Track Listing

1. Mai
2. You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)
3. Un Dia Llegara
4. February Song
5. L'Ultima Notte
6. So She Dances
7. In Her Eyes
8. Solo Por Ti
9. Now Or Never
10. Un Giorno Per Noi
11. Lullaby -- w/ Ladysmith Black Mambazo
12. Weeping -- w/ Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela
13. Machine -- w/ Herbie Hancock

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1316 in Music
• Brand: GROBAN,JOSH
• Released on: 2006-11-07
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
The Josh Groban phenomenon continues with Awake, his third studio album. Both of the extraordinary singer's first two studio discs have been certified five times platinum, with his most recent, 2003's Closer, charting #1 pop. His uplifting music rises ever higher on Awake.

Josh Groban

Closer

In Concert

Amazon.com
Josh Groban is making it hard for anybody who can't say "classical crossover" without smirking to maintain an acceptable level of snobbery. Awake, his third studio disc and arguably his most personal--he co-wrote four tracks and favors his native English over Italian--boasts as many bold names as any tricked-out hip-hop disc: Dave Matthews, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Imogen Heap, and Herbie Hancock contribute in various capacities, and a slew of behind-the-scenes collaborators best known for their work in mainstream pop circles deepen the dimensions of a style widely considered claustrophobic. For all the studio doors that got opened to create Awake, though, Groban's signature sound never once slipped out to take the air; "the voice"--that hypnotic, spun-silk wonder of an instrument--is as concentrated as ever, and Awake, in addition to showing off its many splendors, serves as a vehicle for parading its versatility around. While "Un Giorno Per Noi," the deeply romantic theme to the 1968 film Romeo E Giulietta, delivers the Groban that fueled the sale of 16 million previous discs to soft-hearted fans, "Machine," with Hancock, gives up a new form of funk: dignified, classy, and surprisingly unstiff. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Josh in a new direction
I'll preface this by saying I've listened to the CD straight through now four times, so this is my impression of the overall CD based on that.

I absolutely adore Josh's first two CDs and I expected to love Awake too; I like it. I don't love it, at least not yet. It is a definite departure, style-wise, in my opinion. Josh has kept the orchestra but has lost most of the strong piano-driven melodies. Nearly every song has a drum line, whereas on his earlier CDs, maybe one or two had a discernable drum. Josh himself plays drums on one of the songs. Josh also has songwriting credits on more of the songs; David Foster still appears here and there, but is less of a force than on the earlier CDs. There are also some collaborations with guest artists (some successful, some not so much).

Of the 13 songs, 8 are in English this time, and those 8 seem to me to be more "radio friendly" than some of his past work. Of those 8, the collaboration with Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik (February Song) is by far the most likely to be a big hit.

Some - and only some - of the foreign language songs seem to me to be lacking the passion present in earlier CDs. I enjoyed the remake of Romeo and Juliet and the first song, Mai, but the remainder left me feeling flat.

My overall impression of Awake is that Josh is exploring some new sounds and feelings in his music. There really isn't much on Awake that sounds like anything on his previous CDs; the tone is different, the production is different, even the way he uses his voice is different. The feel of the music is much more contemporary top 20, a little jazzy and bluesy, less pop/easy listening and traditional foreign language.

I'm hoping on further listenings that I'll like this more; right now, it just seems a little strange. There's no denying that Josh is gifted; it just feels like something's missing.

Christmas came early this year
The twenty-five year old phenomenon with the swoon-inducing baritone returns with his third studio album just in time for Christmas, and I'm guessing that many of his fans are going to give themselves a pre-season treat.

Groban expands his horizons on this album, writing and producing some of the tracks, and mixing it up with international artistes like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Herbie Hancock, not forgetting Dave Matthews, Five for Fighting and of course David Foster. Following his earlier formula, there are tracks in English, Italian and Spanish, and although the lyrics may be in another language, this doesn't detract from the simple and timeless beauty of the music.

First single "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" is one of the most inspiring tracks, with lyrics like "Don't give up / It's just the weight of the world / When you're heart's heavy / I...I will lift it for you", but the crème de la crème as far as I'm concerned is the amazing "February Song" where he accompanies himself on the piano.

Another track to note is "So She Dances" and then there's "In Her Eyes", but one that'll stop you in your tracks is "Lullaby", written by Groban and Dave Matthews, and sung a cappella with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. If you liked Paul Simon's "Graceland", you'll love "Weeping", also with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and what better way to close an album than a collaboration with Herbie Hancock.

Third time's another charmer for Josh Groban.


Amanda Richards, November 7, 2006

Liking it more with every listen
A girl that I had dated two years ago turned me onto Josh Groban. Imagine me, a pretty masculine guy, turned on to someone like Josh Groban. It wasn't long before I went to see him in concert and meet him personally backstage. In person he is extremely shy, but none of that shyness translates into his music.

Owning his first three CDs (that include his LIVE concert), I was a bit taken back by AWAKE. As is mentioned in a previous review here, AWAKE is a departure from what you might expect from Mr. Groban. Upon my first listening I was not overly impressed. The album didn't seem to grab me in the same manner that CLOSER did.

Having now listened to AWAKE countless times over the past two weeks I must confess that I have come to really enjoy the material here. The music seems to be a bit more styled towards "pop radio," and there is some interesting collaboration on the three final tracks with artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Herbie Hancock which is good but quite frankly, I could have done without. Josh does just fine on his own.

For me, the absolute best song on this album is Track #4, FEBRUARY SONG. You gotta love the way this song climbs into a frenzied cresecendo that is just magnificent.

I would have easily given this album 5 stars if not for the fact that despite its greatness, it still lacks behind CLOSER.

This album will not disappoint Josh Groban fans everywhere!