Manhattan
Operatic Pop, 2008

As the title of the CD suggests, Symphony sees our darling banshee-voiced Sarah Brightman being backed by a full symphony orchestra as she follows the same formula of her previous concept albums for her new album in four years. Perhaps the formula has become stale because I find Symphony a forgettable collection of songs.

There should be nothing wrong with grand epic tracks like Fleurs Du Mal with the choir in the background and all, but the end results feel too much like similar tracks that Ms Brightman has done in her previous concept albums. The title track is a pleasant ballad that at the same time doesn’t really stick to my mind. I have the same problem with her calculated crowd-pleasing duet with Andrea Bocelli, Canto Della Terra, as well as her duet with Paul Stanley with I Will Be Where You Are (Where the Lost Ones Go). There are also two more duets here, Sarai Qui (which is a remake of Faith Hill’s There You’ll Be) with Alessandro Safina and Pasión with Fernando Lima. Both of them are pleasant but again rather on the forgettable side. The other tracks are rather familiar types of songs by Ms Brightman. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about if you have listened to her previous albums – high-pitched warbling, lush background music, some dance beats here and there, the usual.

I don’t know whether I’m just bored of her formula, but Sarah Brightman isn’t rocking the boat where the formula that has garnered her so many loyal fans is concerned. A part of me knows that I will most likely be in love with this album if this is the first or second album of hers that I have listened to. Instead, I find myself listening to this one with in a detached and even cold manner, unmoved by any track on this CD. You have no idea how unhappy that makes me, given that I have given up on Enya and I have grown to rely on Sarah Brightman for my regular dose of kooky aria. Oh well, there is always Celtic Woman, I suppose.