Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Charlotte Church is about to encounter the ugly reality that faces nearly all child prodigies at some point: she has to grow up. 15 is an awkward age for anyone, and changing vocal chords is not always conducive to the most pleasant of sounds. Evidence: much of this album. Some prodigies survive puberty. After all, Joshua Bell is still going strong, and Franz Schubert managed to get over his childhood choirboy stardom to produce some pretty decent music. Ms. Church wants us to begin taking her seriously, not just as a freakish little girl who can sing really well, but as a mature, accomplished future...opera singer? pop star? brassy Broadway belter? Hmm...it would seem, from the repertoire she has chosen, that she can't decide which one she wants to be. The odd assortment of songs thrown together here smacks of commericialism and overexploitation, of someone trying to squeeze the most out of her 15 minutes. Hence, the bizarre combination of songs on this album, which attempts to cover all of these categories, with a little bit of Celtic-chic thrown in to remind us that yes, she is still in touch with her roots. Ms. Church ostensibly wants to show us that she can do it all, when in reality, she can't. And that is no tragedy. Would you really like to hear a Kathleen Battle dance album or Britney Spears doing Madame Butterfly? Let's hope not. The problem, as many people have noted, is that she's just not ready to sing most of these songs. Most female opera singers do not hit their prime until 35 or after. Ms. Church still has 20 years to go before she can produce a passably good "Habanera". Or at least, let's hope she will, so that we can forget the tripe that's on this record. Maybe by then she will have decided what genre she wants to sing, and her voice will have held up well enough to sing it.