Review: Michael Buble - Crazy Love

Hope you're having a great weekend!  Another CD review - can't help it when I get sent such fantastic CDs!

One 2 One Network sent me the new Michael Buble CD to review, and WOW!  I love it!  Of course, I already loved Michael Buble.  He has a fantastic voice and a great crooner jazzy style, but manages to come across as young and modern at the same time.  Michael has been around for several years and is a multi-Grammy winning artist.

Michael's new album, Crazy Love, is a collection of different types of love songs.  I do really enjoy the whole album!  One of my favorites is his song - Haven't Met You Yet.  It's upbeat and a little different from the other songs.  Go see the video now and tell me what you think!  I also really like the bonus track, Whatever It Takes.  But honestly, I enjoy the all the songs.

Here's a listing of the songs on the album:

1. Cry Me A River
2. All Of Me
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Crazy Love
5. Haven't Met You Yet
6. All I Do Is Dream Of You
7. Hold On
8. Heartache Tonight
9. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
10. Baby (You've Got What It Takes)
11. At This Moment
12. Stardust
13. Whatever It Takes (bonus track)

Have you listened to this album yet?  If you don't have it and want to purchase it, click here.  You can get more info about Michael Buble at his website.  I would absolutely love to see him in concert, so I'll be watching those dates!


Disclosure:  One 2 One Network sent me this CD for free and asked me to give an honest review on my blog.  I received no other compensation for this review.  As always, my opinions are my own!


Do you have this CD yet or have you heard it?  What did you think?


Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Review: Joshua Bell - At Home With Friends

I recently received the Joshua Bell CD from One 2 One network (for free).  I had not actually heard of Joshua Bell before I got this CD and listened to it.  Joshua Bell is a Grammy Award-winning violinist and has over 30 original albums!  Where have I been??

This isn't just your typical album with Joshua playing all instrumental violin pieces.  He wanted to do something different and perform instrumental and vocal duets with some wonderful friends and musicians.  The result is lovely.  His beautiful violin playing combined with singers like Sting, Josh Groban and musicians such as Chris Botti makes the CD really enjoyable!

I was listening to the CD again, trying to decide what my favorite song was, but I still can't decide.  I love the first few songs  - they give that sort of haunting sound that transports you to a far-off land.  It's so relaxing to listen.  I had to just sit myself down, close my eyes, and enjoy.  But I also enjoy the upbeat songs and the variety of song types.  I truly like this album and will not forget Joshua Bell anytime soon.  This CD seems like the perfect sound for Fall and Winter, so I plan on playing it quite a bit over the next few months!  In fact, this seems like a good Stop and Smell the Chocolates kind of CD, so maybe I need to sit down with a cup of tea (or glass of wine!) and some chocolate when listening to this one!

Here's a list of the tracks on the album:

Album Tracklisting (Originally performed by):

I Loves You Porgy   featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again   featuring Sting, vocals 
Oblivion   featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon 
Cinema Paradiso   featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí   featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine   featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So   featuring Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3   featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby   featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair   featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino   featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song   featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira   featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away   featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin   featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I'll Take Manhattan   featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano

You can get more info at Joshua's website and even see and hear some of the performances.  You can buy the CD here.

Disclosure:  One 2 One Network sent me this CD for free in exchange for doing an honest review on my blog.  I received no other compensation.

Review: Harry Connick Jr. "Your Songs"

Thanks to One 2 One Network, I recently received Harry Connick Jr.'s latest CD, called "Your Songs" to review.

I have always enjoyed Harry Connick Jr.'s music and even his acting! I was delighted to be able to listen to this CD. The songs on this CD are signature songs by some of the greatest musicians. Harry sings them in his jazzy crooner style with a full jazz big band and string orchestra. The original songs were sung by Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett and many more.

Here's the list of songs and the original performers in parentheses:

All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
Your Song (Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

I like Harry's mellow jazzy style. I do have to say that I already loved the original versions of these songs. I had to get the original versions out of my head so I could enjoy Harry's versions. The more I listened, that wasn't hard to do! It's almost like Harry invited you over to his place (well, with an orchestra there of course!) and sat down to sing you some of your favorite songs.

