At Sea
Alli Rogers
May 8, 2007
Alli Rogers
May 8, 2007
Alli Rogers released two full-lengths and an EP before. It is time for a live album now. In our time following Alli Rogers we discovered her to be an excellent songwriter and lyricist with a golden voice and a pure heart. I am a fan personally and due to living half a world away I have not yet been able to see her perform live. So I was really excited about this album. I was curious as to how good she is as a performer. With a good collection of songs from her previous albums, including a few new songs and a Coldplay cover, this album has 10 strong songs that can speak to people’s hearts. I’ll be focusing on the performing more than the songs themselves as I reviewed them on their respective albums.
Liar’s Dream
It’s not the song I had expected in a live set, but from the moment Alli started this song, I knew that she was right and I was wrong. This song works remarkably well live and is a good choice for an opener. Alli’s vocals are just as crystal clear as they are on the CDs and now I hear it in a live version, you can hear the emotion and devotion to the music even better.
Tanzania
Tanzania already was one of my favorite tracks on “The Day Of Small Things” so this is a nice treat for me. The intro of this song starts it off just right. And now that I heard the live version I will probably go back to this song instead of the album version, cause it is so much better. And this means a lot because the album version was already great. The passion and emotion that she puts in this song just breathes more and more life in it. Alli, would you please play this song when I see you live.
If I Ever
And if I wasn’t spoiled enough with Tanzania, Alli Rogers continues with my favorite from her debut album, If I Ever. This song really moved me on the album, and though the first two songs already convinced me, now I am completely sold that Alli Rogers is a great performer too. I’m sure there will be people who think this song is a little too sweet or that it’s nothing special, but I would like to whole-heartedly disagree. Yes, it’s a sweet song, but it’s so pure and genuine, and you can hear that Alli Rogers believes in the song. And so do I. If a song can make me feel emotional it means that I think the song is really really really good. And If I Ever easily makes that category.
For The Morning
In contrary to the album version, the live version is guitar-driven. I can still make the connection with Kendall Payne in the song. And still, like with the album version, I miss that little bit extra to completely connect with it. Alli performs it nicely and her voice probably makes any song sound beautiful, but I think For The Morning just won’t be my favorite Alli Rogers song.
At Sea
Then we get to hear a new song, At Sea, that also lend its name for the album title. And oh my goodness, what a beautiful song. It has a nice tempo, a little faster than most Alli Rogers songs and that pace is just perfect for the song. “Voices are calling/I don’t know who/Cause the only one that I hear/Is you”. The subtle, gentle guitar accompanying her vocals gives this song the exact right amount of folky-ness.
Eden
Eden, the wonderful title track of Alli’s debut album is brought to a whole new level in this live version, recorded in a church in Houston, TX. The echo from the room actually benefits the song. Gives it a bigger, richer, maybe even more mystical sound. The right song in the right atmosphere.
Nothing To Cry About
This fragile song has every ability to be a great live song. The song has a lullaby-feel and Alli Rogers’ emotion-filled vocals present this perfectly. This song will always be one of the songs that I consider a typical Alli Rogers song. And trust me, a typical Alli Rogers song is a good song.
New Today
Is it christmas? Cause we get another present, another new song, New Today. Vocally this track is amazingly strong. Lyrically it’s not my favorite song by Alli Rogers, but vocally it might just be. Trust me, this girl can sing.
Hope
Hope was a great song on “The Day Of Small Things”. And it is a great song on “At Sea”. If you thought that her studio albums were good, I urge you to listen to her live album, as it displays how good this young lady actually is.
Till Kingdom Come
It’s always ambitious to cover a song by a band that is as popular as Coldplay is. But Alli Rogers did. And her version of Till Kingdom Come is wonderful. It’s quite different from Coldplay’s version. I listened to Coldplay’s live version of this song and even though I really like Coldplay live, in particular this song (not in the last place because they dedicated it to one my heroes, Johnny Cash several times), I might even like Alli’s version better. You know what might be even better? A duet by Alli & Coldplay, wouldn’t that be special. Until then we will have to stick with the great song by Coldplay and the magnificent cover by Alli Rogers!
