2008 Woodie Awards
A few bumps on Josh Groban's latest album, still worth buying
Jesse Fernandez
Issue date: 5/16/08 Section: Features
Josh Groban is one of the best classical singers in the universe, or - at the very least - one of the best on the planet. His voice is baritone with falsetto and very full: Almost no part of the breath that leaves his throat fails to carry the note he is singing. He strikes a high note, and the most apathetic of spines feels a shiver. If notes were tangible, his would walk on water. I guess what I'm saying is: he's very good.
Groban has released a new CD/DVD pack, which is from a live concert he performed in Salt Lake City, Utah. The CD/DVD pack is called "Awake," named after the feature song on the pack, which Groban describes on the DVD as being about moments that happen way, way too fast.
On the DVD he performed the concert in front of 15,000 people. Salt Lake City is also where Groban sang during the closing ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics - a performance that was seen by more than two billion people worldwide.
The DVD contains about 102 minutes of live concert footage and about 45 minutes of behind the scenes footage, and the CD contains about 45 minutes of audio, so there is plenty of content in "Awake."
While Groban is an astoundingly skillful singer, "Awake" is not without its flaws. For one, sometimes the amount of music happening at once in "Awake" creates an ocean of sound, which is a complete shame when it distracts from Groban's voice. Groban has a band of 8 musicians onstage at once and an orchestra. Sometimes they all play at the same time, and it becomes too much. There are times in "Awake" when, if someone were to ask me what instrument is playing, I could honestly say, "Everything."
Also, The lighting for the concert is over the top. Of course, this is not a problem on the CD, and it might sound nitpicky to mention it at all, but the lighting is actually distracting. It's like in Las Vegas: the lights are everywhere, and they all want your attention. You can't possibly focus on everything, so it becomes that nothing is really the focus. On "Awake," there are sometimes 10 lights flashing on and off over the drummer, 20 spotlights moving about the audience, two blue spotlights on a random piece of the stage. It feels like pop-concert lighting and doesn't really fit the music, especially the more classical songs. It's like taking something beautiful and throwing glitter at it. I think the third seat in the orchestra even got a special light.
When Groban loses himself in a song and becomes completely immersed in the music, his emotional vulnerability in combination with the power of his voice is mesmerizing. It becomes easier for us to lose ourselves in the music too and transcend the moment.
When Groban works the crowd, though, it becomes easy again for us to remember that he's just being an entertainer. His absorbing of the audience's love (usually in the form of letting women touch his hands) seems a tad self-indulgent, and it drains a bit of the soul out of the otherwise very deep songs. Not that he does it through every song, but when he does, I just wait for him to finish preening and to get back to the music.
If you ignore the small qualms, many of the songs of the CD/DVD are fantastic. I could listen to "Un Giorno Per Noi" all day, and "Un Dia Llegara" still hasn't completely given my breath back. I play "Lullaby" and get sad because I know it will be over too soon. In fact there are a lot of very good, stirring songs in the pack. Check out Josh Groban if you haven't. If you like him (which you should), then check out "Awake."
Jesse Fernandez can be reached at jfernandez@statehornet.com
Groban has released a new CD/DVD pack, which is from a live concert he performed in Salt Lake City, Utah. The CD/DVD pack is called "Awake," named after the feature song on the pack, which Groban describes on the DVD as being about moments that happen way, way too fast.
On the DVD he performed the concert in front of 15,000 people. Salt Lake City is also where Groban sang during the closing ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics - a performance that was seen by more than two billion people worldwide.
The DVD contains about 102 minutes of live concert footage and about 45 minutes of behind the scenes footage, and the CD contains about 45 minutes of audio, so there is plenty of content in "Awake."
While Groban is an astoundingly skillful singer, "Awake" is not without its flaws. For one, sometimes the amount of music happening at once in "Awake" creates an ocean of sound, which is a complete shame when it distracts from Groban's voice. Groban has a band of 8 musicians onstage at once and an orchestra. Sometimes they all play at the same time, and it becomes too much. There are times in "Awake" when, if someone were to ask me what instrument is playing, I could honestly say, "Everything."
Also, The lighting for the concert is over the top. Of course, this is not a problem on the CD, and it might sound nitpicky to mention it at all, but the lighting is actually distracting. It's like in Las Vegas: the lights are everywhere, and they all want your attention. You can't possibly focus on everything, so it becomes that nothing is really the focus. On "Awake," there are sometimes 10 lights flashing on and off over the drummer, 20 spotlights moving about the audience, two blue spotlights on a random piece of the stage. It feels like pop-concert lighting and doesn't really fit the music, especially the more classical songs. It's like taking something beautiful and throwing glitter at it. I think the third seat in the orchestra even got a special light.
When Groban loses himself in a song and becomes completely immersed in the music, his emotional vulnerability in combination with the power of his voice is mesmerizing. It becomes easier for us to lose ourselves in the music too and transcend the moment.
When Groban works the crowd, though, it becomes easy again for us to remember that he's just being an entertainer. His absorbing of the audience's love (usually in the form of letting women touch his hands) seems a tad self-indulgent, and it drains a bit of the soul out of the otherwise very deep songs. Not that he does it through every song, but when he does, I just wait for him to finish preening and to get back to the music.
If you ignore the small qualms, many of the songs of the CD/DVD are fantastic. I could listen to "Un Giorno Per Noi" all day, and "Un Dia Llegara" still hasn't completely given my breath back. I play "Lullaby" and get sad because I know it will be over too soon. In fact there are a lot of very good, stirring songs in the pack. Check out Josh Groban if you haven't. If you like him (which you should), then check out "Awake."
Jesse Fernandez can be reached at jfernandez@statehornet.com
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