Fly [CD]

I would like to assume that you're looking at this page because you already know the album 'Fly' in its original format, and simply want to know if forking out extra money for this new edition is worth it. This review is simply about this edition and the two stars refer to this edition, not to the actual 'Fly' album, which I think is a complete and utter classic that epitomises perfection.

This is the fourth edition of Fly (yes, that's right, the fourth of her least successful studio album). Perhaps Sarah and team really want to drum into the world what they missed back in 1996 when this gem was originally released, and I do not blame them - the world did miss something. The first edition is pretty much the track listing of this edition being reviewed without the bonus tracks. The second tried to cash in on the success of the single 'Time to Say Goodbye' in 1997, and re-issued the album with the seriously out of place song as the album's opener. The third edition is one you'll probably never see unless you have hundreds of pounds to spare and frequent eBay a hell of a lot, and that is known as 'Fly II' and was only available on Merchandise stores on her La Luna tour. It included a second disc of thirteen never before released tracks, or otherwise very rare. Until now, and that is where this fourth edition gets its appeal. No, it's not a glorious second disc full of goodies, but four bonus tracks, two of which did come from the rare second disc of Fly II. The other two "bonus" tracks? Complete waste of time.

So this is what this fourth edition has. It has a brand spanking new album sleeve full of sparkly bits that try to revamp old, unflattering photos that were used for the original release. It also has a Japanese booklet and a pretty OBI strip as, let's not forget, this edition was only released in Japan. If you are unfamiliar with Japanese imports, the Japanese booklet is basically pages of translations from English to Japanese, and a biography. The OBI strip is also written in Japanese. The main album booklet is still in English.

This edition does not include 'Time to Say Goodbye' but it does have four bonus tracks: 'Do You Wanna Be Loved', 'How Can Heaven Love Me (Video Version)', A Question of Honour (Alternative Radio Edition)' and 'On the Nile'. 'Do You Wanna Be Loved' and 'On the Nile' are the rare songs that come from Fly II and are the songs you will be spending your money on. 'Do You Wanna Be Loved' is a fun pop song with heavy euro influence. It is purely nineties. 'On The Nile' is a very short song (a minute and ten seconds long!) and lacks any kind of substance as it just does not have the time to develop. Adding the video version of 'How Can Heaven Love Me' and stamping it with BONUS TRACK is a very bad joke. The difference between that version and the original is minimal, like a game of 'Spot the Difference' in an expert puzzle book. The alternative radio version of 'A Question of Honour' (because we need another version on top of the ten that are already out there) is simply the track as usual, but without the prologue and epilogue of 'La Wally'.

This edition's worst crime? It uses its own software to play on your computer, and this software is all in Japanese. You cannot copy it over to your Windows Media Player or whatever software you use to listen to music, because the disc will not be compatible with it.

Is this worth it? I have Fly II, and I would say that this disc is a complete waste of time. But for someone without Fly II, you may want to grasp whatever tracks from it that you can get your hands on, but the two tracks given are simply not worth it. The first reason is that 'On the Nile' is more a novelty than a song. Come on. It is a minute long! As for 'Do You Wanna Be Loved'? It has been covered by another artist called Princessa and Sarah does the backing vocals for the track, not to mention other tracks on the same album that are written by Sarah and vocally backed by her. If you can find a copy of that album (look at the comments for more details on how to get it), I suggest you get that, if not, then go ahead with this one, but it is a real waste.

Also: Ignore amazon's track list, it's wrong. The real one is:

1. Fly
2. Why
3. Murder in Mairyland Park
4. How Can Heaven Love Me - Sarah Brightman, Chris Thompson
5. Question of Honour
6. Ghost in the Machinery
7. You Take My Breath Away
8. Something in the Air - Sarah Brightman, Tom Jones
9. Heaven Is Here
10. I Love You
11. Fly
BONUS TRACKS
12. Do You Wanna Be Loved
13. How Can Heaven Love Me (Video Version)
14. A Question of Honour (Alternative Radio Version)
15. On the Nile

Sarah Brightman has been everything from lunar popster to Broadway goddess. But her career took some weird turns before she settled on her current classical-pop sound. She seems to be sticking to that, with some forays into epic dance.

But several years ago, she was still fumbling for a style. And of her dabblings in different pop styles, one of the most successful resilts was "Fly." This bizarre album both hints at her present mastery and shows off her vocals, although a few of the songs -- Tom Jones, anybody? -- veer into misstep turf.

The hint of more operatic material is in the opening number, "Time to Say Goodbye (Con Te Partir?)," a wonderful duet with singer Andrea Bocelli. It makes the next track, "Fly," a little more disarming, a surreal dreamlike song that starts off with a fly's buzzing.

After that, Sarah Brightman launches into a series of surreally different songs -- haunting, whispery Sigur-Ros-like songs, soaring pop songs, Indian influenced balladrey, clashy technorock, and a rather jerky duet, "Something in the Air," with Tom Jones.

Versatility is something to always admire in music, even when the artist/band can't settle down on one style long enough. In these songs, Brightman isn't always successful, but she hit the mark a lot more often than she misses. Not one sounds like another, and most of them are pleasant in their own styles.

Musically, she touches on opera, pop, techno, alternative music and influence from countries like India and Iceland for this album. The result is that each song is entirely unique. The writing for the music is quite good; the general feeling is very haunting, dreamlike -- whether that dream is a nightmare or a fantasy.

Even the guys she sings with are very different. Chris Thompson's slightly hammy singing and Andrea's strong operatic vocals suit Sarah's styles quite well. Tom Jones doesn't fare so well -- beside Sarah's delicate, soaring voice, he sounds rough and abrasive. At least Sarah shows off both her fluting little-girl voice and her soaring operatic voice.

While Sarah has done better albums, she has never done (and probably never will) a more versatile album with a wider range of music. "Fly" almost soars, except for a few duds.

Okay, so "Eden" did give this 1995 CD a run for its money. But that was last year, since Sarah was beginning to gain more and more recognition. Thus, what once appeared to be a slump was a success thanks to the placement of the Andrea Bocelli collaboration known as "Time To Say Goodbye (his Con Te Partirò)" as the first track when this CD was re-released in 1996. It is that re-release version I have--at the moment.

"Dive" is predominantly New Agey, and I got used to it after a while. This one jumps from dance to rock to techno and back again. My favorite song on the CD is "A Question of Honour," the single for which is on the way (it's about damn time, too!). The remixes of that song, from what I hear, are techno, but I like the original version the best. Other hot hits include "How Can Heaven Love Me," "Something In The Air," "Heaven Is Here," "I Loved You," and (if I have space for it) "You Take My Breath Away." However, horrendous mixing dominates most of the album, whereas Andrea's "Romanza" isn't ruined by such mixing. Still, the hot hits ought to appear mainly to diehard Sarah Brightman fans.