Released: 2010
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 113,2 MB
Time: 49:27
Scans: front
1. I Believe - 4:12
2. Rest My Bones - 4:31
3. Home - 4:06
4. Light The Fire - 4:49
5. French Kiss - 3:04
6. Stone By Stone - 4:12
7. If it was Love - 2:48
8. Going Down To New Orleans - 4:44
9. 1000 Miles - 4:58
10. Back To Blue - 3:34
11. Cowboy's Lullabye - 4:41
12. If It Was Love (reprise) - 3:42
I hope more and more people discover Rita Chiarelli; she has a big, powerful, emotional voice and you'll hear it on this collection of tunes that are, for the most part, based on traditional blues forms. While I enjoyed the CD, I must admit to being a bit disappointed. I guess it's a matter of personal preference, but I wish she had been unchained from her backing band for a few of the tracks. My first exposure to Rita was her Music From the Big House soundtrack- all but three of the tracks recorded live at Angola prison in Louisiana. These Four Walls, one of the tracks not recorded at the prison, is what I was hoping for with Sweet Paradise. On These Four Walls, there's Rita and her guitar backed only with a steady percussive beat. Her voice is strong and her guitar playing compelling- a great example of traditional blues. Compare Rest My Bones [a truly excellent song] on the Big House and Sweet Paradise recordings. While good, the Sweet Paradise version lacks the intensity of the Big House version which features Rita singing with passion while strongly strumming chords- with back-up vocals provided by a chorus of Angola inmates. For me, the Big House version more clearly captures the soul of the song. For those who prefer Rita in a studio setting with a back-up band, this CD probably deserves five stars. For me, Sweet Paradise is good but I think it would have been great if Rita had been let loose a bit.
Sweet Paradise
No comments:
Post a Comment