Category: Music Reviews

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Artist Gone Solo Part 3 of 3 – Tracey Thorn Of EBTG

If you are born after the year of 1979, I bet you one muffin (if you buy me the coffee) that you have heard the Todd Terry remix version of “Missing” from the band Everything But The Girl (EBTG). That song is probably one of my top 20 songs of all time (I should start to keep track of all these songs for one day I may have said it more than 20 times). To hear “Missing”, click onto the link. I bet now you start to remember towards the end of the song when the drum beat disappears and the dance floor is flooded with blinking light in a smoke filled room, you look around seeing everyone in slow step-forward motion engaging in some sort of trance state of mind including yourself … now you remember. Before you make a negative comment on the appearance of Tracey Thorn, she does have a beautiful voice and a wonderful talent. And she tends to draw lots of female fans too (from some of the profiles I have read across the web).

It is rather unfortunately that people equate “Missing” to EBTG’s style. You can’t blame the public for that. After all, “Missing” is probably the most popular song coming from the band giving them the worldwide recognition. I bought the album “Amplified Heart” because of that one song and the rest of the tracks are mainly acoustic. Back then, they were a folk and jazz group.

12 years have passed since “Missing” and Tracey Thorn – the voice of EBTG – has come out with a solo album “Out Of The Woods” with her co-writing the materials with producers from Europe to US (London, Brighton, Nottingham, York, Lisbon, Berlin, and New York). In a way, this array of different talents from different locations have added much variety to her solo album. Music-wise, it is a mix of English pop, folk, and electronica. Those who love “Missing” will rejoice listening to “Out Of The Woods”. Lyrically, it is simple and personal. I especially like the opening lyrics of “By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept”.

Wait … before you read on, what does that song title reminds you of? Quick quick, it is a game of association.

To me, that reminded me of “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept” by the famous writer “Paulo Coelho”. The beginning of the song goes something like “Do you ever wonder where love goes? Out there in the ether, I suppose. Sometimes it burns enough to leave a trace in the air. A ghost of me and you in a parallel world somewhere.”.

Tracey Thorn’s voice is hauntingly soothing and relax throughout the album and it is hard not to love all the tracks. However, having a broad team of producers may have added more variety to the album, not all the songs – to me – are of equal standard. I like some a lot more than some others. Enough of words. Let the song do the talking. “It’s All True” – a nice song with a bizarre video. If you like “It’s All True”, you may wish to try “Raise The Roof”. I personally like “A-Z”, “Falling Off A Log”, and epecially “Grand Canyon” a lot but she is not making them into singles … as yet. “Grand Canyon” is as close to “Missing” as you can get.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway – Music Inspired By Nashville, Tennessee

Last evening we had a little jamming session at my home that went pretty well. Except it overran for an hour. We managed to record more than 90 minutes of live music from 8pm to 11pm. My mother who is recently in town asked me this morning if I wrote all these songs. She was pleasantly surprised and wondered why I don’t work in a music industry. I wish life is that simple. What a role reversal here. I thought parents always want their children to be doctors, lawyers, businessmen … and not to pursue a career in art.

And somehow I was not surprised to see the look in my guitarist’s face when he discovered a new Bon Jovi CD lying on the floor together with piles and piles of CDs. He casually asked if Bon Jovi still produces albums (read: this band still exists?).

“Lost Highway” is Bon Jovi’s 10th studio album and I have got 8 of them from “Slippery When Wet” onwards as well as the box set entitled “100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong” that contains four CDs packed with 38 unreleased and 12 rare tracks. I have been to one of their concerts (the tour for “These Days” album) when I was in UK, waited 12 hours before the band’s appearance, and was close enough to see the band in action.

Okay. I confess that I am a Bon Jovi fan – one of the 100,000,000.

Once in a while, God bless mankind with a rock band that is so consistent album after album. Really, I cannot tell the difference between “These Days”, “Crush”, and “Bounce” – just to pick a few. Each album comes with a bunch of killer faster songs that people all go wild in bars when cover bands play them (who wouldn’t dance and sing along with the recent hits of “It’s My Life”, “Everyday”, or “Have a Nice Day”?). And each album is never short of killer slow songs. Songs like “Always”, “Bed of Roses”, and “I’ll be There for You” bleed hearts.

“Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, a track from their ninth studio album “Have a Nice Day”, has won the Grammy Award for “Best Country Collaboration with Vocals”. Country? That’s right. Listen to the first two tracks of “Lost Highway”, one may be mistaken that Bon Jovi is going country. There is even one song featured LeAnn Rimes. Initially I thought this album is more appropriate as Richie Sambora’s (lead guitarist) solo album (he has two solo albums that have a certain country feel). After a few rounds of listening, I conclude that “Lost Highway” is still a Bon Jovi album with a certain country feel to it. Half of the album is produced by John Shanks (who produced “Have a Nice Day”) and another half by Dahn Huff. I can’t really tell which half is more “country” but two of my favourite songs “(You Want To) Make A Memory” and “We Got It Going On” are produced by Dahn Huff.

I can certainly see that Richie Sambora has put in a lot of hard work in this album. As a backing vocalist, he compliments Jon’s vocal well and as a lead guitarist, there are a fair amount of guitar solos throughout the album. Richie Sambora has been going through a tough period in his life (including a painful divorce) and according to him, he has poured everything he had into this project, every last bit of soul at his command.

Why Nashville you may ask. To Jon, Nashville is full of songwriters and musicians and he wanted to make an album right in the middle of this town of inspiration. It is of no surprise that the last song of the album is “I Love This Town”.

I am not sure how you may react to this album if you are not a hardcore Bon Jovi fan. “Lost Highway” is definitely not one of those commercial pop rock albums that can easily hook onto you. Nor it is a typical Bon Jovi album that you can instantly fall in love with. According to Cynthia, she said the single “(You Want To) Make a Memory” is enough for her to buy the album. Wish to give that song a try? Watch their live performance below. I personally find the song a bit bland. However, the element of simplicity kind of grows on me. As for the non-hardcore fans? Do sample the album thoroughly to see if this country feel is your cup of tea.

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Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

Marilyn Manson’s “Eat Me, Drink Me” – The Antichrist Superstar Turns Human (Or Not)?

If I am to name five artists who inspire my music creation journey, that would be Tori Amos, Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, Prince, and Marilyn Manson in no particular order. That explains the length of this blog and I challenge you to devour every word I wrote – the finest piece of review I have to date perhaps.

Fans fall in love with Marilyn Manson’s unique dark music, his wit offstage, and his satirical views on government and religion. This unique blend of attributes gives forth an artist that there is none other than Marilyn Manson himself. Arduous fans support him to death while religious groups and government spokespersons protest against his artistic works records after records. It is not hard to imagine when he shamelessly voices out his religious opinions taking on the symbol of an Antichrist. His state opinions were being blamed for triggering the Columbine High School massacre just because the shooter was listening to Marilyn Manson during the shooting. As interviewed in Michael Moore’s controversial documentary “Bowling for Columbine”, Marilyn Manson argued that part of the American culture is to trigger fear and to find a common scapegoat. In this case, an entertainer is being picked while Bush was dropping bombs at Afghanistan causing more casualty than Columbine massacre. His views on government, fear, consumerism, and the American culture of guilt hiding and the use of violence as a mean to an end that is dated back in World World II – can be intriguingly intelligent.

Marilyn Manson is a stage name derived from Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson representing the two extremes of the spectrum in the American history. His music style is hauntingly dark and each album of his takes on a cohesive theme. With the talented Trent Reznor (who later formed Nine Inch Nail) collaborating with Marilyn Manson for that one record, “Antichrist Superstar” is perhaps his most notable work to date. And with “Antichrist Superstar” spins a trilogy of two more records “Mechanical Animals” and “Holy Wood”. His subsequent record “The Golden Age of Grotesque” was inspired by the seamy underside of Weimar Berlin specifically the underground artists back in 1930’s in the pre-Nazi Germany era. For those who are new to Marilyn Manson, I would recommend either the more accessible “Mechanical Animals” or the more tuneful “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. I will get to his latest work “Eat Me, Drink Me” in just a minute. If you are not too fussy on the lack of final polishing on the record production and if you usually listen to rock music but not nu-metal, “Eat Me, Drink Me” may be a better choice for you as his other records can get a bit “noisy”.

