John Farnham - The Acoustic Chapel Sessions Review

CD cover of The Acoustic Chapel Sessions
Courtesy of JB Hi-Fi

Yes! I bought it on Friday and have been listening to it repeatedly ever since!  The CD is by Australian artist, John Farnham, and I've loved his music ever since 1996 (the year after I discovered Elton John's music), and each successive album is just as good as the last.  The new CD is called "The Acoustic Chapel Sessions" and it is great!  This CD features 11 great hits from John's music career from 1984 to 1996, and is redone with acoustic, not electric, instruments!  This CD has been released in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of "Whispering Jack", John's comeback album of 1986.

I was worried that the acoustic songs would not be up to par but I was wrong. John Farnham and his great band really did pull it off!  Not only that, the CD was released as a combo CD/DVD set with the DVD featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with John and the band, along with 8 video recordings of songs on the CD!  Great stuff!

The first highlight off the CD for me is "Pressure Down", which I think is even better than the original version!  "Playing To Win", which John originally recorded with Little River Band in 1984, sounds strange without its synth and electric guitar sound but it really does sound great as an acoustic song too!  I also love "Two Strong Hearts"...the backing vocals go so well with John's voice!  The acoustic version of "A Simple Life" also sounds terrific!  "Hearts On Fire" was my least favourite song on the CD but then it grew on me the more I listened to it.  "You're The Voice" was also great but I do feel the original version had more power!

Over all, I think the CD/DVD set is fantastic and well worth buying. It gets a 5 out of 5 star rating from me.  For anyone who wants to know more about this great Aussie singer, I've included some links to sites I'd recommend!  Back in his heyday, John Farnham decided against going to the US to seek his fame and fortune and opted to stay in Australia and tour here instead.  That said, he has had Number One hits and Top 10 hits in other countries.  When I listen to John Farnham sing, it makes me proud to be Australian!  His great sense of humour gives his fans many, many laughs during concerts and he is so well loved by us all!

If you've never heard of John Farnham and you have iTunes, I'd recommend you check him out.  If you don't have iTunes, try checking out the John Farnham links in the sidebar!  Hopefully, next time he tours I just might get the chance to see my 2nd favourite singer LIVE in concert!

Elton John single review

CD cover of the single

Picture courtesy of Eltonography: The Illustrated Elton John Discography

A few weeks ago, my brother Beau went out for the day and came home with a CD for me which he'd spotted in a secondhand shop.  Thanks, Beau! It was the single of Elton John's "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" and this single was released without "Candle In The Wind 1997" as one of the tracks.  "Candle In The Wind 1997" had been released prior which was due to the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales.  I feel they coupled "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" and "Candle In The Wind 1997" on a single together hoping it would give "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" some attention.  I guess after all the sadness of Princess Diana's death had died down, it was time to re-release "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" as a single in its own right and I now have it!

My new-to-me CD (released in Australia) has 4 songs:

1. Something About The Way You Look Tonight (Single Edit)
2. I Know Why I'm In Love
3. No Valentines
4. Something About The Way You Look Tonight (Album Version)

I've always loved "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" when I heard it on the radio for the first time.  Radio stations always play the shorter version of the song for obvious reasons of time restrictions, but if I was a radio station, I'd say ditch the time restraints and play the full version, but then again, that is my own feelings!

I've never heard "I Know Why I'm In Love" until I got this single and I really like it!  One thing I've always loved about Elton when he released singles is you always got those rare treats that aren't on the album and, when you don't get a studio recorded song not on the album, you get a song or two (or even more) recorded live at a recent concert.  You rarely find an Elton John single that contains a remix of the song, which is what I like!  I'm not a fan of remixes of songs.

I like the fact that "No Valentines" is on the CD as I don't think it was available in Australia until this single came out.  It's a great song and I liked it the moment I heard it on "Love Songs".  "No Valentines" doesn't appear on the UK/World version of "Love Songs" because that version of the CD was already released, therefore "No Valentines" and "You Can Make History (Young Again)" don't appear on it, even though they are on the US version.  Unless Australians have this single, they'll have to order the US version of "Love Songs".

Over all, the "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" single is very good! I'd never tire the songs on it as I never get sick of listening to Elton, simple as that!  This single was released 14 years ago but, regardless, the CD is still in excellent condition despite the card sleeve showing some signs of wear.  I love it all the same. Usually I'm very picky about getting second hand things but, when it comes to singles, CDs, records and cassettes, and you can't get them anymore, so they're definitely worth holding on to!

Have you found some great secondhand CDs of late?