What I Miss

I was listening to Celtic Woman's version of "Somewhere" the other day, and I was struck by its beauty and how the individual, unique voices all blended together perfectly. I then listened (i.e. watched) to their recent version of "Danny Boy" but did not catch that same power. I think that the reason "Somewhere" is so special and, to me, is the defining point of Celtic Woman is because of the different voices. You have Meav's strong soprano, Chloe's youthful soprano, Lisa's strong alto, and then Orla's softer, darker alto. No voice here sounds alike, and that is why it is so beautiful. "Danny Boy," on the other hand, I couldn't tell the difference between Lynn and Alex unless the screen was showing who was singing. There were no powerhouse voices like Meav's on there, and the piece just sounded flat and rather boring with none of the complex harmonies seen in "Somewhere." I think that's one reason that I'm finding myself leaning more and more towards the old Celtic Woman: the unique styles and voices of the singers. Meav sang largely traditional pieces, Orla did traditional and Clannad, Chloe sang children's songs and Sarah Brightman, and Lisa did more pop, New Age pieces. These different styles all came together that one night in 2004, and they blended perfectly together, giving each singer a chance to be unique. I did not see that "magic," as it were, last March. The songs all blended together, just like they did on "Danny Boy," lacking their power and the uniqueness of "Somewhere," as Lynn is a classically trained singer though is more modern Irish and Alex is a theater performer just like Lisa. I guess that's what I miss about Celtic Woman the most, the different styles, different vocal backgrounds, and different voices blending together into a lovely unified whole.