Marilyn Manson does not seem to have problem in attracting talents in assembling his band lineup even though some left or were fired along the way. John5 joined as the live guitarist for “Mechanical Animals” and was officially part of the band until lately. Twiggy Ramirez, an old time bassist and guitarist who contributed much to the music of the band, was ousted from the band after the “Holy Wood” album due to creativity differences. For “The Golden Age of Grotesque”, producer and bassist Skold was introduced into the band and have become a major source of music writing together with lead guitarist John5 who stepped up after the departure of Twiggy Ramirez. Probably due to difference in lifestyle, John5 – the only member with a clean image – left (or was fired from) the band after “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. There are fans who miss Twiggy’s guitar playing and there are even more fans who miss John5. In any case, Skold is now the new lead guitarist of Marilyn Mason with a new bassist coming on board from Prodigy to replace his previous role in the band.

While stifled by the circumstances of marriage with Dita Von Teese (once made it to the cover of Playboy magazine), Marilyn Manson withdrew from the music creation scene for a couple of years until he met his new 19 years old girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood. All of a sudden, instead of writing songs based on his opinions in the expense of shutting everyone around him, he started to write songs singing for someone. It comes as no surprise that “Eat Me, Drink Me” is inspired by his recent divorce and his new found love. Theme-wise, it is still as dark as before, more towards depression. However because the songs are more personal, he sings with emotions that can easily come across from the final recording. Music-wise, “Eat Me, Drink Me” was recorded in his own home studio with his buddy Skold and together, they played all the tracks from lead to bass guitar to drum programming to vocals. Bassist Skold has proven to be an all rounded producer and musician. “Personal Jesus”, a remake of one of Depeche Mode’s songs that was featured in his greatest hits album “Lest We Forget”, was created entirely by Skold with Marilyn Manson only contributed on the vocal track. Due to all these circumstances, “Eat Me, Drink Me” is heavy on the guitar and vocals and Marilyn Manson’s music continues to be tuneful like “The Golden Age of Grotesque”. One may observe that “Eat Me, Drink Me” is less produced and as close to unplugged as you can get with Marilyn Manson.

So, has our Antichrist Superstar turned human with songs that are sung with his heart and not opinions that humor the systems in the satirical way? Lyrics-wise, “Eat Me, Drink Me” explores the concept of “devouring someone whom you love dearly” or for that matter, “getting devoured by the one you love most”. In his own words (and definitely not mine), like Christ whose body and blood is consumed by the Christian community, Marilyn Manson is turning himself into a symbol to be … devoured. Intriguing concept I know but Marilyn Manson being the shock rocker himself, no topic is a taboo.

Is this change of his music direction for good? According to him, although he does not regret songs in the past that were written based on his opinions, he wish to have spent more time writing songs for the audience – even if it is for that one person. Besides music creation, Marilyn Manson does lots of watercolor painting having his own art exhibitions. He has a new upcoming film of which he is playing the director role.

With all that said, I think Marilyn Manson is a very talented artist if people can look beyond the way he sings, the way he looks, and the music themes that are less than mainstream.

I do not intend to embed the new promotional video clip “Heart-Shaped Glasses” again in this blog. You can view it in my previous blog. Now that I have listened to the entire album, in that video clip, the beginning instrumental track (with Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood having simulated sex) comes from the song “Evidence”. And inside the car when Evan was asking Marilyn Manson to drive “faster, faster … faster, faster, faster”, that is from the song “Are You Rabbit?”. The artwork of him and Evan holding out a knife while taking pictures with a Polaroid and the final car crash scene, those are from the song “Just A Car Crash Away”. Lyrically, tell me if I have a warped mind or not, I think this song no doubt is for his new girlfriend. But I think it is partially inspired by his science experiments when he had to dissect something (I have personally dissected a frog once in my life).

The chorus of “Heart-Shaped Glasses” goes something like “Don’t break, don’t break my heart and I won’t break your heart-shaped glasses. Little girl, little girl, you should close your eyes, that blue is getting me high, making me low”, which sounds kind of normal. But for the rest of the song “She reminds me of the one in school when I was cutting … and she’ll never cover up what we did with a dress … And I don’t mind you keeping me on pins and needles. If I could stick to you and you could stick me too.” – those words got me thinking especially when this album is about devouring someone you love. Maybe I am warped, maybe I am used to Marilyn Manson’s music … either way, I am one of his zealous fans.

