If you're familiar with Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, then you know the sound of Lara Fabian's self-titled English-language debut: 56 minutes of bland, predictable love songs, heavy on ballads, with plenty of vocal gymn... more »astics. Already a French-language superstar, Fabian alternates between vulnerable softie ("Adagio," "You Are My Heart") and tough cookie ("I Am Who I Am," "Part of Me")--failing to prove she's either, but belting her heart out nonetheless. Lara Fabian is a good gift for a 13-year-old girl discovering the pain of unrequited love: there's no sexual content, and there are plenty of fairy-tale platitudes to go around. --Courtney Kemp« less
If you're familiar with Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, then you know the sound of Lara Fabian's self-titled English-language debut: 56 minutes of bland, predictable love songs, heavy on ballads, with plenty of vocal gymnastics. Already a French-language superstar, Fabian alternates between vulnerable softie ("Adagio," "You Are My Heart") and tough cookie ("I Am Who I Am," "Part of Me")--failing to prove she's either, but belting her heart out nonetheless. Lara Fabian is a good gift for a 13-year-old girl discovering the pain of unrequited love: there's no sexual content, and there are plenty of fairy-tale platitudes to go around. --Courtney Kemp
Meagan M. (meags) from PEARLAND, TX Reviewed on 5/10/2007...
The often overlooked Fabian has a voice of an angel. Move over Celine, there's a new Quebecois in town!
CD Reviews
A Great English-Language Debut-A Fabulous Voice!
Sara Stromseth | Cresco, IA USA | 08/29/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The first time I heard "I Will Love Again" on the radio, I thought the voice was that of Celine Dion. Then, a few months later, I saw a singer named Lara Fabian belting out that song, along with "Adagio" on The Donny and Marie Show. The strength of her fiery live performance made me realize that I had to purchase her CD and give the album a listen. To be completly objective, the songs on the album are somewhat mediocre, lyrically and also in terms of production, which leans too closely to Celine-esque power pop. The album is dominated by ballads that showcase the power of Fabian's voice (which almost always is pushed to it's fullest emotive capabilities), but the dance songs, if refreshing, don't seem quite as convincing. Simply put, if these songs were performed by a lesser singer, they'd be bland. But Fabian is no lesser singer, and it is in fact her ablitiy to transcend the material and provide emotional nuances that saves the songs. Her gritty interpretation of "To Love Again" is a highlight, as is her tender rendring of "Broken Vow" and "Love By Grace." Fabian provides maximum emotional drama on both the English and Italian versions of "Adagio," and the 2nd track, "Part of Me" is delivered nicely, featuring a memorable piano and saxaphone musical background that allow Fabian's voice to provide the necessary power to move the song forward. All in all, this is a good English-language debut by a singer who deserves to be listened to on her own terms. Here's hoping the future will bring some more exciting musical risks on her part, but for now, Fabian's self-titled disc is a good, solid introduction to a powerful vocalist."
Sony's newest superstar discovery!
Andy McRill | USA | 05/31/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This one's a keeper folks! Fabian is definitely going to be the superstar of the new millenium, rivaling the status of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand and Mariah Carey! She came out of nowhere!This CD is top rate material with heartfelt ballads and a few uptempo songs, including the wickedly catchy and dramtic "I Will Love Again". Dramatic is the best word I can think of to describe Fabian's voice, as one moment it will be nothing more than a whisper. The next thing you know she belts out a note with all her force. Amazing! "Adagio" is sung here in English and Italian. She could sing it in pig latin, for all I care - it would still sound great. Her voice is just that good! "I Am What I Am" is also a cool song that could be a hit.I think the fact that Sony is offering a money-back guarantee on this CD says how confident they are that this is their newest superstar discovery. I'm going to have a hard time keeping this CD out of my CD player!"
