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The Original Sissel Album

J. Hougaard | S. Jordan, UT USA | 06/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was her debut album, actually released in 1986 when she was just starting her career as a teenager. This immediately because very popular in Norway, and any visitor to Norway who wanted "ekte" (real) Norwegian songs/culture and folktunes.

Her style has since matured some, but her voice was still as beautiful then, and I still think this is one of my most favorite Sissel albums."

Sissel's splendid Scandinavian debut

dooby | 04/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's good to see that her debut album is available at a relatively affordable price. Granted it is more than 20 years old but it is high time that her back-catalogue is finally made available in America. Sadly her other Nordic albums are all "Imports" and cost twice as much. The album offered here is the Swedish edition which differs slightly from the Danish/Norwegian version. It contains the Norwegian as opposed to Swedish versions of "Kjaerlighet" (Love), "Froet" (Bette Midler's Rose) and "Eg Ser" (I See). It also includes the songs, "Tenn Et Lys" (Strike a Light) and "Jeg Trenger Deg" (I Needed You - Anne Murray's You Needed Me) not found in other editions but omits "Varvise", her duet with the Danish singer-songwriter Sebastien, as well as the Swedish song, "Har En Drom". The result is that no Swedish songs are present here. The only song in English is Gershwin's "Summertime" making this an almost entirely Norwegian album, targeted ironically at the Swedish market. One thing I like about her English recordings is that unlike many other international singers, she has a neutral, faintly mid-atlantic accent which doesn't distract you from the music in the least. This first album has a fairly strong middle-of-the-road Pop bias, although there is the occasional sprinkling of folk music. Having heard both the Swedish and Norwegian editions I have to say that this is the one to get if you are forced to make a choice.



Recorded when she was just 17, it was a very successful beginning to what has deservedly become a very successful music career. Even then the crystalline purity of her voice was evident as was the power behind it. Over the years, her voice has changed quite noticeably but it has if anything simply added to the beauty of sound. Compare her first renditions of "Kjaerlighet" (Love) and the patriotic hymn "O Vestland, Vestland", (Vestland refers to the majestic western coastal region of Norway, the land of Fjells and Fjords) found on this album and her later performances of them from her 2001 album "In Symphony" - the voice has matured, becoming deeper, more burnished, but still retaining the purity and power.



It's nice to see that despite the "lower" price and the fact that this is a 20 year old recording well into its umpteenth reissue, it still comes with the original liner notes and complete lyrics. However this being an "Import", everything is in Norwegian, including Sissel's introductory note.



P.S. Pardon the mis-spellings and anglicization of Norwegian words but Amazon does not seem to accept the Norwegian character set."