PS. I wrote this blog without Wikipedia. The page on Marilyn Manson is down. It is hard! Thank you YouTube for all the interview videos and all the wonderful materials in the Internet especially MarilynManson.com that contains lots of interviews from various reputed magazines. And of course, I have been following Marilyn Manson’s career for a long time. I can even recite his progress backward.

PPS. Cynthia is looking for a pair of heart-shaped glasses right now. What’s the odd of a guy gets to live with someone who loves to listen to Marilyn Manson as well? Priceless.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” – I Like The Previous One Better

Before I sound too excited and enthusiatic like I always do, for the record, I like Maroon 5’s previous album “Songs About Jane” (2004) much better. It is more musical and less commercial. The slow songs in “Songs About Jane” are memorable. Most of the slow songs in “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” are lame. Some have promising beginning but fall short on the chorus.

Maroon 5’s line up has not changed much. The drummer Ryan Dusick left the band due to injuries and is replaced by Matt Flynn. That shouldn’t change the band’s sound that much but somehow, some of the upbeat songs are more dynamic, which I like. The songs are leaning more towards the mainstream pop rock than previously that are more towards soul and funk rock. Perhaps, a new drummer does make a difference to the sound of the music after all.

I can understand why people like this new album. Cynthia and I have watched Maroon 5 performed in one of American Idol’s result nights. I found the song upbeat and pleasant to listen to and Cynthia has immediately fallen in love with it.

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Country Folk & Jazz Music Reviews

Lucinda Williams’s West – Tranforming Pain Into Beauty

There are albums that are meant to entertain. There are albums that are meant to be great background music – be it as driving in the car or chilling out with friends. And there are albums like Lincinda Williams’s “West” that are meant to be devoured – every note and every word. Listen to “West” you really need to be alone, free from any distraction, and to digest each and every word Lincinda Williams sings. Perhaps the most personal album ever made by Williams, it is inspired by her mother’s death as well as a relationship that ended badly. Lyrically, it is simple and beautiful. In “Mama You Sweet”, we have “Ocean becomes tears – that ebb and flow – over the lines in my face – and the pain in my soul – and pain hits a wall – and doesn’t know which way to go – and ocean says I’m crying now – and tells pain to follow”. Musically, some tracks are hauntingly powerful like “Unsuffer Me” and “Come On”.

I first noticed Lucinda Williams with her previous album “World Without Tears” that without doubt one of my favorite contemporary folk albums of all time. How does “West” compare to “World Without Tears”? I guess “West” is a whole lot more intense while “World Without Tears” may be more enjoyable to listen to, music-wise. My only reservation with “West” is that it can get a bit dreary towards the end. After all, the album is close to 70 minutes of length with a somewhat narrow theme. (For comparison, click onto the links to view the live performances of “Bleeding Fingers And Broken Guitar Strings” and “World Without Tears” from her previous album.)

Below is the official behind the scenes of the recording of “West” from the artist who is a three-time Grammy Award winner and named as “American’s Best Songwriter” by TIME magazine in 2002. The song “Are You Alright” is the opening track of “West”. Enjoy.

There is another track from “West” that was performed in the Jay Leno Show recently. Click here to view “Everything Has Changed”.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Artist Gone Solo Part 2 of 3 – Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries

In Part 1, I wrote about Brett Andersen of “Suede” and “The Tears”. My guitarist Jason and I both agree that most artists gone solo are not as good as when they were with the band (with some exceptions of course) but look, not that the band “The Cranberries” was going anywhere except down. I love their first album and perhaps the second one. “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee”? Just not my cup of tea.

The first two tracks of Dolores O’Rriordan’s “Are You Listening?” are very attractive. It has all the trademarks of the early Cranberries that I like. If you are a Cranberries fan, it is hard not to fall in love with the opening tracks. The downside is, her singing has gone a bit … weird. I don’t think my bassist Cynthia can get pass some of the songs. However, one afternoon I was with my buddy Ken at Mama Africa (a pub in Raffles Place) and they were playing this album. To be frank, “Are You Listening?” is quite a good CD to play when you are chilling out with your friends. Since then I have been listening the album and somehow her singing doesn’t bother me that much anymore.

