"Unchained Melody" Appreciation thread

[gluttonmutton]

krislovesdamien said:

dededom said:

Want to see a complete car wreck of a version of Unchained Melody by an Idol Winner?

See - youtube.com/watch?v=LUYfOjFcwsw

Clay actally did alright at it...But obviously Damien was a million times better . Every time any idol from any country has done unchained melody they always start off like clay did, but Damien's arrangment was different, and i have to say better.

At the risk of being pelted with virtual tomatoes, I have to admit that I didn't like the arrangement of this song. *hides* Damien ended it with a beautiful flourish (as usual) but personally I felt the bulk of the song lacked a certain something.

Someone made a comment in a different thread about Damien's mid-register not being as strong as his upper register, or words to that effect. I agree; it lacks the warmth of his lower register, and the richness of his upper register, so maybe that had something to do with it.

But hey, don't get me wrong, I do love Damien's voice, and thought his 'Unchained Melody' was easily in the top 1 % of all the millions of covers ever done of that song. I was just left strangely unsatiated when he did it, though, on Idol. Perhaps it had something to do with it following the absolute triumph of Nessun Dorma?

Anyway, will be taking cover behind the sofa if anyone's wondering where I am.

[Trilly]

*chucks stuff at GM*

[Roxy]

I can't get enough of Wicked Game.....every time I hear it now, either by D or Chris Issac I turn to mush

[dededom]

Hmmm Roxy - are you posting in the right thread?

[Bahamagirl]

gluttonmutton said:

[At the risk of being pelted with virtual tomatoes, I have to admit that I didn't like the arrangement of this song. *hides* Damien ended it with a beautiful flourish (as usual) but personally I felt the bulk of the song lacked a certain something.

Someone made a comment in a different thread about Damien's mid-register not being as strong as his upper register, or words to that effect. I agree; it lacks the warmth of his lower register, and the richness of his upper register, so maybe that had something to do with it.

But hey, don't get me wrong, I do love Damien's voice, and thought his 'Unchained Melody' was easily in the top 1 % of all the millions of covers ever done of that song. I was just left strangely unsatiated when he did it, though, on Idol. Perhaps it had something to do with it following the absolute triumph of Nessun Dorma?

Anyway, will be taking cover behind the sofa if anyone's wondering where I am.

Hey, don't hide gluttonmutton, you're entitled to your opinion. Actually, I went back and modified my previous post to add that I thought that his voice was a bit strained after Nessun Dorma. You can really hear his breathing at the beginning of the second song. He said himself that he picked UM because he was familiar with it and he was going to have to concentrate so much on the aria. Reading between the lines it meant that he didn't do any of his special touches with the arrangement. I do think that he was emotionally flat after such a triumphant performance earlier. How could he not be? Can you remember the mingled relief and exaltation on his face when he finished? I know everything that came after was a let down for me and I just watched it.

[Bahamagirl]

dededom said:

Hmmm Roxy - are you posting in the right thread?

I wondered the same thing myself.

[morgaine]

Look...I love the way D sings UM...but it bothers me a bit (*ducks flying bricks*) 'cos they had to cut the song to pieces to fit it into 90 seconds...Keep thinking "there's a bit missing there!"...I wish he'd do a full length version

But...his voice does this song brilliantly...

[sunshine]

I heard the original Righteous Brothers version on radio today.
In my honest opinion, the leader singer of that group is no better than Damien. If I recall, Mark Holden's only criticism was that Damien took the song down one octave. I guess the reason for that was having to do Nessun Dorma the same night.
I'll agree, Damien's version on Idol was far too truncated for me, but he did beautifully, and the high bit at the end is wonderful.

[dededom]

Damien didn't do the song down an octave - Holden and Damien were discussing whether he ought to have taken the option to do the final glory note up or down the octave - Holden wanted the big Show Pony up high version, and Damien took the more stylistically consistent version (IMHO).

[sunshine]

dededom said:

Damien didn't do the song down an octave - Holden and Damien were discussing whether he ought to have taken the option to do the final glory note up or down the octave - Holden wanted the big Show Pony up high version, and Damien took the more stylistically consistent version (IMHO).

Thanks for the correction!
I loved Damien's version. I thought he sang it well, especially after pulling off that magnificent 'Nessun Dorma' earlier.

[Andy, the soccer Mum]

This is my all time favorite love song and I really thought Damien did a fantastic version especially the ending. The emotion was unbelievable. Agree that it was a difficult task to follow on from Nessum Dorma , perhaps they should have let him sing Um first and finish with ND as the climax!I was definitely swooning as he sang it and would love to hear him perform the whole song live one day ... goes off in a Damien day dream

[hyperrune]

I agree that Damien is the Righteous Brothers' equal, if not better, but I have to admit it took me a while to get used to this arrangement. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I like the ending, sometimes I wish he's blasted out one final phenomonal high note like he did on You Are So Beautiful. At the end and during the judges' comments he seems to be thinking the same thing.
It took me a long time to separate this in my mind from Gareth Gates' version on Rove Live - that seriously gave me the chills. Right from the start, the first time he sang the word 'sea', he took it upwards into falsetto - it had immediate impact.
Now though, when I watch or listen to Damien's version, I can appreciate how it builds up...gradually it gets worse until you wanna yell "just hit the high note!" You can feel the entire studio audience swooning as he builds up towards it! I'm glad he didn't go really cheesy on it - the ending, in a good way, was understated and gave the song more meaning than if it was done in the style of a schmoozy wedding waltz.
I like it, but on somedays, when I'm in the right mood, it has more power than on others, and I think he has done better performances.
Then again, you don't have to take my word - did anyone else notice the big burly guys on the dvd who give him a standing ovation? ;D

[gluttonmutton]

Hey, don't hide gluttonmutton, you're entitled to your opinion.

Thanks, Bahama, but looks like others don't agree because I've been docked a Karma point. I guess this means you can't be 100 percent honest on a fan forum, no matter how much you actually love the person the forum is dedicated to. Oh well.

Did everyone have a good Christmas?

[Trilly]

Wasn't me Gm, and I don't think it's fair you lost a Karma point, if it's the case. Even though this is a fan forum, I believe that an honest appraisal from a personal point of view should still be acceptable, because anything else is phony, and not helpful to Damien either! We may disagree with you, (as I do with UM, because I found D's version incredibly sensual and subtle, and didn't think he needed to oversing it, especially after the enormous feat of ND on the same night),but you should have the right to voice a dissenting opinion without being penalised for it.

[KrisLovesDamien]

I didnt take a karma point away from you Gm. Like bahama said your entitled to your opinion