LARA FABIAN---VOCAL WONDER
KEVIN HAYDEN | MILLBURY, MA United States | 07/02/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have just discovered Lara Fabian and I am so glad that I did. Prompted to buy her CD by the radio dance hit "I will love again", I ran to the record store. At first I thought I was listening to a Celine wannabe but after another listen I realized that Lara is truly a singer with her own style. Her voice is the seller here, no question about it. The songs are beautiful. They may seem overproduced or predictable at first, but it's necessary to listen to how Lara interprets them...then you will see. Her voice is smooth and smoky when singing delicately but in an instant she can turn it into fire as she climbs the scale. She sings "Andagio" in English and Italian here. This song is the perfect example of Lara as a vocal powerhouse and as a linguist..Hopefully, she'll record a whole CD in Italian as well for the feeling doesn't fade. She has a thing for ballads here but they all deliver...too bad she didn't include more dance songs...she gives them a true fire and refreshing originality with THAT VOICE. She is definitely worthy of worldwide attention. I can't wait to hear more from her. If you love Celine, you'll love Lara...guaranteed. I've also heard Lara's French music and that too is worth investigating. To sum it up, Lara is invigorating. You won't be sorry!"
Sensational Voice.
J. Martin | Woodside, NY | 04/28/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"From the moment you hear Lara Fabians voice you will fall in love with her. Her voice is so beautiful and powerful that it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Her debut english album contains the smash hit I Will Love Again, one of the few songs this year that I cranked up whenever it came on the radio. Unfortunatlty there are no other dance songs like this on the album. The majority of the album are ballads, and midtempo songs that seem fit for the Celine Dion crowd. Her voice is reminiscent of Celines, but Lara got soul and emotion behind her voice. The most stunning ballad here is Adagio. A powerhouse vocal performance that will leave you speechless. You Are My Heart, Broken Vow, To Love Again, and Love By Grace are just a few of the highlights of this album. Her voice is probably one of the best in music today."
"Lara Fabian" Showcases Total Honesy
Joe | 01/13/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To be honest, there really wasn't much hype over Lara Fabian's English debut release, nor is there a lot of publicity at the present time. If you have heard of Lara Fabian and you aren't from Europe or Canada, you're one of the few. This is unfortunate, because Lara and her album have so much to offer. The CD enters with "Adagio", modern lyrics set to a classic 18th century ballad by the composer, Albinoni. What many are calling the highlight of the album, "Adagio" is probably the most hard-hitting song on the album, with vocals strong and high enough to scare off even Celine. Ballads like this are in abundance, and include "To Love Again", an English version of a previously released French track, and "Love By Grace", a song originally released for Wynonna Judd, but remastered and set to a different melody and orchestra and is a highlight on the album. "Part of Me" is very subtle, with a hint of saxophone blended in while "Broken Vow" features the music of a 100 piece orchestra and a piano background. "You're Not From Here", is a haunting ballad that is somewhat mysterious but get's its point across in the most dramatic way. Up-tempos include the self-empowering "I Am Who I Am", and "Till I Get Over You", produced by Sam Watters and Louis Biancanello, and of course, "I Will Love Again", a song that you will either love or hate. Mid Tempos also present are "Yeliel (My Angel)", "You Are My Heart", convincing lyrics set to adult-contempo/pop music, and "Giving Up On You", yet another song that shows Fabian's versatility. The whole album is really of a mixed genre. There is R&B, pop, rock, classical, and adult contemporary. The ballads are stunning, featuring Lara Fabian's signature vocals, what many have called a blend of Streisand and the ever-familiar CelineDion. Her voice is quite wide in range, and she proves that well in the album as she scales upwards on most of her tracks. The lyrics are about 90% of Fabian's own work, which is very impressive because these songs have an actual deep meaning to them. The songs are delivered with a true and sincere honesty, the vocals are pushed to their limit, although sometimes too far, and the music itself is good quality and surprisingly original, which makes "Lara Fabian", a refreshingly smart album for the music lover."