If you like Harry Connick Jr.'s style and you like these classic songs, then you will enjoy this new CD. You can purchase the CD here. Now, let me go curl up by the fire with my hubby and let Harry sing. :)

Disclosure: One 2 One Network sent me this CD for free and asked me to post an honest review on my blog. I have not received compensation for the review other than the free CD.

Book Review ~ One Wish

I was sent a book to look at a while back. I finally had a chance to tell you about it!

This is a delightful gift book - pretty and inspirational. It's called One Wish by Celia Whitler. It celebrates the women in our lives. It would make a lovely gift for your mother, your daughter, your friend, your teacher or your co-worker.

There are beautiful pictures throughout the book with lovely thoughts and Scripture references to brighten your day. The colors and pictures are soft and soothing. It's a bit like bringing in some Spring flowers to freshen your house. There is a bonus CD included with 5 songs by Celia. One Wish For You is the first song. All the songs are nice, but my favorite is We Believe.

If you'd like more information about the book, you can check out the site here. You can even purchase the book right there (and it happens to be on sale right now!).

Do you already have this book? Are you inspired by some special women in your life?

Enjoy the rest of your lovely weekend!

Review: Ballas Hough Band CD

I recently signed up with One2One Network. So glad I did - I received the new Ballas Hough Band CD to review!

A lot of you will know who they are - two of the best dancers from the show Dancing With The Stars! But can they sing? Oh yeah! And they can play too!

The best way I can describe their sound is to take Maroon 5, Jonas Brothers, Back Street Boys, and throw in a splash of Jackson 5! I've already listened to the CD a few times and it gets me dancing around the house and trying to sing along (OK - fun for me, but not a pretty sight or sound for you - LOL!).

I don't know how they have the time and energy to be professional dancers, singers, and musicians (while I can barely keep up a blog) but they do it all so well. You can keep track of what they're up to at their website.

I have a few favorite songs on the CD. I really like the first two: Do You Love Me and Devastated. They make me want to dance and sing! I love the song Longing For - it sounds so pretty with Emily Grace's lovely vocals mixed in. The songs Birthday and Together Faraway have a little Jackson 5 flair to them that I like. And the last song Underwater is sad and pretty at the same time - will really appeal to anyone who has experienced a breakup. I know there will be lots of people playing that one over and over...and over.

Overall it's a great upbeat energetic CD. I do enjoy the sound and am impressed with the vocals and the music from these multi-talented kids (yeah, it's a bad sign when you start referring to people in their 20's as kids - means you are starting to get old, right?). The CD was released 3/10. If you're interested in buying it, stop here.

All you kids have a great day!

Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to my CD Giveaway winners!! They have all been notified and chose their CD sets. What fun this was!

Congrats to:

#1 Christina (Everything Else)
#2 Kam
#3 Sarah (Real Life)

Hope all of you enjoy the music!

I Win...You Win

I have been blessed with winning a fabulous giveaway from Rocks In My Dryer recently (Thank you!!). I am now the new owner of many contemporary Christian music CDs (I'm humming along with one right now - I'd sing, but I don't know all the words yet)! It's a bit much for just little old me, so why shouldn't I share the blessing with you??

I'll keep half, and you take half...well, you have to win by a random drawing first! I'm giving away 3 sets of 3 CDs each. 1st winner gets 1st choice, 2nd winner 2nd choice, 3rd winner...no choice, but hey, you still get free CDs! Here are the 3 sets:

* Set 1: BarlowGirl: How Can We Be Silent, Relient K: 5 Score And Seven Years Ago, Matthew West: Something to Say

* Set 2: Third Day: Wherever You Are, Brandon Heath: Don't Get Comfortable, Newsboys: Go

* Set 3: David Crowder Band: Remedy, tobyMac: Portable Sounds, Skillet: Comatose

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I'll draw 3 winners on Monday night 6/23 and will contact winners. Please make sure I have a way to contact you!

Back to my humming...

:)