.

4 comments about Kenny Rogers Christmas Special: Keep Christmas With You.

1. I first saw this special on TV back in the early nineties when it first came out. I was really glad I'd taped it, because it's never been shown since, and I was still able to watch it year after year. Now, it's finally been released on DVD, and the quality is even better (*much* better than my own home-recorded version, especially). Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and Trisha Yearwood are on top of their game, and Boyz II Men provide amazing renditions of holiday classics. What I find to be the best part of the special, though, are the kids. The chemistry between them and Rogers is magical, and they all have wonderful voices: from Drew's somewhat nervous solo to Maggie's tremendously soulful alto, these five kids will truly warm your hearts and help you to Keep Christmas with You.



2. The DVD came on time and was in excellent condition wish they had more kenny rogers singing like the one he did for halmark.



3. Disappointing. Fast forwarded through the entire thing and regreted spending my money. I also ordered and received the Donny and Marie Christmas Special. Though I wasn't asked to review it, don't order it. Far too wacky. Where are those wonderful Julie Andrews and John Denver Christmas Specials???



4. I enjoy Kenny Rodgers, but this special was filled with too much children, and very few of Kenny Rodgers actually singing Christmas carols as I expected it to be.

5 comments about Christmas with the Cambridge Singers.

1. About ten years ago, I got a part time job at Christmas time at a music store. As soon as one of the local classical stations played a few Cambridge Singers tracks, the store sold out of the CD's. Knowing that I was missing something great, I hid the last disk in the store so I could purchase it. It was this disk and it was after listening to it that I fell in love with this wonderful musical ensemble. The recording's version of "O Holy Night" is probably the best available. "The Shepherd's Farewell" is moving. "Still, Still, Still" is gentle and reflective. Rutter's own "Angel's carol" is probably my favorite track on this disk. If this is your first Cambridge Singers recording, believe me, you too will be addicted and it will become a favorite in your Christmas collection.



2. I am pretty picky about my Christmas music, and this CD is the only one I ever need for the holiday season. The division of the CD into joy/peace halves is really nice. Rutter's arrangements are the best I've ever heard; I was first exposed to him in my high school choir and have been a fan of his Cambridge Singers ever since. My favorite track on this CD is the Rutter original composition, "What Sweeter Music". Simply gorgeous. A must-have for any caroller or carol enthusiast!



3. The Cambridge Singers have made several Christmas albums, and all of them are top notch. This particular one was done in 1989, and has several songs in honour of the Nativity. Their performance was done at one of their regular recording spots, the Great Hall of University College School, London.
   
   --Music--
   The music here consists of 21 carols, motets and oratorio choruses. These range from the great 'For unto us a child is born' of G.F. Handel's oratorio 'Messiah' to well known familiar Christmas carols to folk/traditional tunes from France, Canada, Basque, Germany, and England. Composers represented in addition to Handel include Britten, Victoria, Adam, Mason, Sweelinck, Sceidt, Adam, Berlioz, and Cambridge Singers' director, John Rutter, who provides two of his own compositoins, 'Angel's Carol' and 'What sweeter music'.
   
   This is a beautiful recording, with the Cambridge Singers presenting grand voices and good spirit in honour of the Christmas holiday. There is tenderness, vibrancy and light in these songs that remind one both of the power of the Christmas miracle as well as the family emotions that holiday seasons draw forth.
   
   --Liner Notes--
   One thing that this has is a brief description of John Rutter and the group itself - it may sound strange to say, but many of their CDs lack these important pieces. This also includes an introduction to the CD, a listing of the tracks with composer, arranger and lyrics. Where lyrics are in other language, an English translation is provided.
   
   --John Rutter--
   Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.
   
   --The Cambridge Singers--
   The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.
   
   Their performance is a wonderful gift for the season.



4. 'Christmas with the Cambridge Singers' and the older title, 'Christmas Day in the Morning' are a great relief to my tired ears on even this second day of the long Christmas Carol season. Aside from the very high quality of the performances, there are virtually no very familiar tunes on this disk. Every song conveys the Christmas spirit in a bright new (or actually very old) way.
   
   While this is not a first tier attribute for most artistic recordings, in the case of a record of Christmas music, the 78 minute playing time is just right for two or three passes without inducing boredom.
   
