Come Away With Me

Very pleasant listening.

This is a must have album, like other friend mentioned it is a very pleasant listening. However, I am disappointed buying it in India. Importers only made it available in 125g album for the price of a 200g. Buy this in 200g and you will really enjoy it. Stay away buying it at the current listed price. 200g in US costs about $23-30 vs 125g costs $10-15 new.Album is 5 out of 5. Rating of 3 is given for the sale.

This is a deep rich lush performance and the recording captures all the vibrant elements, not just the vocals at the expense of other instruments. The warmth of Norah Jones voice clearly shines through but the recording is measured and balanced, yet somehow sound s just too perfect.The recording captures the measured paced performance of the artists in detail. It is clear why this recording is regarded as a “demo” recording for any collection and Hi-Fi. Yet I cannot feel uncomfortable about elements of this recording. It is almost too perfect , rich warm detailed and leaves me feeling that it is slightly unnatural and part of me wonders if elements of this recording have been auto tuned? It’s almost like over processed food, just too good to be true. . I played this recording either side of a 1950’s Miles Davies recording which is free from most modern artifice and I’m just unsure how natural this recording is?I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – Excellent, open, transparent and very detailed • Channel separation – very good, clear left and right • Channel balance – an excellent static mix. Instruments and performers can be clearly located and placed on the stage • Sound Stage – reasonably wide but better depth and height especially when vocals, piano and double bass • Distortion – non audible • Compression – there is a lot of detail and huge dynamic range, no frequency limitation is audible. The instruments and vocals soar however there is something about this recording that makes me uneasy, especially regarding the vocals, they seem almost unreal in their richness • Atmosphere – intimate, close, club like a sultry bar • Bass – low frequencies – clear and very well defined, the kick drum is clearly audible. The bass guitar has a well defined tone and it is good to hear the strings. This is not a bass rich recording but what there is is well measured, warm and detailed. • Treble – high frequencies – the guitars have good tone and detail. The cymbals are a tad variable sometimes it is possible to hear them being struck on other occasions they a re “soft” in the mix. The decay on the piano is both realistic and charming, creating a real feeling of intimacy, very much like a cabaret performance • Vocals – excellent intimate warm, breathy very “cabaret”. The recording has excellent range and dynamics. Unusually other instruments are not sacrificed to capture the vocal performanceAs a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse.Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.

I had only recently heard of NJ and heard her sing on Youtube. Also noted the number of views and thought that this young lady must be something special, Alas, no. Having forked out for the CD, I was determined to enjoy it but apart from the couple of hits, the rest of the album is dirge like and I found it difficult to remember the songs as she seems to have the knack of making them all sound the same. Her voice can be sensual but also a bit grating and she tends to sing within a limited vocal range. It could be the choice of material on this album is to blame and I would hope that she is capable of much better. Disappointing really and I would not be too upset if my copy went missing. I bought Julie London and Eva Cassidy albums at the same time and listen to them constantly. Sometimes the performance of an artist will grow on one through time but this is not happening. The backings are tasteful and appropriate but that is not why I purchased this album.Update:- Having listened to for a couple of weeks, this CD has started to grow on me a bit, but a bit more variety of content would still help and I am sure she has a voice capable of much more. I have to be in the right mood to listen but that can apply to any music. Up to 4 star now!!

I new it was second hand but it was described as V good condition.....it was not unless having big deep scratches is classed as VGWas sorted By music magpie very well refund given but no CD hey ho will try again

This album, which is the first by Norah Jones, is a good easy listening/pop/jazz(ish) album. If you like songs that are played on easy listening radio stations, you'll like this album. Come Away With Me (which won a Grammy for best song), and Don't Know Why are particularly strong, feeling like they were standards of the genre, and had been around year, when they were first released.So all in all I would recommend. The more famous songs might sound like have been overplayed on radio, lifts, and phone "hold music", but it hasn't, and I think people will honestly enjoy it.

Nora Jones seems to have known nothing but success in her album recording to date. All 5, more or less have been smash hits all over the world. Clearly, collectively, they have hit the spot with fans and critics alike. This is her first album, as all of her first three albums – it went to no 1.It’s strange that her ‘singles’ success has been pretty non - existent. She has topped the charts, but only in Japan! In the UK, her best effort was ‘Sunrise’ which got no higher than 30 here. In America it’s much the same story?This would indicate that her albums are of a very high overall standard, that she produces very few exceptional songs, but a lot of songs of a reasonably high calibre – it is an oddity for sure?I love her voice and this album is very nice to listen to … but really outstanding or truly exceptional – no not for me. In fact, to be honest, I’m a little confused as to how her albums have sold so well – but that’s just me, and the majority clearly love her , so I’m clearly in the minority!