There are quite a number of good tracks inside this album … very Cranberries style. Like the songs “Ordinary Day” (featured below), “When We Were Young”, “Angel Fire”, “Ecstasy”, and my favorite “October”. All the songs are written by Dolores O’Riordan inspired by her personal life – which explains why it has a mixed of darkness (her previous band and deaths) and lightness (her new baby). Her new band – all seems to have issues of their own except one – appears to be able to play some of the very unique Cranberries tricks (especially the drum) that the resemblance is haunting. Yet this new assemble manages to breath new creativity into the songs. It is an album worth checking out … if you can get pass her new way of singing that is (more glaring from the 3rd song onwards for some I can imagine … my advice is to do a thorough sampling of the entire album).

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Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

Marilyn Manson’s New Upcoming Album

It has been long overdue to categorized my music related blogs based on genres. So here I am, further categorize my blogs based on the genres they belong. I reckon unlike me, most people prefer to listen to certain types of music they enjoy while for me, I enjoy a wide spectrum of what different genres offer.

Enough said. I know at least one of my friends is into Marilyn Mason’s music and if you don’t fancy his music or heard of him, most likely you will find this blog … offensive to the least. My heart felt apology in advance.

Marilyn Manson’s new album is made with just him and another buddy of his. “Eat Me Drink Me”, Marilyn Mason’s new album (to be released on 5th June this year), is as close to unplug as it can get. It is still dark and it is still … shocking. Featured below is a sexy video made with him and his new girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood 19 years of age. Marilyn Manson has gone through a divorce with his wife Dita Von Teese and he has had a fling with The Charmed’s hot actress Rose McGowan. What more can I say? Life of a rock star. Below is a 8 mins video … enjoy (strictly for Marilyn Manson fans only).

PS. Artwork from MarilynManson.com.

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J Pop Music Reviews

YUI’s 2nd Album – Can’t Buy Me Love

Readers of my website may remember how I discovered the Japanese singer YUI after watching the movie Midnight Sun and foretold that she is a new artist to look out for. I even went in great effort to import her first album “From Me To You” from HMV Hong Kong. Within one week of release, YUI’s 2nd album “Can’t Buy Me Love” totally shattered the sales record of her previous album. If fans like me can just buy the record off the shelf without sampling a single song, there must be some kind of craze going on.

YUI’s strengths lie in her talents in songwriting, guitar playing, and her simple yet pleasant appearance that melts the crowd – more than make up for her vocal ability for someone who is only 20 this year. Then again, what is wrong with girlie voice? Jazz singer Lisa Ekdahl seems to sound like a girl no matter how old she was when each of her album was recorded. While YUI’s first album “From Me To You” probably made famous by her movie “Midnight Sun” because she did showcase some of her songs in the said movie, “Can’t Buy Me Love” does not have the same advantage. I have to admit sometimes visual impact can be powerful and of course what I am trying to assess is if “Can’t Buy Me Love” lives up to expectation.

“Tomorrow’s Way” from her first album is probably my one of my top 10 all time favorite Japanese songs right now. “Good-bye Days”, the theme song of her movie did not appear in her first album (her 1st album was released before the movie) but happy to say, it is inside this new album. Same goes to “I Remember You” that was featured in her movie. Though these two songs sound a little bit dated, it is good that they are featured somewhere. The two major singles coming out from “Can’t Buy Me Love” are “Rolling Star” and “CHE.R.RY”. Both are featured below. My favorite song of this new album is perhaps “Umbrella” – a song that may come close to “Tomorrow’s Way”.

All in all, I enjoy “Can’t Buy Me Love” and am glad that YUI has kept up with the good work. Her next single “My Generation / Understand” is nowhere to be seen in this new album of hers. I sense a third album in the making knowing how productive Japanese artists can be. YUI writes all her songs – both music and lyric – and if she can keep up with that pace, it is indeed admirable.

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Hard Rock & Metal Music Reviews

Linkin Park’s Minutes To Midnight – A Change For The Good … Or Not?

Right after I bought LP’s new album from HMV, my buddy TK asked me, “So how’s Linkin Park’s new album? They sound the same right?”. The problem is if I am asked to give opinion on an album that I have hardly listened to, you will probably get an insignificant opinion. That night I answered, “Ya, afterall it is Linkin Park”.

