In fact, we haven’t seen our postman for ages. We’re wondering whether his van broke down on the way up Clucker Mountain towards the village and he got stranded. You can’t get any mobile phone signal up on Clucker Mountain. He wouldn’t have been able to call out the AA to rescue him. And, even if he had succeeded to get through, the AA would’ve probably got completely lost in the myriad of single track lanes in the rugged Welsh countryside surrounding Clucker. So, our postman is probably camping out in his van, surviving on wild berries and rainwater, and lighting fires to send out help signals to aeroplanes flying overhead.
Anyway, back to the album review. The Clucker found out about Rhydian's new album when we saw the poster hanging from the wall in the tunnel at Cardiff Central railway station (pic below).
The Clucker didn’t give up hope of getting listening to 31-year-old Rhydian’s fifth studio album and discovered a music-streaming site called Spotify on the internet. We just punched Rhydian into the searchbox and ‘Hey Presto!’, his album appeared, available to listen for free. We didn’t have to spend a ruddy penny! Incredible! We wondered how this classic crossover popera maestro makes any money if he’s just giving away his album for free on the internet?
We had a look at the Official UK charts, and his album had been number one in the classical hit parade for two weeks. And the Clucker still hadn’t yet listened to the white-haired ex-X-Factor contestant’s new album. We clicked on the play button for the first song – a cover of the 1967 chart hit Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues. This string-drenched curtain raiser – a tale of unrequited love - is bursting with super-charged raw emotion.
We checked out Rhydian’s official website while we listened to Miserere – a brooding duet with Skewen-born husky voiced power vocalist Bonnie Tyler, who is most famous for her global smash hits Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out For A Hero.
On his website, Rhydian from Sennybridge near Brecon said: "This album has an epic feel. I wanted it to have that wide screen quality you get with the best movie soundtracks. I wanted it to be mesmerising and inspiring, full of passion and exciting all your emotions. Love, romance, hope,despair, faith, and the joy of being alive are all in there."
He continued: "For a while now I've been looking for a signature tune, a song that defines me. I think there are a few contenders on this album. Nights In White Satin is one of them. I've changed the song to make it my own."
Well, this album is definitely epic. The title track is a cover of One Day Like This by a band called Elbow (strange to call your band after a section of human anatomy). Rhydian's version was the first time the Clucker had ever heard this song. We ruddy well-enjoyed this uplifting and soaring anthem.
And then there's that old gem Danny Boy.....Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling...We love this song at the Clucker, and Rhydian stirs up the emotions in his version.
Rhydian said: "My passion is classical crossover singing and I would like to make it to the top of that world! I love popera, it's fun and it's a great art form. Despite my classical training it was never my ambition to become an opera star. Don't get me wrong, I want to train technically like the best opera singers train because I regard the technique as the optimum singing art-form. I want to base my career on being flexible, and I think I've done that."
"I take my music seriously. I would like to be respected as a hard worker and a great singer and somebody who leads a clean life."
Rhydians's rousing finale to his album is one of the best known tenor arias in all opera, Nessun Dorma. This aria has been performed countless times by countless artists but the Clucker never gets fed up of it, and Rhydian belts it out.
Well, the Clucker is still crossing its fingers that we get our copy of One Day Like This if the postman makes it out of the wilderness on top of Clucker Mountain, as it's an album we'll never tire of playing on our CD player, to inspire us on our mission to go global.
One Day Like This Track Listing:
1. Nights In White Satin
2. Ave Maria
3. Miserere (feat. Bonnie Tyler)
4. One Day Like This
5. The Blower's Daughter
6. Vivo per lei (feat. Kerry Ellis)
7. Pearl Fishers duet
8. Danny Boy
9. Panis Angelicus
10. Vergin, tutto amor
11. Litanei
12. Sleep
13. Nella Fantasia
14. Suo Gan
15. Ombra mai fu
16. Nessun dorma
If you enjoyed the reading this blog, why don't you follow the Clucker on Twitter @weeklyclucker. Well, you've got nothing else to ruddy lose!
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