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Elly Roberts reviews

Josh Groban: A Collection

Distributed by
Warner Brothers

Released: December 2008

Rating: 8/10

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Moving up to No.24 on the UK charts (w/c 22nd Dec) Joshua Winslow Groban has created a clever niche for himself, amassing 25 million sales.

In what he does, he has no competition, at all, though pretenders to the throne like X-Factor Welshman Rhydian are posing stiff competition.

To date, Groban’s pulling power has been classic singles February Song and You Raise Me Up, with the former self-penned. Other originals (collaborations) are Awake, Per Te, and Remember When It Rained, with hitmakers Albert Hammond, Abba’s Benny and Bjorn, Ennio Morricone , Richard Marx, Linda Thompson and Charlie Chaplin, (yes the moustached little tramp) adding to the repertoire.

When you begin to analyse Groban’s appeal, it’s based on pseudo classical-operetta leanings (he stood in for Andrea Bocelli at the 1999 Grammy Awards) with bags of crossover oomph and mucho romantico for the chicks, which are probably the same middle-aged brigade that also go for Michael Buble, Il Divo et al.

One thing above his contemporaries, he can sing, brilliantly, in his range – you only need to check the live Anthem for proof. Weeping, a gospel masterpiece with the Soweto Gospel Choir is equally impressive stuff. He’s already hinted he’d like to go into musical theatre, so the likes of Michael Ball and co. must be quaking in their show-time booties.

For me, Groban scores his Brownie points with swooning ballads in their simplest of formats such as Alejate, with just enough orchestration to avoid the saccharine bowl.

Morricone’s stunning tear-jerking ballad, sung in Italian, is possibly the key moment here, showing he can deliver the sentiment in a, for what is, to him a foreign language.

Disc 2 is a selection of Crimbo covers, very well done in his inimitable style, though he’ll never match Mario Lanza or Beniamino Gigli’s Ave Maria.

File under: Top singer.

Weblinks: joshgroban.com / myspace.com/joshgroban

The full list of tracks included are :

Disc 1: 1. Oceano 2. February Song 3. You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up) 4. You Raise Me Up 5. In Her Eyes 6. Awake 7. Alla Luce Del Sole 8. To Where You Are 9. Anthem (Live – from ’Chess In Concert’) 10. Per Te 11. Remember When It Rained 12. Weeping (Live) with Vusi Mahlasa and Soweto Gospel Choir 13. Alejate 14. Hymn A L’Amour 15. Cinema Paradiso (Se) 16. Smile Disc 2: 1. Silent Night 2. Little Drummer Boy 3. Ave Maria 4. Panis Angelicus 5. Petit Papa Noel 6. Noche De Paz (Silent Night)

Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

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