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Sarah Brightman’s Rarities I, II, & III

 

Samantha Wexler for Curtains Up

When I found out that Sarah Brightman was coming out with not one but THREE new albums, I asked my sweetie if that could be one of my Christmas gifts. In fact, I said it could be my only gift, anyone who knows me even a little knows that I am probably the one of Sarah Brightman’s biggest fans! These three albums are aptly named Rarities because they are comprised of twenty-five years worth of never before heard tracks, lost, and previously unreleased tracks as well as the album (Fly), on Rarities III, that had not been previously released in North America.

Some of the songs include Kama Sutra a song that was originally named Maya’s theme not he 1996 film Kama Sutra’s soundtrack by Mychael Danna, a vocal interpretation of Watermark by Enya, as well as a demo version of the song Once in a Lifetime that was on her 1993 album “Dive.” There are also three songs that were recorded with the Gregorian Masters of Chant on Rarities I as well as I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper from Brightman’s early days in the dance troupe Hot Gossip. Each album has a completely different feeling than the other making them three distinct albums rather than feeling like they are one long album. Rarities I is slower paced and much more etherial than Rarities II and III both of whom have a more rock/pop feeling to them, except for the three Gregorian Masters of Chant/Sarah Brightman duet tracks that are on Rarities III.

At the endow each album is a bonus interview with Sarah Brightman and her producer Frank Peterson who is also known for his work with Enigma. In these interviews, Brightman and Peterson reminisce about how the different songs came about, whether or not they were intended to be used as part of an album or if they were simply experiments to see if it could be done and how it would sound. There are interesting stories to be heard in these interviews and I will not spoil it, but rather let you all discover these wonderful vignettes for yourselves. I think that adding these interviews created a special something to the albums that was completely unexpected, like a small peak into what Peterson and Brightman were thinking and where they were heading when during the different eras that the tracks were created.

Discovering the gems that are contained within Rarities I, II and III has been quite a wonderful journey. Sarah Brightman’s talent and class never cease to amaze me. I encourage anyone who is a Sarah Brightman fan or even someone who is not familiar with her non stage musical work to check out these albums, they certainly do not disappoint, as there is something on them for a wide range of musical tastes.

Image from www.sarahbrightman.com

 

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