LeAnn Rimes - Unchained Melody: The Early Years

This album consists of material recorded prior to Rimes's best-selling 1996 national debut, Blue. The program includes such time-tested staples of Rimes's live show as "Cowboy's Sweetheart," "I Will Always Love You," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and "Unchained Melody." As amazing as it is to hear a voice this powerful and polished coming from a 15-year-old girl in 1997, it's even more amazing to consider that she was only 10 or 11 when most of these recordings were done. What's not so amazing are the five contemporary country numbers, which point to the problem Rimes continues to face in finding new material worthy of her once-in-a-generation vocal abilities. --Bill Holdship Amazon.com

River of Music

LeAnn Rimes has been always on the river of music. She hasn't made bed music, or at least I haven't heard her sing bad music. This album is great as other albums too. LeAnn Rimes has such a good voice. She sings very purely "I Will Always Love You". Her skills are great and she does also "Yesterday" (Yes, this is The Beatles song) very purely. The album gives great country music too. When I let my brother hear "(I Want to Be a) Cowboy's Sweetheart, she instantly asked me to record that for him. Well, I wanted to buy this album, it is so good. I don't like so much the songs "River of Love" and "Broken Wing" but rest of the stuff are very good. Especially "Sure Thing" is a great song. LeAnn Rimes is maybe the best country artist in the world, at least I like her the best.
Stars: Cowboy's Sweetheart, Sure Thing, Unchained Melody April 6, 2006

Good songs and such a pure voice!

She's very young here but her voice is clear as a bell.
A friend of ours plays harmonica on one of the cuts! Rest in peace, Ray Carl. March 1, 2006

Much better than "Inspirational Songs" but.....

.....this collection of done-to-death songs is little more than an attempt to cash in on LeAnn's fame. Unless you're a hardcore LeAnn fan, this CD is really a waste of time and money. Her voice, with its tremendous range and potential, is charming on "I Will Always Love You" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" but the more mature "Blue" is still her best recording to date. August 25, 2004

Suzie's favorites

I love this cd very very much when I listened to it on my cd player. All the songs on this cd goes way back in 50's and 60's
that has the Beatles song "Yesterday", Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You", The Righteous Brothers song "Unchained Melody", and a Elvis Presley song "Blue Moon Of Kentucky". I think LeAnn did that song "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" very well because she puts her mind into the memory of Elvis so much so so much watching how she shines her whole charisma stands out very well it really shines too so I give 10 stars of working her butt off doing that song that's where she let opera stands out from her heart when she sings that song-she's excellent very excellent. I am a big Elvis Presley fan I do know some the rest of his songs but not that much. I know LeAnn did one of the songs from Elvis Presley she sang with Chris Izaak however you spell his last name the song is called "Devil In Disguise" they did song really really great that had a lot of charisma I give them both 10 stars. I really recommend this cd to everybody out there who are a big LeAnn Rimes fan understanding this cd I bet all the oldest adults who were raised through the 50's and 60's would love this cd. March 26, 2003

Incredible for one so young

LeAnn was about 11 when these recordings were made, so she was still learning her craft. Even so, this is a fascinating collection that showcases her wonderful voice. Of the songs, there are five oldies, three of which are so well known that it is difficult to imagine that there is any adult in Britain or America who has not heard them countless times.

I will always love you is Dolly Parton's classic song that eventually became Whitney Houston's biggest hit ever. Yesterday is the Beatles song that has been covered more times than any other pop song. Unchained melody was originally a hit for several singers in the fifties, but is perhaps most closely identified with the Righteous brothers. They had a hit with it in the sixties but an even bigger hit in 1990 when it was featured in the Ghost movie soundtrack. Blue moon of Kentucky is less famous than those three, but this Bill Monroe classic has been covered many times, including by Elvis Presley. The oldest song, I wanna be a cowboy's sweetheart, on which LeAnn demonstrates her skills as a yodeller, was a million-seller for Patsy Montana in the thirties.

LeAnn stamps her identity on all those oldies, but also shows her skills on contemporary material, including Share my love, a song she co-wrote. To my ears, this is a wonderful album. Of course, it's not quite up to the standard of her official debut album, but anybody who enjoys that may be surprised at just how good this is. March 25, 2003

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