His best solo album in years
Jeffrey Capshew | New York, NY USA | 04/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I pretty much like all Colin Blunstone albums because of that voice, it is ethereal, emotion-choked and unlike any other singer I can think of. His great trio of mid 70's albums, One Year, Ennismore and Journey, are timeless beauties. He made other albums sporadically and reunited with Rod Argent as The Zombies, and also did Oddesey & Oracle with all of the original members last year that was thrilling and possibly better than the original 40 years earlier. Now Colin has delightfully shocked me with another classic up there with those three classics from the 70's. The Ghost of You & Me is a mature work of love, longing and loss that is heartfelt, filled with great songs, and string arrangements on the last three tracks. But most of all, Colin's voice sounds stronger, and better than ever, and at 63 years old. How can that be? I cannot recommend an album with such joy and appreciation. Love never dies."
Suprised and delighted.
Sara R. Motley | Washington, DC | 01/04/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Looking through the liner notes, I noticed something interesting about this album. The first four songs are written by other artists, much like other works sung by Colin Blunstone. The last 6 tracks were written by Blunstone himself. Colin, so often surrounded by prolific songwriters, has written only a small handful of songs himself. His lyrics are lush, rich, descriptive, and not over-the-top. The artwork in the booklet shows fall leaves and images of Colin looking serious dressed in black (as photos of him often do) but the last page captures his smile from ear to ear just as I remember from so many live concerts. The album is published on "Ennismore Records" which I found endearing.
The first four songs sound similar to works he has done in the past with the first two standing out as obvious hits with only a few listens. Colin's voice, like chocolate silk, makes ANY song enjoyable. Track 2, Follow, is my absolute favorite right now.
The last six songs seem like an enormous deviation from anything I've heard in a long time... perhaps since Ennismore. The instrumentation sounds like only a string quartet and Colin. The feel is ALMOST acapella as there are no drums, no guitars, no piano... Just strings and that voice as smooth as velvet. These songs were so surprising! I know I will need more time to fully appreciate them. All at once, I was delighted to hear these songs so stripped down, almost Colin on his own, but I also wanted to hear them fleshed out and brought to their full potential. My brain often filled in the extra instruments. What a strange experience! The Zombies played live the best of these last six songs, Track 6 Any Other Way, and I enjoyed it immensely with full instrumentation. When this tiny little string quartet tries to rock out to what is CLEARLY a jamming tune I find myself both loving the sounds my brain is adding and also wishing there were more. I absolutely LOVE the string versions, but I am hoping that Colin might release a fuller version of these same songs, also.
As for the price? The album is expensive, but it's worth it. I got EXACTLY what I wanted, which is Colin's voice singing lovely minor-key melodies."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1