Declan

I bought this because I had wanted "Tell Me Why," and EMI has decided to block most of the youtube videos of that song, at least here in the U.S. I had seen it there before it was blocked, but the video was of such poor quality that I couldn't tell much about the quality of Declan's work, and I therefore put the song on my "to get" list. I needed the "real" version to see whether his acclaim was deserved or not. When I noticed that the song was not available on Amazon in other formats, I figured that there might end up being some kind of "rights" issue in the future, so I thought I'd better buy the cd while it was available. Another issue to consider in the case of such young artists is that, in the future, he might decide to be embarrassed at his childish voice, and try to keep the recordings from being available. You never know.The boy had an extremely powerful, beautiful voice as a ten-year-old, which was his age on that recording. "Tell Me Why" does live up to its billing, but his version of "Imagine" is probably the best example of his clarity and range. I understand that a child's voice is bound to have a certain amount of childishness, and some of the selections on this album do display that. I can't explain why I don't object to it on "Tell Me Why," but do on some others.My main general annoyance is at the over-embellishment of his voice on parts of some songs. It reminds me of why I hate country music, or most of it. The choice of songs is a little "goody goody" and "mushy," but you have to consider his audience.The most aggravating thing on the album, the number one specific annoyance, comes at 1:08 on "Amazing Grace," when he falters. I cannot imagine how they could have released the song like that. They could have either come up with an alternate take, or, since this is not "live," there is a "new" invention used by more than a few musical artists to fix such issues--audio editing software, such as Sound Forge Pro. It might take an hour or two just to splice in a few seconds of a different recording in order to eliminate the flaw, but it could be done. If I were him, I would have fired the producer. To have released the song like that was an unforgivable sin. I'm praying that he's saved a bunch of alternate takes so that he can get the song fixed sometime in the future and release a "remastered" version, because the song is otherwise almost perfect. I don't mean a re-recording: there's a good reason that prepubescent males were so valued in the world of music that, in countries such as Italy, their prepubescence was perpetuated surgically in the not so distant past.Since I haven't listened to him before, and, usually, I have to listen to something a number of times before I get a definite opinion on it, I'm reserving the right to change my opinion some in the future, or perhaps change the rating I give the album.

I came across this CD on my recommended list after purchasing Billy Gilman's albums. I listened to snippets of "Declan" on his website, and thought it would be worth the gamble.Declan is very reminiscent of a young Billy Gilman, and his voice is pure and clear without being overtrained. My favorite on the CD is "Declan's Song (Twinkle Little Star)."The only thing that kept me from rating this CD 5 stars is the rather weak interpretation of "Amazing Grace." Even though he sings it beautifully, I think the "rewritten" words do not do the original hymn any justice. Also, even though he does a nice cover of John Lennon's "Imagine," it still seems a bit age-inappropriate for a 10-year-old to be singing.Still, it's a pleasant CD to listen to and one I would recommend.

Great music, excellent for when you are driving,

If you have never listened to his songs you can't understand the passion, the power, the wonder that his voice is. "Tell Me Why" in particular is a great song, an important song, even more so because it comes from a child. I really recommend this album, meet the young man who conquered Europe with his talent and personality.If you like Declan you should also know that in march 2012 he posted new songs (written by him) on soundcloud.com/dgalbraith hopefully a new album will follow!

This is a great cd, Declan's music tugs at your heart with his pure. clean sound. Listening to this cd will put you in a state of awe as he has a voice of an angel. You will listen to these songs over and over again and smile every time. Hope you feal the same way too.

The product arrived in good condition and received quicker than I expected. This is a great CD of a child singer who is one of the best I have ever heard. A great range in voice and he is just all around great singer.

Declan is an incredible talent. One of the best singers in the world. And the fact that he did this debut album at the age of 8 is unbelievable. Wow!

I received this cd today and I love it

Very happy. Ordered early hours and still came that same morning. Could not believe it. Perfect condition too.

Different! Received in time and all sealed. Thanks

Ich habe den Sänger in YouTube gehörtund es hat mir sehr gut gefallen.Darum habe ich die CD mir auch gekauft.Ich kann es nur weiter empfehlen undhoffe das sie auch anderen gefällt.

Tout premier disque d'un tout jeune chanteur, ce CD regorge de ballades envoutantes à la rythmique constante dans les accompagnements. Cela apporte une fougue et un dynamisme pas désagréable du tout à entendre et une émotion palpable à chaques moments. D'excellents morceaux originaux cotoient de splendides reprises. Donc, les arrangements sont foudroyants, les compositions chatoyantes, l'interprétation décapante, avec souvent en complément des choeurs volubiles qui encadrent respectueusement le gamin... et le plaisir est électrisant ! Rien à sélectionner, tout à adorer ! Sont notamment inclus dans ses propositions personnelles, Robbie Williams et Michael Jackson. Mais nous arrive aussi, l'inévitable : "Imagine" de Lennon (Et quoi de plus beau qu'un chant de paix et d'amour dans la bouche d'un enfant), le traditionnel "Danny boy" qui ouvre l'album (Ou un accompagnement plus sobre aurait toutefois à mon avis été préférable, mais superbe moment tout de même !), l'autre classique "Amazing grace", pour un moment de grâce a capella et un titre "Circles in the sand", on ne peut plus réussi, qui rappel un peu James Taylors avec ses ponts de guitare folk fort apprécciable. Mais le point culminant de tout ceci, c'est l'avant derniere chanson qui nous l'offre ("Tell me why"), ou le petit garcon joue les virtuoses vocalement en donnant une énergie et une intensité proprement stupéfiante dans l'interprétation. Et cette voix de garçonnet qui me fait fondre ! Sans le moindre doute cet enregistrement a une place privilégié dans ma discothèque et même si je ne le placerais pas exactement au niveau de ceux de Billy Gilman (De toute facon, celui la pour moi est inégalable !), il le frôle de tout près dans ma considération ! C'est indéniable que cet album est dans la lignée des incontournable et fait à jamais parti des enregistrements d'enfants solistes indispensable !

Es ist alles prima ich finde seine Stimme total schön.