   Great Christmas music sans steamroller.



5. I bought this CD back in 1999 because of the song "What Sweeter Music," which was used in the Volvo commercial. The rest of the CD is exceptional choral Christmas music, and I am truly grateful I bought this CD when I did, as apparently it is currently out of print. If you can find this CD, buy it, as it will be the most beautiful Christmas music you will ever hear.

1 comments about Great Big Hits.

1. I was delighted with this CD. It contains familiar (How much is that doggy in the window?) and unfamiliar songs (Grandpa's Farm), but the surprising thing is: the unfamiliar songs are as good and sometimes better than the old faithfuls! Within two listens of this CD, I was singing the songs to my daughter when we out walking with our stroller, with no CD player in sight!

   Unlike many other children's CDs, with their plinky synthesizer music, Sharon, Lois and Bram employ real instruments - fiddles, flutes, drums, guitars, and the arrangements range from country to jazz to classical to rock to Celtic. Thus, I don't mind listening to this CD and my 11-month old daughter loves it!

5 comments about A Christmas Present.

1. Amazon was the only place I could find this CD by Merle Haggard. The music on this CD brings back fond memories of Christmas past. My mom would play this album all through the holidays and we knew every word to every song. I am so happy to have it again so that now I can play it for my daughter. Merle Haggard is very talented and this album contains some of his best. Take my advice, if you love country music, buy this album! You'll be glad you did.



2. This CD gets released over and over with different names and the songs in different orders. I consider it a must because it's got the best version of "Silver Bells". I collect Christmas CDs and make Christmas CDs for family, and so I've got a dozen versions and Merle's version has the best pacing and arrangement, a classic. (The other Merle holiday CD available through Amazon does not contain "Silver Bells".) Then, of course, it's got the other classic "If We Make It Through December".



3. This Christmas album by Merle Haggard was originally released in 1973. The first half features new songs written by Merle, the second half features traditional Christmas songs. The album's highlight is Hag's classic #1 Country hit "If We Make It Through December". The rest of his original songs aren't all that memorable. The older songs are decently done, but not done in a way to set them apart from the countless other versions of "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". But the CD is arguably worth getting just to have "If We Make It Through December".



4. This is such a great CD. I grew up listening to this every Christmas. And now my kids love it. They will especially love Bobby Wants a Puppy Dog for Christmas. I love that it has original songs. I get sick of hear Jingle Bells over and over again.



5. I heard this one song on the radio and knew I had to have it, it's a beautiful song and a great Christmas CD

5 comments about Christmas Shoes.

1. Such a bad song. I mean, SO bad. Beyond bad. Mind-bogglingly bad.
   Stupid lyrics, lousy music. Just bad.
   And for the record, I am a married mother of two and am active in my church. You don't have to be anti-Christian or a child-hater to know an incredibly bad song when you hear one. And since when is being something other than Christian a character flaw, anyway? For people supposedly filled with the Christmas spirit, some of these reviewers seem awfully judgemental and mean-spirited.



2. This collection from NewSong includes one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. It brought me to tears, and then minutes later the same collection brought me to giggles with the rendition of "The Grinch". A great add for the season.



3. This is one song that will be played in my home every Christmas as well as the DVD watched.
   This song has such a strong meaning! As many songs, only part of the message is understood or even overlooked.
   Yes, Christmas should be a joyous time, but for many it is not. So I guess all things related to Christmas should only be joyous and depressing should be ignored? There are too many families out there suffering or hurting, so why does a depressing song as it is discribed by some posts, need to be excluded? This song should make everyone realize there is someone not far from you that has it so much worse and Christmas is the perfect time to reach out to them. This is exactly how the movie ended...a scrooge reaching out with the 'Red Shoes.'
   
   As a parent if my child made a card, Christmas ornament, etc it meant so much to me as it should. The same goes for anyone with a child. It comes from their love....this child wanted his mom to have the 'Red Shoes' that she had stated made her feel beautiful. How can you not appreciate the struggle he went thru to get her those before she died?
   
   I find it obvious that some have not had to struggle or overcome tragedy yet, like the song. When you do the song will come full circle for you.



