Lessons To Be Learned

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk review
It's hard to imagine someone even younger than 19-year-old Laura Marling making a splash on the music scene, but 16-year-old Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi is doing a pretty good job. Having smashed apart stereotypes of innocence with her killer single "(There's Nothing) Sweet About Me", Cilmi (pronounced "Chill Me") now offers a debut that's not only lyrically and emotionally mature, but boasts the kind of potent musical content guaranteed to propel you towards the dancefloor. Lessons To Be Learned is a diverse bag. Produced by Xenomania (Girls Aloud, Sugababes) it's seemingly influenced by everyone from Stevie Wonder and the Kings of Leon, though it'll inevitably draw the most comparisons to Amy Winehouse, thanks to Cilmi's soaring vocals, the record's modern-Motown feel and Xenomania's bright, punchy production. Opener "Save The Lies", though, is nothing like Winehouse--a big, in-your-face disco-stomper with a massive irrefutable chorus. The record drops from there into sultry soul territory with tracks like "Sanctuary", "Einstein", and "Safer", and more upbeat fare such as the electronic "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now", rocky tracks like "Messy" and the bluesy "Cigarettes And Lies". These stylistic diversions set Cilmi apart from the rest of the 'new soul' brigade, and help give her a voice of her own.--Danny McKenna

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Customer reviews

review by: "Telling it as it is" date: 2008-07-18 rating:
A great voice
She has a great voice and when she does the jazzy stuff it's just right. Pity about the pop songs, they don't play to her strength. Given her age I think this young Australian is heading for big things. Stick to the jazzy stuff though. The single Sweet About Me is brilliant and really shows off the different tonal values of her voice. Album cover is terrible tough - lazy record company design. She needs to establish both a musical style (album's all over the place) and an identity. T-shirt and jeans puts her in a big pool of female singers.
A really good album but a few weak songs. She needs a better producer. Get it right and the next album will go gold.

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review by: netface date: 2008-07-12 rating:
Slightly overrated
I downloaded this album on the strength of Sweet about me which is undoubtedly a tremendous song. Gabrielle Climi has got a superb voice for sure but unfortunately the rest of the songwriting does not come close to the level of Sweet about me. All in all a professional well-produced and sung album but nothing to get excited about.

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review by: date: 2008-07-08 rating:
Nothing sweet about this albumn
I bought this albumn because I liked the 'nothing sweet about me' song, I wish I had just downloaded that song. The rest of the albumn sounds like a dodgy anastasia albumn. No other quality songs on the albumn.

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review by: date: 2008-06-23 rating:
Overhyped
There is no doubting that this girl has a very unique and likeable voice. But the material on this album does not do this justice, with much of it being quite dull, drab and samey. Hopefully with the next album, she'll get a chance to really shine.


review by: date: 2008-06-05 rating:
Great voice, too much pop gloss- strip it down next time!
Well the title pretty much sums it up. As a serious music fan, this cd was a bit of a disappointment. The people who produced this are somehow connected to Girls Aloud, Sugababes etc, so perhaps I should have taken that as a sign of what to expect. Cilmi clearly has a voice beyond her years, but far too much of this cd is full of sugary ballads and poppy radio-friendly tunes. I saw an acoustic session online with her and it was great, so perhaps they ought to give her her own band and leave her alone rather than manufacture her into some pop starlet. I really do like a couple of tracks (Sweet About Me, Sanctuary, Cigarettes) but hamfisted wailing such as the first track and Terrifying ruin it for me. When you read that this girl was in a Led Zeppelin covers band, you start to wish they'd left her there and recorded that instead of this (largely) slushy pop twaddle. The timing of this cd is also unfortunate; record companies are churning out big voiced white girl "soul singers" (note inverted commas) so fast that it's easy to become jaded. Cilmi (along with numerous others) has been compared to Amy Winehouse, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear- the more Amy copies thrown at us by record companies, the more obvious it becomes that there's no-one that can touch her. Sorry- better luck next time for Gabriella Cilmi!

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