THE OTHER SIDE

To be honest I bought this album because it was for sale. But I don't want to be disrespectful to this lady singer so I have to add I was curious as well. Sally French is on PA for quite some time now but no one ever took the opportunity to review her album so the honour is mine this time.

Because I never heard of her I did a short google search and found out she is a British multi artist who is besides singer also painter and also owns a music school where they teach singing but I didn't find out whether she's teaching herself as well. After listening to the album for a couple of times I'm not surprised about the singing school because this lady knows how to use her voice in various ways and I liked what I heard in most of the songs. I will go through the tracks now.

In the first track Beyond the Sky it becomes obvious why she's sometimes compared with Kate Bush. But it has to be said there are both resemblances and differences. The singing is far more impressive than the song itself, Sally is showing a lot of her singing talents right away in the first opportunity. 3,25*.

Inside the Tower is a longish track with more compositional and instrumental significance than previous one with orchestal harpe as interesting feature. Again variegated singing in this slightly enchanting song. One of the better on this release. 3,5*.

Ophelia is even more captivating because Sally French is singing in a modest way here, lovely and soft. It's alomst like a lullaby so I will have to stay awake here for there are four more songs to come. 3,25*.

My time has come is surprisingly enough an almost rocking track. Surprising because it's the first in this style and it looked like we were all the way going to betreated with semi-classical material. Nice song but I have to admit I like Sally French better in the previous songs. 3*.

Lifting the Veil sounds a lot like the first song especially where the vocals are concerned. 3,25*.

Golden Leaves reveales Sally French at her best in my personal opinion. I already said she could sing in an enchanting way but this song is the best proof of that. Absolutely wonderful ! 3,5*.

The Last Time is a bit of a sad, serious song apparently about a break-up. Not too great this time I'm afraid though the technical vocal performance always remains adequate. 2,75*.

The Key is a nice closer with some more sweet vocals to leave the listener with a satisfied feeling. 3*

Like Ivan Melgar is already stating in the Sally French biography this album is hardly prog, neo or any other kind. Maybe it could indeed have been prog related or crossover but then also borderline. Doesn't really matter to me here. I liked this little journey through the vocal possibilities of a very good female vocalist. Three stars for this and even a bit better (3,2).