ANDREA BOCELLI: "Amore"

Original released on CD Universal 987 601-5

(EU 2006, January 31)

Even as "the fourth tenor" has become one of the world's most popular and renowned classical and operatic singers, Andrea Bocelli has been teasing pop fans over the years by recording brilliant duets with the likes of Celine Dion and Sarah Brightman. Who better to helm the Tuscan-born vocal giant's first pure pop album than David Foster, who has made foreign language singing all the rage by introducing the world to Josh Groban? "Amore" features songs from various musical eras, from the 1920s through the '80s, which Bocelli sings in his native Italian, Spanish, and French. He launches the collection with beautiful Spanish on the tender, soaring ballad "Amapola" and a graceful "Besame Mucho" before introducing his facility for French with the lush, film score-like "Les Feuilles Mortes," which becomes "Autumn Leaves." Foster then unleashes a successful Santana-styled duet approach on the singer, pairing him with Kenny G ("Mi Manchi"), a delightfully torchy Christina Aguilera (on "Somos Novios," which became "It's Impossible") and Stevie Wonder (who adds vocals and harmonica to "Canzoni Stonate"). Purists may balk at such tandems, but pop fans will be enchanted, and Foster handles the productions of these tracks with admirable restraint. Though he covers artists ranging from Edith Piaf to Luis Miguel and Frank Sinatra, the most engaging reworking is a sweet take on "Can't Help Falling in Love," which was recorded live at Lake Las Vegas. In typical Foster's tug-the-heartstrings fashion, the disc closes with Italian and English versions of the inspirational ballad "Because We Believe," but for the most part, this magical effort fully realizes its aim to become a trendsetter for romantic pop in the 2000s. (Jonathan Widran in AllMusic)

ANDREA BOCELLI: "Sogno"

Original released on CD Polydor 547 221-2

(UK 1999, March 30)

"Sogno" consists entirely of new compositions, much of which are deliberately skewed toward the pop audience whom Andrea Bocelli was well on his way to earning in the spring of 1999. In other words, it's an album that seems to be a progression, at least on the surface, but it's also a consolidation of the crossover audience that he wooed over the course of the late '90s. "Sogno" pulls off that trick, balancing Bocelli's opera background with modern pop and Italian music. That stance alone - finding a middle ground between classical and modern pop music - will alienate the purists (who, truth be told, haven't been all that thrilled with Bocelli in the first place), but this doesn't discredit the music. True, there are moments on "Sogno" that don't work as well as others, but overall it flows nicely and maintains a fine balance between pieces that suggest opera without actually being opera, and adult contemporary songs such as "Nel Cuore Lei" (a duet with Eros Ramazzotti) or the Celine Dion duet "The Prayer," which was originally featured on the soundtrack for "The Quest for Camelot". The most interesting moments are songs like "Come Un Fiume Tu," a collaboration with Ennio Morricone that manages to not only find a middle ground between those two extremes, but to push forward, as well. Songs like these keep "Sogno" fascinating, but it's the adult contemporary-flavored numbers that stand to bring in a larger, pop-oriented audience, who will then likely explore the rest of Bocelli's catalog. For skeptics, however, the very presence of pop-leaning numbers will confirm their doubts. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)