Alli Rogers had already established herself as one of the most promising rising stars in singer/songwriter land. What I couldn’t judge before is how good of a live performer she is. On this amazing live album she proved that she can do that extra thing to make her songs lift up to a higher level when played and sung live. Her vocals sound even better than on the CD and her conviction, devotion and emotion shines through beautifully. This is honest and true, this is music, the way music is meant to be.
Liar’s Dream
It’s not the song I had expected in a live set, but from the moment Alli started this song, I knew that she was right and I was wrong. This song works remarkably well live and is a good choice for an opener. Alli’s vocals are just as crystal clear as they are on the CDs and now I hear it in a live version, you can hear the emotion and devotion to the music even better.
Tanzania
Tanzania already was one of my favorite tracks on “The Day Of Small Things” so this is a nice treat for me. The intro of this song starts it off just right. And now that I heard the live version I will probably go back to this song instead of the album version, cause it is so much better. And this means a lot because the album version was already great. The passion and emotion that she puts in this song just breathes more and more life in it. Alli, would you please play this song when I see you live.
If I Ever
And if I wasn’t spoiled enough with Tanzania, Alli Rogers continues with my favorite from her debut album, If I Ever. This song really moved me on the album, and though the first two songs already convinced me, now I am completely sold that Alli Rogers is a great performer too. I’m sure there will be people who think this song is a little too sweet or that it’s nothing special, but I would like to whole-heartedly disagree. Yes, it’s a sweet song, but it’s so pure and genuine, and you can hear that Alli Rogers believes in the song. And so do I. If a song can make me feel emotional it means that I think the song is really really really good. And If I Ever easily makes that category.
For The Morning
In contrary to the album version, the live version is guitar-driven. I can still make the connection with Kendall Payne in the song. And still, like with the album version, I miss that little bit extra to completely connect with it. Alli performs it nicely and her voice probably makes any song sound beautiful, but I think For The Morning just won’t be my favorite Alli Rogers song.
At Sea
Then we get to hear a new song, At Sea, that also lend its name for the album title. And oh my goodness, what a beautiful song. It has a nice tempo, a little faster than most Alli Rogers songs and that pace is just perfect for the song. “Voices are calling/I don’t know who/Cause the only one that I hear/Is you”. The subtle, gentle guitar accompanying her vocals gives this song the exact right amount of folky-ness.
Eden
Eden, the wonderful title track of Alli’s debut album is brought to a whole new level in this live version, recorded in a church in Houston, TX. The echo from the room actually benefits the song. Gives it a bigger, richer, maybe even more mystical sound. The right song in the right atmosphere.
Nothing To Cry About
This fragile song has every ability to be a great live song. The song has a lullaby-feel and Alli Rogers’ emotion-filled vocals present this perfectly. This song will always be one of the songs that I consider a typical Alli Rogers song. And trust me, a typical Alli Rogers song is a good song.
New Today
Is it christmas? Cause we get another present, another new song, New Today. Vocally this track is amazingly strong. Lyrically it’s not my favorite song by Alli Rogers, but vocally it might just be. Trust me, this girl can sing.
Hope
Hope was a great song on “The Day Of Small Things”. And it is a great song on “At Sea”. If you thought that her studio albums were good, I urge you to listen to her live album, as it displays how good this young lady actually is.
Till Kingdom Come
It’s always ambitious to cover a song by a band that is as popular as Coldplay is. But Alli Rogers did. And her version of Till Kingdom Come is wonderful. It’s quite different from Coldplay’s version. I listened to Coldplay’s live version of this song and even though I really like Coldplay live, in particular this song (not in the last place because they dedicated it to one my heroes, Johnny Cash several times), I might even like Alli’s version better. You know what might be even better? A duet by Alli & Coldplay, wouldn’t that be special. Until then we will have to stick with the great song by Coldplay and the magnificent cover by Alli Rogers!
Alli Rogers had already established herself as one of the most promising rising stars in singer/songwriter land. What I couldn’t judge before is how good of a live performer she is. On this amazing live album she proved that she can do that extra thing to make her songs lift up to a higher level when played and sung live. Her vocals sound even better than on the CD and her conviction, devotion and emotion shines through beautifully. This is honest and true, this is music, the way music is meant to be.
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