Glorious: The Singles 97-07

When Natalie Imbruglia burst onto the music scene in 1997, many critics were quick to write her off as another generic soap star-turned-pop star, expecting her just to fade into obscurity after an album or two. Ten years later, Natalie has exceeded everyone's expectations and is releasing the first collection of her hit singles entitled `Glorious: The Singles - 1997-2007'. Additionally, Natalie has included five new tracks, including new single `Glorious' as a taster of what is to follow. Here's a brief review of every track.

1. Glorious (23): The lead single from this collection. Very upbeat and summery, lovely breezy guitar riffs and even mentions London's `Frith Street'. One of Natalie's best single releases - 9/10

2. Counting Down The Days (23): The second single to be released of Natalie's third album of the same name. A haunting track about being far away from one's love. Chimes are thrown in towards the end which add a certain charm and there's a slightly odd whale noise throughout the song - 7/10

3. Torn (2) - Natalie's debut single and the most successful release of her career. A very angst-y track with soaring guitars and is among Natalie's best releases 9/10

4. Wrong Impression (10) - The second and most successful single from Natalie second album `White Lilies Island'. Again, a very sunny and upbeat track with fast-paced, twangy guitars, reminiscent of The Sunday's - 9/10

5. Smoke (5) - The forth release from Natalie's debut. A heart wrenching song about domestic violence (?). Here we see Natalie experimenting with electronica and showing us that she really can write brilliant pop songs and sing! 8/10

6. Shiver (8) - Natalie's `comeback' song and the biggest UK airplay hit of 2005. An insanely catchy soft rock tune that I'm sure we all will know. Definitely one of the highlights of Natalie's career - 9/10

7. Wishing I Was There (8) - The third single from Natalie's debut. A very rocky and catchy track which just screams late 90's! Arguably Natalie's most impressive early release - 10/10

8. That Day (11) - The lead single from Natalie's sophomore release. A beautiful rock-tinged song with fast-paced guitars and impressive drum work. Lyrically, this is one of Natalie's finest moments with references to depression and coming out of it - 9/10

9. Big Mistake (2) - The second single to be lifted from Natalie's debut. Another angst-ridden track about an unfaithful partner asking for forgiveness. This one builds up nicely with mid tempo verses and a huge angry chorus, eventually climaxing and leaving the listener quite satisfied indeed. Another great release - 9/10

10. Beauty On The Fire (26) - The third and final release off Natalie's least successful album, White Lilies Island. Arguably Natalie's most experimental single, combining pop, rock and electronica. Smooth angst-y verses are coupled with a sun-drenched soaring chorus and the most impressive middle-8 to create, what is known to many as the best (and most underrated) Natalie single -10/10

11. Be With You - An unusual track for Natalie. This one has a thumping baseline which carries the song. Paired with some delightful piano work, this is one of the best non-single tracks on the CD - 8/10

12. Amelia - Another impressive non-single track and is very reminiscent of `Honeycomb Child' from the `Counting Down The Days' album. A very mellow and sweet track which is nice to chill to -8/10

13. Against The Wall - The heaviest non-single track on the album. Not much to say about this one other than the fact that it makes for a decent album track - 7/10

14. Stuck On The Moon - Another piano-driven downtempo track. Natalie always produces lovely ballads and this one is no exception. A highlight amongst the new tracks - 8/10

STANDOUT TRACKS: Beauty On The Fire, Wishing I Was There, Glorious, Torn, Shiver

To conclude, as you can see I rate this CD very highly, which is a label I do not give to many albums. There is honestly not a bad track on the entire CD and if you are thinking of purchasing this release, just go for it. This is certainly one of the best hits collections out there and I look forward to hearing much more of Ms. Imbruglia in the future. *****

This is an excellent collection of songs. I've been listening to Natalie's music since she released her first track.. Her music is written very well and she clearly puts a lot of time into her albums. She hasn't released many but it's all about quality not quantity with Natalie.

All my favourites are here, Smoke, Big mistake, That day................................

And there are even new tracks on here. We need more artists like Natalie.
First rate brilliance!

Great collection of tracks from Natalie's RCA recording years - Such a shame that her latest album has been overlooked!