Decca
2004
My Heart
About This Album
Sissel's My Heart can be summed up in a single word -- pretty. Everything about the disc is pretty. The cover is pretty, the title is pretty, the songs are pretty, it all sounds pretty, and even Sissel herself is, well, pretty. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as pretty music does have a place in this world; however, this style has a tendency to be pretty saccharine, pretty dull, and pretty boring. My Heart is not as bad as that thanks to expert collaborators like Ettore Stratta and Richard Marx, but it rarely aspires to be more than just pretty music. Vocally capable, Sissel has a beautiful and haunting tone that can entrance a listener and she can successfully navigate between light operatic songs and contemporary pop much like Sarah Brightman or Josh Groban. But what distinguishes those artists from Sissel is their selection of more interesting and varied material. While Brightman and Groban have branched out by experimenting with different genres or writing their own songs, Sissel remains entrenched in familiar classics like Schubert's Ave Maria or treacly ballads like Jon Lord's "Wait a While." Oddly enough, Sissel even covers hits by Brightman ("Pie Jesu") and Groban ("You Raise Me Up"), as if trying to catch up with the competition.
Track List (try tracks 3,5,6,8,10,11 and 13)

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