I was wrong. On the surface, LP’s new album has their trademarks all over it. Deep inside, they have changed quite a lot and they have prepared their fans for that right from the first page of the booklet that comes with the album – “As this is written, the album is not yet finished … it is safe to say, however, that this will prove to be a different kind of album for us”. Their first album “Hybrid Theory” – an old name for the band – was a decade in the making. Their 2nd studio album was inspired by Meteora, a historic monastery in Greece. Both “Hybrid Theory” and “Meteora” were huge commercial success around the world (funny when you look back when no record company wanted to sign them up). One time, Cynthia and I drove up to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just to watch their concert. “Minutes To Midnight” is a reference to the Doomsday Clock … an album that the world was not ready a few years back. Sure, environment topics such as global warming and mass/voluntary extinction of mankind are hotter today than it was then.

LP’s uniqueness lies in the rock rap combo encased in the nu-metal setting. It is still unique as of today. No one has quite master the perfection of the way how Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda sing and rap and finish each other’s sentences. So, the big question is: why the change? Mike rarely raps in “Minutes To Midnight”. The analogy is like when Kirk Hammett of Metallica has decided not to play guitar solo tracks anymore in their latest album “St. Anger”. Both these two albums have hit the top of the chart – the power of fan anticipation I believe.

Another noticeable difference is that music-wise, it is more mellow down. “Minutes To Midnight” would not be a good debut for the band. But since LP has a good repository of great upbeat songs, their concerts will still be electrifying. Besides having more slow songs, LP has also stepped away from their nu-metal formula. As you will see in their 3rd single “Shadow Of The Day”, it sounds a lot like U2’s “With or Without You”. You can even sing “With or Without You” during the playing of “Shadow Of The Day”. The melody of the beginning verse of “No More Sorrow” – a great track by the way – reminds me of Depeche Mode’s “Strangelove”. It is kind of strange that LP, a band that did not sound like any other band has gone for a change and begins to sound like some other bands. The change does not stop where the melody is. There is even a guitar solo at the last song “The Little Things Give You Away”. It is rare to hear a solo track in nu-metal, more rare so for LP.

Their first single “What I’ve Done” is a great track from the album and I suspect that this powerful video will win some awards this year. So another big question: do I like “Minutes To Midnight”? Sure I do because I can understand why bands at times venture out of their comfort zone to create something different and I in general am supportive of such change – like REM’s “Monster”, U2’s “Zooropa” and “Pop”, and Metallica’s “St. Anger”. But I cannot speak on behalf of the majority of LP fans though.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Joanna’s This Crazy Life – A Decent Pop Album

One evening I wanted to play a different kind of music in my car. So I randomly pressed a disc number and when the music started, I was like … wait a minute, who is this artist? Four songs had passed and I still had no clue. Kind of scary because I did remember that it was a recent purchase. Then came the fifth song and I was like … ah ha! The fifth song of the album is “4th Of July” that has been aired in our local radio stations for quite some time. For the record, I do like that song a lot.

If you like the American Idol style of singing – twist and turn of the melody and all the high notes in the end – you will probably like Joanna’s new album. Some of the tracks remind me the music of Celine Dion. Unfortunately Joana is no match to Celine Dion and I wish she could have more control on her voice when the melody soars in some of the songs. Nevertheless, she does have a strong voice amongst some of her peers at her age bracket (she was 21 when “This Crazy Life” was released last year). And she does put lots of soul and emotion into her songs.

Most of the songs she has a part to play in terms of songwriting. There is one track that I especially like (besides “4th Of July”) is “Your Obsession”. Then I discovered that it is written by Diane Warren. Who is Diane Warren? I cannot even count how many hit songs she has written and I recognised her name immediately. “Because I Loved You” recorded by Celine Dion was written by Diane Warren. “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” recorded by LeAnn Rimes? “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” recorded by Aerosmith? They are written by her too. If you are curious about her accomplishments, simply click here and see how many songs you can recognise. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Since Joanna is not that famous for now, I can hardly find any of her videos in YouTube except “Let It Slide” – her first single. See for yourself if her voice is your cup of tea.

Related Site: Joanna at MySpace.com.