Prayer

It is very hard for me to imagine how anyone on this Earth could have such a beautiful voice with such fantastic expression as Hayley has matured and evolved so wonderfully since "Walking in the Air." Hayley is the best vocalist in the world today. The album "Prayer" is truly great and so nice on the ears. It has new material for Hayley which she performs beautifully. A few of the songs I do not like, such as Jekyll, but that does not reflect on Hayley's singing of them and she still performs them with grace and beauty. I can only say that you have to experience this album for yourself to appreciate it. I don't think anyone can describe it better than "Beautiful." It has the quality that when you listen, it feels like she is singing just for/to you - which is truly Hayley's style and desire.A note of comment, I would like to see Hayley come out with an Album of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's music particularly from Phantom.Cordially and best regards,Arthur

Probably one of Hayley's best albums (even if it is a compilation)! This CD combines many of Hayley's various styles and talents (including a wee bit of her songwriting) into one succinct album. A GREAT introduction to Hayley if you're a new fan. I'd reccomend it to anyone.

Haley Westenra is one of the best singers in the world today. I want all of her CD's!

Great CD

I just love her voice and the music, she sings like an angel, I could go on all day with her music. it calms me down

While I would agree with other reviewers about the quality of Hayley's voice and musical interpretation, I find her reluctance to create completely new musical titles on a CD a big turn-off. There is no way I would buy something yet again that is a rehash of much she has done previously. And I don't buy single MP3's, as I prefer the CD's.All in all I think this release is way overpriced if the new music is divided into the cost of the CD. This seems to be an occupational hazard of many singing artists. Either they, or their managers, don't have enough interest in those who have bought previous titles, and are betting that there will be enough newcomers to be able to dilute the CD with what was on previous ones. As for the newcomers, why wouldn't they be just as likely to buy what she has produced previously.In Haley's case I believe she and her managers are short-changing what her maturing talent is capable of. Certainly the world of music is sufficiently broad that she would be able to select from it those new songs (for her repertoire) that she would enjoy singing and her listeners would like to hear. If her managers are so risk averse that they don't want to consider new titles, perhaps she should look elsewhere for new managers.I am probably wasting my time with these criticisms, since I did previously make the same ones on her website, but if enough previous customers of her music agree perhaps the bottom line will create the needed change for a NEW CD that has NEW music on it.

If you already have other Hayley albums this one is still worth having as it has lots of tracks on it that were only previously available on film soundtracks and other difficult to obtain albums or singles.If you have no Hayley albums then this is a perfect place to start.Some and I mean only some of her most beautiful pieces are on this album."Listen to the Wind" alone is worth the sticker price.Her voice is hauntingly beautiful on this album as it is in live performance for those lucky enough to have been to one of Hayley's concerts.Prepare to be come addicted to one of the most beautiful voices in the world.

I absolutely love this album! It provides a compilation of music from the time her original album "Pure" was released all the way up to her recent tour with Celtic Woman this year, all with music that had not been released on a Hayley-only album. An absolute must have for Hayley fans!! Thanks CD-Japan as well for the speedy shipping. While there was a 5 to 8 week wait with Amazon. com, I was able to get the album for only $3 more through CDJapan!!

It is the album of Japanese unique planning of Hayley who can say to be an original album, too.Even if it says Japanese unique planning, pop in Japan isn't sung but the work from the movie which was screened in Europe is a center mainly.To listen to 14 music all songs of this album, the track must be pulled out from equal to or more than 10 albums.Because it can listen with only one sheet of these albums, it is very valuable.5 pieces of 4 pieces of music in 14 pieces of music can listen more only with this album.Hayley's fan attempt to listen by all means.Mainly, because the interest which was sung at the time from 19 years old to 20 years old is obtained, the singing ability or the feeling of the transparency of the voice is really wonderful." Tonight (Balcony Scene) " which is 1 piece of music from " specifically WEST SIDE STORY " is sung by the duet with Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo.I think that two pieces of youthful and handsome beautiful song are the song which is the best even if it is while I listen so far.It is passing for 10 years from the sale but it is never fading one.