4. I LOOKED FOR THIS SONG "CHRISTMAS SHOES" FOR YEARS, THE WHOLE CD TURN OUT TO BE EXCELLENT.



5. The c.d. was received quicky but it must have been a used c.d. After just two playings of the c.d, it skipped on several songs. UGH!!!! Next time I want a new item. I was not told it was used and it did not state that it was used. Not a very good impression for a first time user!!!!

4 comments about The Mystery of Christmas.

1. According to the notes, the Elora Festival Singers is a professional chamber choir founded in 1980 by their director, Noel Edison. The name comes from a musical festival given every summer in Elora, Ontario. They have performed on the Canadian Broadcasting System, and given concerts in Eastern Canada and the United States. They are now the professional core group of the famous Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

   They are a very competent choir, singing everything on this disc with ease and beauty. Most of the carols are pretty well known, and include some from Canada, England, France, Holland and Poland. There are the 'Huron Carol,' 'O Come All Ye Faithful,' 'Harold Darke's 'In the Bleak Mid Winter," "Ding Dong Merrily on High,' 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing,' and some less common ones. The less usual items include Honegger's 'Laudate Dominum' and Poulenc's 'Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël,' which are performed very simply and effectively.

   The Elora Festival Singers is not apparently a very large group, but the reverberant recording makes them sound larger. Their excellent diction is not obscured, and the sound is very smooth.

   The organ accompaniment by Michael Bloss are very effective, and include some room filling bass, although it is not super low.

   The music ranges from the more peaceful and meditative to the more dramatic, and the choir conveys the varying moods of the music. The recording is quite lovely.




2. Maybe I'm a LITTLE bit prejudiced in favor of this fine album because it contains some of my favorite Christmas songs, or because it also has some of the beautiful songs my choral group sang last Christmas -- whatever -- The Elora Festival Singers, with Noel Edison and Michael Bloss and everyone else involved in creating this CD, do a wonderful job of transmitting the holy, joyful, festive AND secular air of that special season.
   
   I especially loved "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" and will probably wear out that track long before I wear out the rest of this fine CD.
   
   It is almost March, and I'm still playing this CD. I may end up getting a second copy.



3. I found this album quite by accident in a college bookstore in a small town outside of Toronto. We played it (June!) on our way to Northern Ontario, gasped at its beauty, read the liner notes, and discovered that we were actually passing by Elora! On our return trip, we stopped in at Elora and learned more about the singers and the festival. This album is so remarkable in its clarity, sensitivity, and variety, that it ranks as my all-time favorite Christmas album. The family members and friends to whom I have since given this CD share my enthusiasm for this magical Christmas tour.



4. In my search for a Christmas CD that would be suitable for a gift, I came across this recording. After reading the previous reviews and listening to the excepts of the 20 provided tracks, I decided that this would be the recording. My CDs arrived today and I can say that I was not disappointed. This is one of the most beautiful Christmas CDs that I have heard. The Elora Festival Singers under the direction of Noel Edison and with organ accompaniment by Michael Bloss have put together a compilation of hymns and carols that cover the range of the familiar to the less known. If you purchase this CD it should be one of your favorites for many years.

5 comments about I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

1. Don't buy it - if you are looking for the original version of "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" -- this is not it.
   Various Artists is misleading. It's just some group of kids - not various artists at all.



2. I bought this to surprise a friend who had mentioned hearing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" as a child. It's not a collection I would listen to repeatedly, but it served the purpose. My husband questioned whether the singers were actually children or adults trying to sound like children.



3. I came across this cd and after listening to the song, I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas, I was disappointed to find out it wasn't the version I quite had in mind that everyone has come to love over the years. The CD that has the original version of the song is called "Dr. Demento Presents: Greatest Christmas Novelty CD" and it is available on Amazon.com. I am going to buy this cd tomorrow. It has a lot of cool tracks such as Weird Al Yankovic's christmas song, Cheech and Chong's christmas song, and of course- I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas



4. If you love the original, this isn't it, very disappointing. The sound was not there and the singers voice changed the song from one that got me moving and loving the holidays to one I didn't. Search for the original version with Gayla Peevey.



5. I was looking for the version sung by Gayla Peevy. Ended up giving it as a gift to the nephews.

5 comments about Backstreet's Back.

