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Author Topic: Reimagined  (Read 3013 times)
reb84092
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« on: November 05, 2019, 04:21:29 PM »

Holy cow guys have you heard Chloe's new album?! I LOVE it so far. Grace has got to be my favorite track. That song, particularly the High Kings version, is one of my favorite of all time. I hope CW covers it some day.
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CelticSweater
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« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2019, 05:04:49 AM »

I am OBSESSED with Love Song for Ireland! It's SO gorgeous! Is that one of the songs Chloe wrote?
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2019, 04:26:04 PM »

I am OBSESSED with Love Song for Ireland! It's SO gorgeous! Is that one of the songs Chloe wrote?

Yes! Long Song for Ireland is indeed a Chloë original!
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2019, 08:36:13 PM »

Now that I've listened to the album a few times, I've decided to share some of my recent thoughts on some of the songs on Chloë's new album Reimagined.

Ireland

The album begins with a really strong track! Ireland is a cover of the Garth Brooks song from Fresh Horses (1995). I've never heard Garth Brooks' original version. I've heard various covers, but none that sound nearly as epic as Chloë's. The deep instrumental backing gets my blood pumping right away. The lyrics, recounting The Charge of the Light Brigade, are poignant and seem more brilliant each time I listen to the song. The soldiers wage a hopeless battle in the name of Britain.  Before their final charge, the soldiers long for Ireland, their homeland they'll never see again.

Chloë shows off a ton of range and power in this song and I love it when she digs deep and pours her whole heart into the final verse. The mixing could have been a bit better at times, but the orchestration does a pretty good job overall of setting the tone of the song and supporting Chloë's phenomenal performance.

Here's the original lyrics.

There's an article that does a decent job of analyzing the song and its lyrics.


The Gathering

This is one of Chloë's original songs. I love the lyrics and it's really fun to sing along to, especially at her live shows. Using the same type of deep, thunderous instrumental backing that was effective in "Ireland" was an interesting choice. It definitely gives the song a strong beat and lots of energy. I sometimes wonder if using that deep of a sound set the right tone for the track, or if a lighter sound would have been more appropriate. I suppose it's a matter of taste. It did make the song sound epic though and I love the massive ending!


Love Song to Ireland

This is the other of Chloë's original songs on the album. It's a fun song to listen to.

The balance for the vocal harmony at parts in the track could have bit better. To me, the vocal layers sound like they were clashing a bit. But though it could have been better, it wasn't nearly as egregious as the mixing on a certain Celtic Woman: Ancient Land Deluxe track.  ::)

Chloë made the same choice for instrumental backing on this song as she did for The Gathering: a deep, booming sound. Again, I thought it was a curious choice given the lyrics aren't nearly as ominous or heavy-handed as the instrumental undertones. But like The Gathering, they give the song an epic feel and make it exciting to listen to and set the energy level for the song from the start. But I suppose it represented her heart beating excitedly for her homeland and whether it was the optimal choice musically for the song, it did sound pretty cool.

It's certainly a different sound for her. I felt at times like I was listening to a "Two Steps From Hell" track (they specialized in epic music and the intensity level in some of their songs is through the roof). Two Steps from Hell is pretty fun to listen to, but only when the timing is right. Most of Chloë's songs have a calming effect on me and are great for helping with my anxiety. The sheer intensity of the underlying instrumentals has a different effect on me: it seems to exacerbate my anxiety a bit. Yeah, it's exciting to listen to, but after the song, I feel more wound up than before I listened, and not always in a good way.

The release of her album unfortunately coincided with a particularly nasty bout of anxiety and depression. I didn't know it at the time, but this song made it a lot worse by escalating my level of tension at the very moment I was trying desperately to calm down. Let me be clear, that is in no way Chloë's fault. It was just bad timing and as a result, made it much more difficult to enjoy the album the first few times. It had a particularly negative side-effect listening to her slow tracks: I couldn't feel what those songs were supposed to make me feel because I was so overwhelmed with tension. It wasn't until after I started feeling a little better emotionally that I could start to properly appreciate this song.

My overall impression of the song at this point is pretty positive, although I think I'll love it even more when I hear it live!
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« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2019, 05:52:35 PM »

(continued...)

Still Haven't Found (What I'm Looking For)

This track was really well done! I don't know that I could have imagined a better version than the one that Chloë reimagined. It's an original take on the song, retaining its key elements, but making it more fun and energetic than the original. It has a little of everything: Chloë's angelic humming, solid instrumental backing, the perfect amount of echo and vocal overlay when she's singing "but I still haven't found," and of course the epic vocal strength Chloë has perfected in recent years. Even the drum beat in this song was really engaging and effective. This one is definitely one of my favorites on the album!
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« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2019, 05:56:14 PM »

If my memory doesn't fail me, I think it was 3 years ago at Red Rocks where CW did this as an "acoustic" encore.  I think it's the only time in a lot of shows where they did something that was somewhat unexpected.
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