Track Listing

1. Pie Jesu from Requiem
2. My Lagan Love
3. In Trutina (from Carmina Burana)
4. Panis Angelicus
5. Amazing Grace
6. Just Wave Hello
7. La Pastorella (The Little Shepherdess)
8. She Moved Through The Fair
9. Ave Maria
10. Dream A Dream (w/ Billy Gilman)
11. The Flower Duet
12. Habañera
13. The Prayer (w/ Josh Groban)
14. All Love Can Be
15. It's The Heart That Matters Most
16. Tantum Ergo
17. Bridge Over Troubled Water
18. Sancta Maria

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6451 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-11-26
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Need more evidence of the record industry's obsession with youth? Consider that budding Welsh diva Charlotte Church was a ripe, old 16 when this, her first greatest-hits anthology was released. Spanning her first four releases, as well as some outside collaborations and unreleased material, this 18-track collection underscores the soprano's seemingly boundless potential--as well as some potential career obstacles ahead. Her crystalline, still-maturing voice is best showcased on classically oriented works like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesu," Franck's "Panis Angelicus," and her now-ubiquitous rendering of Delibes' "Flower Duet." She also excels on folk traditionals such as "She Moved Through the Fair" and "My Langan Love." But overwrought productions like the already-dated "Dream a Dream" and "Habanera," a faux-flamenco take on Bizet, nearly get the best of her. Still, her promising duet with fellow young phenom Josh Groban on "The Prayer" and her mature, dreamy reading of A Beautiful Mind's "All Love Can Be," as well as strong performances on the previously unreleased "It's the Heart That Matters Most" and "Bridge over Troubled Waters," are ample evidence of her potential for rewarding pop crossover--if she doesn't retire by 21. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Whose Best??
A review of the songs in Prelude suggests to me that most were someone elses best and not Miss Church's. Of particular note is the song Pie Jesu which Miss Church claims as her "theme song". In fact, the song was originally written for and became the theme song of Sarah Brightman. A listen to this piece done by Ms Brightman, which is here on Amazon[.com], will also demonstrate that Sarah Brightman's version is vastly superior. The majority of other songs fall into the same category including Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Having heard all of Miss Church's CDs, I would have thought that she would have included some traditional Irish songs herein including Danny Boy and Carrickfergus which she performed reasonably well on her 1st and 4th CDs. But she opted to include those songs which others have done previously and in a manner which is vastly inferior to the originals or subsequent renditions.

There certainly is a place in music for Miss Church, however you will not find it here in other than traditional Irish Folk.

Prelude???? To What???
The title of this album struck me as a contradiction so I thought I would check it out. A more appropriate name would be "Postcript" As an artist on the way down and out, I can't imagine what would be next other than a long lay-off to get her voice together. Another problem here is that Charlotte gives us too many songs which are from the most recent period when her voice was just a whisper of what it was as a pre-teen. We needed to hear more from her first two albums when she was something of a wunderkid, belting out big-time vocals with a little body.

I see this CD as being coveted by only the most die-hard of Charlotte's fans. It really brings us nothing new and reminds us of what happened to her voice through abuse and overuse.

"Greatest Hits"???????
In reviewing the selections on this CD, I noticed only one original work and that was the song, "Just Wave Hello". I am totally amazed that this song would be included herein as it was billed as "The Ford Global Anthem". When people heard it, it simply engendered feelings of the "Rollerball Syndrome" where corporations had control of an Orwellean world, and their anthem was played before the beginning of sporting events. The song was quickly pulled when Ford sales tanked. In any case, to put in a song which was produced to be part of a commercial is, IMHO, to short-change the public.

The remainder of the songs we hear are simply renditions which almost any girl Charlotte's age could have sung. There is nothing special here and certainly nothing which any music lover would consider a hit. If this is the "Best of", then it is best left in the vaults of Sony. When this girl's career is finished, then is the time to see if there is a "Best of" worth offering to the music-listening public.