1. If you are a pop fan, then this is the CD for you! Not only does it have that pop-sound to it, but it has the advantage of R&B and different genres of music mixed into it as well. Also, this is the Backstreet fan's dream CD! Actually, all Backstreet CDs are a fans dream. This CD includes an original song, that is most possibly my favorite on the album, called 'That's What She Said'! It is not only sung by the Backstreet Boys, but was also written by one of the members, Brian Littrell! This CD not only helps to prove that real talent does exist, it shows you that the real talent has a name, and that name is Backstreet!! KTBSPA!
   email me: ...just to chat! Peace!



2. A typical Boygroup-album. Songs about broken hearts and missing somebody and Bubblegum-Pop. But there are at least a few songs that are not that bad ("Everybody", "Like a child", "If I don't have you" and "As long as you love me"). I mean that melody is not that bad so that the songs aren't boring but the lyrics are just stupid.
   So if you like the five cuuute guys you'll love this album. If not: Stay away and don't touch it. This is just kitschy.



3. Um dos melhores álbuns dos BSB. Estão presentes aqui 4 ótimas baladas (faixas 5, 6, 9 e 11), três músicas que os tornaram conhecidos para muitos no Brasil (faixas 1, 2 e 3) e outras que completam o CD sem deixar nada a desejar (faixas 4, 7, 8 e 10).



4. This cd is so great. The backstreet boys are very talented unlike sleezy singers like 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. The backstreet boys can sing so well. When I'm not very happy or in a good mood, I listen to this cd and it just makes me smile.This cd is very special, with such a wonderful song like "that's what she said", which by the way wonderful brian wrote and a very cool song "thats's the way i like it".Those are my 2 favorite songs of this album, but not one of these songs has a bad side to it. I think everyone out there should buy this cd because you'll end up falling inlove with it. I luv the backstreet boys, they are obviously my fave.Buy the cd cause it beats all the others.



5. Well I'm one of the lucky ones who could just go to the cd shop and get this album the easy way (although I also bought the US debut album that was released on the same day as an IMPORT album). This cd is still one of my favorite Backstreet albums. It has a great mixture of uptempo songs and balads on it, and even after all this time (it was released 8 years ago in august 1997) it still is a great album.
   
   A quick guide through the songs:
   "Backstreet's Back" is an uptempo song that is very dancable and catchy. Great song. This isn't the extended version that's on the US debut album, but the radio edit with Nick's vocals still intact (So everybody, everywhere/don't be afraid don't have no fear/gonna tell the world, make them understand/as long as there'll be music we'll be coming back again).
   
   "As Long As You Love Me" is agreat midtempo lovesong, very catchy. This mix is better than the US mix I think. Still my favorite BSB song.
   
   "All I Have To Give" is the same as the US version, ballad.
   
   "That's The Way I Like It" isn't a cover of KC and the sunshine band, but a better uptempo song with the same title. It's catchy, dancable and it has great vocals on it with a good beat, what more could you ask for?
   
   "10,000 Promises" is a loveballad and it isn't a happy one. Perfect song if you have a broken haert, helps you to vent every frustration...
   
   "Like A Child" is another sad love song. This ballad is very touching. And the vocals are just so beautiful!
   
   "Hey, Mr DJ (Keep Playin' This Song)" is also on the US debut album. Catchy dancable song, easy to sing along to.
   
   "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" is a cover I belief, but I'm not sure. Good song, ballad, strong vocals, same as the US version.
   
   "That's What She Said" was written by Brian and it's just the sweetest song on the album. Great song for anyone who likes to hear Mr Littrell sing, for he takes on all the solo parts. It's a ballad about a broken relationship, again a very good song if you have a broken heart. I remenber the live version of this song (at a concert in 1998) as one of the most magical moments.
   
   "If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy)" is also on the US debut album, and I think it's just a great song.
   Catchy, dancable and just so fun to listen to... inspired loads of signs back on the 1998 tour...
   
   "If I Don't Have You" is a loveballad with great ballad. Slowely prepars you for the end of this album.
   
   If you think the 46 minutes and 11 seconds are a bit short, you're wrong. This is an enhanced cd, so if you pop it into the computer, you get loads of extra stuff, like videoclips (so cute), background story and a quiz...
   I highly recomend this album, especially in combination with the European "Backstreet's Back" (make sure you get the one with 16 tracks on it!)!!!