Search - Barbara Higbie :: Signs of Life

Some nice piano parts

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 02/26/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Released in 1990, this is Barbara Higbie's first solo album and the first time she is a lead singer. It is 36 minutes long.



The sound quality of this CD is surprisingly flat, especially for a Windham Hill production. Many CD's in the late eighties and early nineties did have mediocre sound quality, with limite dynamic range. But, Windham Hill CD's always sounded great and bright. That is one of the reasons for the labels success, they offered a new sound, taking all of the advantages of digtial sound. So, it makes we wonder if the flat sound was intentional. It was a popular style in 1990.



There is also a digital glitch at the beginning of Love Never Dies. I don't know if this is just on my copy, or is exists on all. It sounds more like an editing error than a CD flaw. (I did have some older CD's that did flaws. Also the original players used to have more problems with digital flaws, but todays players sort of average them out.)



Barbara Higbie started out playing new age jazz, and then moved on to other styles. Here, she is your basic female pop singer with many influences.



Most of the time, she reminds me of Linda Thompson and other British singers. However there are when she tries other things. In Wishing Well, she sounds like Toni Childs and in The Safest Place, she sounds like she is trying to do the pop jazz like Sade.



Higbie has a nice voice, but a limited range. Unfortunately, it drones in some parts, like on the last few songs.



The music is interesting in parts. Higbie is a great piano player and gives herself some nice accompaniment. She has a lot of new age guest musicians backing her up. But, for the most part, the background music is slightly muted and flat. She doesn't have the brightness or energy of someone like Tori Amos or Fiona Apple.



I was a really big fan of Higbie's new age music. I remember being excited when this CD came out, but reading a review that complained about the Higbie's lack of depth in vocals. Without hearing the CD, I thought that the reviewer had to be crazy, and that this would a lively and wonderful CD. Well, there are some nice songs on it, but even at only 36 minutes it does begin to drag near the end."