Richard NG's Music Review Blog: October 2007

It's the perfect opportunity to make mention of home-grown Australian music for once, and I thought I'd throw in the good old traditional Aussie Flag for good measure on this particular occassion. Following up on her previous album ' Mistaken Identity ', Australia's Beauty Pop-Princess Delta Goodrem is back in 2007 with her third studio album, titled just simply ' DELTA ', featuring the new single ' In This Life '.; The brand new album ' DELTA ' comes in two distinct editions : the regular Standard Edition, and the special ' Limited Edition ' [ quoted from Australia's Sanity on-line ] : The Limited Edition version features an 8 Panel wallet - 2 pockets for CD and 20pp booklet( 12pp + 8pp centre gatefold). Printed on silver reflecta Kote board and includes pop up poster + 2 picture cards ! { End quote }. I bought the special Limited Edition this afternoon at the JB-Hi-Fi store at Southland Shopping Centre, Cheltenham. [ I am listening to the album as I am typing this up... ]. At JB-Hi-Fi, the regular Standard Edition costs approximately AUD $ 19.00, and the special Limited Edition costs approximately AUD $ 21.00. The special Limited Edition comes in a thinner packaging than the regular Standard Edition, however track-listings on Both editions are identical.

' DELTA ' Album Track-Listing is as follows :

.1. Believe Again.
.2. In This Life.
.3. Possessionless.
.4. God Laughs.
.5. You Will Only Break My Heart.
.6. The Guardian.
.7. Bare Hands.
.8. Woman.
.9. I Can't Break It To My Heart.
10. Brave Face.
11. One Day.
12. Angels In The Room.

The first single ' In This Life ' is also released in two editions : Release #1 features a bonus B-Side track called " Take Me Home ", and comes with a Bonus Sticker. Release #2 features the Acoustic version of In This Life as its B-Side track, and comes with a bonus fold-out mini-poster. I've got both editions of this single release.

I think avid Delta fans are going to want to add ' DELTA ' to thier Delta collection.

The new album ' DELTA ' has been officially released, and is availabe for purchase Now at all good CD Retail Outlets/shops around Australia.

You can Preview-Listen to All the tracks from the new album ' DELTA ' on Delta Goodrem's Official Web Site Here.

* Visit Delta Goodrem's Official Web Site.

Hayley Westenra : ' Prayer ' Album - The Exclusive Japanese Import Edition ( 2007 ).

By now, she needs no introduction. Hayley Westenra's ' Prayer ' album technically 'isn't' a new album. The ' Prayer ' album is primarily a Japanese release, and is depicted as a collection of tracks previously un-released in Japan, a bit like an album of un-released B-Side tracks. This particular release would be a significant addition to any good Hayley Westenra CD collection.; I've managed to source the album's track-listing from an Australian on-line music-retail site called 'Chaos.com'.

Hayley Westenra : ' Prayer ' - The Exclusive Japanese Import Edition ( 2007 ) Track-Listing :

.1. Prayer
.2. The Last Rose Of Summer (Previously Unreleased)
.3. Listen To The Wind (James Horner) (Previously Unreleased)
.4. May It Be (From Lord Of The Rings)
.5. Mozart's Lullaby (From Loreley)
.6. Jekyll (Previously Unreleased)
.7. Here Beside Me (From Moulin Rouge 2) (Previously Unreleased)
.8. Bridal Ballad (From The Merchant Of Venice)
.9. Flood (Debbie Wiseman) (Previously Unreleased)
10. Jekyll (Previously Unreleased)
11. Tonight (From West Side Story)
12. There's A Sparkle In Your Eyes (Previously Unreleased)
13. You Are Water (Previously Unreleased)
14. The White Rose Song (Composed By Ryoichi Hattori)
15. Summer Rain

Regular Hayley Fans will most certainly recognise some of the track-names. And Yeah, the track ' Jekyll ' IS listed twice in the track-listing, exactly as sourced by Chaos.com, though I'm not sure whether it's a typo-error on Chaos.com's own behalf, or it could either be a slightly different version ( un-credited ), or it could be a re-prise track.; I'll have to wait until I've recieved the item before I'll know. But the fact that it's a Japanese Import begs the question as to whether the track-listing on the back of the actual CD will be in Japanese or English ? ( I have not been able to find the track-listing anywhere else to compare to, at least, not in English ! )

Update : Sunday 9th December, 2007 : 3:32 PM :

I was browsing the ' Hayley Westenra International ' Fan web-site earlier today, looking for a comprehensive Hayley Westenra Discography content and they happen to have the ' Prayer ' album listed. However, thier track-listing for the album is slightly different to the album track-listing I have quoted here earlier. The ' Prayer ' album track-listing on the ' Hayley Westenra International ' Fan web-site differs in that a) the track ' Jekyll ' is not listed twice, instead ' I'm Kissing You ' is denoted as Track 10, and b) Track 14 that I have listed here earlier - ' The White Rose Song ( Composed By Ryoichi Hattori ) ' is entirely omitted on the ' Hayley Westenra International ' Fan web-site's track-listing. Instead, thier track 14 is ' Summer Rain ' ( track 15 as listed here earlier ), and there is No track 15, due to the omission of the track ' The White Rose Song '.;

The Track-Listing for the ' Prayer ' album as on the ' Hayley Westenra International ' Fan web-site is as follows :

.1. Prayer
.2. The Last Rose Of Summer (Previously Unreleased)
.3. Listen To The Wind (James Horner) (Previously Unreleased)
.4. May It Be (From Lord Of The Rings)
.5. Wiegenlied
.6. Jekyll (Previously Unreleased)
.7. Here Beside Me (From Moulin Rouge 2) (Previously Unreleased)
.8. Bridal Ballad (From The Merchant Of Venice)
.9. Flood (Debbie Wiseman) (Previously Unreleased)
10. I'm Kissing You
11. Tonight (From West Side Story)
12. There's A Sparkle In Your Eyes (Previously Unreleased)
13. You Are Water (Previously Unreleased)
14. Summer Rain

Which one is correct ? And, Is either one correct ? What's the ' actual ' correct track-listing ? Well, I'll have to wait until I recieve the order in the mail before I can find out the answers to those questions. I wait in patient anticipation.

Between the three sites I've looked at - Amazon.com US, Amazon UK, and Chaos.com Australia, the prices seem fairly similar, though Amazon.com US and Chaos.com Australia both have extensive delays in dispatch-out time of over a month, and Amazon UK claims to be able to dispatch-out in within a week, so I've placed my order with Amazon UK.; If you are within similar geographical regions as me and you'd also like to purchase this item, then I would recommend you do the same as me and purchase it through Amazon-UK.

* Due to the closeness to Christmas, I have been advised by Amazon UK that my order will arrive a few days AFTER Christmas, rather than the delivery date specified earlier ( on my order confirmation email ).

Hayley Westenra : ' Prayer ' - The Exclusive Japanese Import Edition ( 2007 ).

.Buy This Album On-Line at Amazon (UK)