Listen up: album of the week 28/12/07 (review)
Jan 2, 2007 8:06:51 GMT 10
Post by gluttonmutton on Jan 2, 2007 8:06:51 GMT 10
Edit: Dear Mods, I've just realised that this has previously been posted on the forum under the subject heading "Leith-al weapon". It seems that this review was republished in the Daily Telegraph after first appearing in The Adelaide Advertiser. My apologies.
From: The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
Listen up: album of the week
DANIELLE O'DONOHUE, BEN McEACHEN, RUSSELL EMMERSON, KATHY McCABE, CAMERON ADAMS
MATP
1265 words
28 December 2006
Daily Telegraph
G
12
English
Copyright 2006 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
* * * 1/2
The winner's Journey
Damien Leith
It's taken Australian Idol's decisionmakers only four series to realise that rushing out a half-ready album from the winner just a week after the series has ended probably isn't the best idea. This time, Damien Leith will get an extra couple of weeks to think about his debut proper while the release of The Winner's Journey keeps the fans happy in the meantime and gives Sony BMG its Christmas No 1. The double-disc collection features a DVD of Leith's performances on the show and a CD of the best, which also includes new single Night Of My Life and the impressive original Come To Me.
Leith has a beautiful voice and these songs certainly show it off.
Sometimes though, it seems that's the only reason Leith picked them to perform - to show how effortlessly he could hit those high notes.
On a show where one bad performance can signal the end, contestants continually go for the big numbers, the jaw-dropping songs that will get people picking up the phones to vote.
Nessun Dorma is genuinely stunning, but songs such as Creep sound out of place.
Even more than Nessun Dorma though, it's the understated and moving Message To My Girl that suggests what's to come.
If Leith can resist the urge to turn every song on his studio debut into a falsetto heavy showstopper and just let the natural emotion of his voice tell each song's story, then we may really have an Australian Idol on our hands. Albeit an Irish one.
DANIELLE O'DONOHUE