This album basically has lots of tracks recorded by Westenra that are otherwise scattered all over the place. To put this into perspective, if you want to buy all of these tracks without buying this album, you will have to buy up to twelve albums to make up the tracklisting. You see how awesome this album is now?So what are these tracks exactly? They are several projects that Westenra has contributed to over the years - mostly film and TV soundtracks, but there are also tracks from her other albums such as 'Prayer', 'May It Be' and 'Summer Rain', whilst the likes of 'Wiegenlied', 'Bridal Ballad' and 'You Are Water' could only previously be found on certain editions of her previous albums. The rest of the tracks were a matter of buying individual soundtracks or another artist's album (such as 'The Last Rose of Summer' with Celtic Woman and 'There's A Sparkle In Your Eyes' with Helmut Lotti).Considering that the material of this album is coming from left, right and centre, how does it stand as an album with apparently no cohesive plan or theme? Surprisingly well. The pitfall I have with the majority of Westenra's albums is that they tend to sound like one song from start to finish, with all the same people writing and arranging throughout, but the diversity that this album has gives it a leg up. Each new song is refreshing and distinctive, and celebrates a variety of styles. When else will Westenra have esteemed film composers such as James Horner and Debbie Wiseman writing music for her?There are only a few songs that I really skip here. The songs that she has selected from her albums would have been my choices exactly. 'Prayer' and 'Summer Rain' are fantastic songs. Whilst I'd normally weep when I see 'The Last Rose of Summer' on a crossover album, the duet with Maev from Celtic Woman is more than welcome - I have never heard it sung so beautifully. The real treats of this album, however, are the film soundtrack songs. 'Listen to the Wind' from 'The New World' soundtrack composed by James Horner, is most often a fan favourite; it's very similar in style to Enya's 'May It Be'. Debbie Wiseman's compositions, 'Jekyll' and 'Flood' are dark and haunting, and like she has done with her most recent soundtrack Lesbian Vampire Killers, she has used Westenra as a vocalise. There's a forgettable Disney track at mid-album point 'Here Beside Me' from Mulan 2, it's not that it's bad, it's just that it wouldn't be missed if it wasn't there.Then we have our Shakespearean tracks: 'Bridal Ballad' from 'The Merchant in Venice' and 'I'm Kissing You' from 'Romeo and Juliet'. 'Bridal Ballad' is a stunning vocal piece, borrowing from Edgar Allen Poe's poetry for the lyrics, but it is 'I'm Kissing You' that takes the prize as my favourite song from the album. It's easy to miss this song as the gem that it is, as it can sound quite bland to somebody who is hearing rather than listening, but the chorus is beautifully melodic and the lyrics heart-warmingly romantic.The only mistakes on this album are 'Tonight' from 'West End Story', a duet with Vittorio Grigolo and 'There's A Sparkle In Your Eyes' with Helmut Lotti. To the first, I'm of opinion that it was a mistake for Westenra to be in a cast recording of West End Story, especially as Maria, in the first place. She simply doesn't have the voice or expression for it. Westenra can do many things with her voice - musicals are not one of them. She makes a flat and dull Maria, and Grigolo is not much better as Tony. I cannot really comment on the Lotti duet other than I dislike it, because I simply do not like the sound of swing or jazz, or voices like Lotti's. These two tracks are next to each other on the album, so a little double skip and I can pretend that they don't exist. Fine by me.Considering the nature of this album, it is somewhat surprising how it all melds together so beautifully, and how I came to like the majority of the album despite its cut and paste structure. This cements the idea in me that diversity can only be a good thing, and if another expensive import from Japan like this comes along again, I will definitely fork out, because as it turns out, I like this album so much I think it rivals my love for Westenra's first international album 'Pure'.

To listen to beautiful artist

All good

as with all of Hayley`s albums this is another outstanding collection of great songs sung to perfection. I think I have everything she has recorded now and get extreme pleasure from playing them over and over again without ever getting tired of her angelic voice. Well done Hayley.