Published on Jan 21, 2003
I actually hate to admit how familiar I am with this, the latest
release from New Age pianist Jim Brickman. I don’t think a day has
gone by without me hearing at least part of
Love Songs And Lullabyes, which has taken up permanent
residence in my wife’s CD player she placed in the twins’
bedroom.
The more I listen to this disc, the more I realize two important
things about it. First, Brickman could have made this a better
album by sticking to either a disc of love songs or a disc of
lullabyes. Second, Brickman should know better than to use chords
which don’t resolve.
Let me address the latter first. Every time I hear the ballad
“You” (featuring vocals from Jane Krakowski), I cringe every time I
hear Brickman go into that first chord change in the opening and
the subsequent bridges. What should be a C# leading into a D chord
inexplicably turns into a C natural and ends up sticking out like
the audio equivalent of a sore thumb. There has to be some reason
why Brickman makes a chord change such as this which ruins an
otherwise beautiful song – but I can’t figure it out. If Brickman
happens to be reading, I’d greatly appreciate some insight on
this.
As for meshing children’s songs and love songs together – well,
it’s not lack of ability on Brickman’s part to perform either side
of this coin. He’s rightfully earned a reputation as one of
America’s leading romantic composers for piano, and tracks like
“Love Never Fails” (with Amy Sky on vocals) and “Beautiful (As
You)” (featuring All-4-One) further cement that position. Likewise,
Brickman has hinted at a love of children’s music in the past,
going so far as to include a cover of “The Rainbow Connection” as a
bonus track on
Destiny. There is no doubt that Brickman handles such songs
as “Little Stars,” “I See The Moon” and “Dreamland” lovingly.
The problem – at least in my estimation, in my household – comes
in when the two styles intermix. The gentle songs are perfect for
trying to get our babies to sleep, but when a song like “Love Never
Fails” kicks in, sometimes I fear the strong vocal mixes might
disturb our angels’ golden slumber. This, I don’t believe, was
Brickman’s intention, and while his concept of tackling both styles
of music is good, putting them together isn’t as successful an idea
as it might have been on paper.
Is
Love Songs And Lullabyes still an enjoyable disc?
Absolutely. But I have to wonder how much better this disc would
have been had Brickman tackled nothing but children’s songs and
lullabyes. Something tells me it would have been a hit for adults
and kids alike.