Patricia Kaas - Tour de Charme

The best and original European female singer in the Nineties

The strong presence and magnetic charisma of that outstanding vocalist can be felt even by the most candid listener. Gifted with a wide frequency voice , she may be well displace for several rhythms and musical territories with any problem . Every track is new experience .
From Hotel Normand for instance to Kennedy Rose or the outstanding theme Mademoiselle chante le blues to Entrer dans la lumiere are formidable and eloquent performed.
I guess to assist to one of her live performances must be simply terrific and hallucinating .
Buy this album and will obtain much more than the simple sum of the tracks .
December 19, 2004

Patricia, je te dis tu es belle. Et l'album aussi

There's more nightclub torch ballads here and less blues than on Scene De Vie, and there are times when her voice does match Bonnie Tyler's for soulful intensity, if not roughness. Tour De Charme begins with the music-box like "Y'Avait Tant D'Etoiles" before going into the piano torch ballad "A Saint Lunaire", which is a special place "because happiness is fragile/pull a thread and it's undone."

The moody "Je Retiens Mon Souffle" has shadings of an 80's ballad, prominent piano mixed with some bossa nova. One of the three standout tracks here.

A bluesy sax begins Patricia's comforting ode to the downtrodden and unlucky, "Ceux Qui N'Ont Rien" which has a steady drum and at times, an electric guitar. She is backed on the chorus by a brass section and the intensity of her voice is supported by backing vocalist: "Let me sing/for those who have nothing/let me think/that there is still someone/who tries to give something good." This line really caught my attention, yes, another theme to this reviewer: "When you've seen your life slip by/and you've felt guilty all this time/you wonder if it wouldn't be better/being someone else."

Then comes the standout track, "Il Me Dit Que Je Suis Belle", which is an 80's ballad in the manner of Heart, John Waite or Alias with the electric guitars, synths and backbeat, with a Mutt Lange-like sheen. Her voice really wails a storm in the climactic end, awash with electric guitars and keyboards. She's dreaming of her ideal man, but sadly, that's where he is: in her dreams. Key line: "But the nights are my churches/and in my dreams I believe."

She then covers Maxi Priest's "Shape In My Heart", originally on his Bonafide album, done in her torch ballad style with accompanying piano. Her voice is just as resonant in English, as it is in French. Not bad.

"La Liberte" is a song on the homeless, refugees from Gabon for example, whose song is "Freedom/you won't find it next door/Freedom/it's at the end of the world."

Another sad torch ballad, "Fatiguee D'Attendre", of an emotionally-killing silence, and how to break the ice. The "tired of waiting" refers to tender words never spoken.

Her voice takes on a deep timbre in "Jojo", where the title character is "the king of the bars" who's drinking to forget someone, but the chanteuse knows something that will allow him to remember, not that he'd care.

Then comes her cover of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose," which is done in the same slow tempo as Piaf or even Audrey Hepburn's rendition in Sabrina. A nice touch is added with the piano and violin.

The melody of "Je Dis Te Vous" could've been good for Sade's Diamond Life, although Sade would've tuned down the heavy instrumentation.

"Reste Sur Moi" has a nocturnal ambience with upbeat prominent bass and keyboards reminiscent of Sade's "Never As Good As The First Time."

The English sung "It's A Man's World", the James Brown number, states that despite the patriarchal world, "it wouldn't be nothing, nothing/without a woman or a girl." Without them, man would be "lost in the wilderness" and "lost in the bitterness"... like me. She recites the verses but sings up a storm on the chorus.

The quiet synth ballad "Entrer Dans La Lumiere" features a gospelish chorus after the bridge. It's a bit jarring to find English lyrics and not the French, especially as all but two of the songs are sung in French. However, I'll list the titles in French and then the English translation, where applicable:

Y'Avait Tant D'Etoiles: There Were So Many Stars
A Saint-Lunaire: In Saint Luniere
Je Retiens Mon Souffle: Holding My Breath
Ceux Qui N'Ont Rien: For Those Who Have Nothing
Il Me Dit Que Je Suis Belle: He Tells Me I'm Beautiful
Space In My Heart
La Liberte: Freedom
Fatiguee D'Attendre: Weary of Waiting
Jojo
La Vie En Rose: Life All Rosy
Je Te Dis Vous: I Say [To] You
Reste Sur Moi: Rest On Me
It's A Man's World
Entrée Dans La Lumiere: Coming Into The Light

A strong and worthy followup to Scene De Vie, showing Kaas expanding her styles, but never losing her vocal prowess or position as France's chanteuse of the 90's. Tres bien, Patricia. Et Je Te Dis Tu Es Belle. October 28, 2003

A perfect present for a good conversation .

2002 , Desember 31 , 11 pm ... Russian Christmas 1 hour away... My TV decided to take a breake and refused to show any signs of life . I put this CD on and had a very good conversation with my girlfriend to celebrate the New Year ... Thank you P.K.
No wonder why she is so popular in Russia . She reminds me of Sade , just different ... and French is a beatiful language . Well deserved 5 stars . January 6, 2003

Superb

All right, I'm biased. Kaas has been a favorite of mine for probably the last decade, if not longer. She has the most amazing voice, so full and rich, and she manages English and French songs equally well (even though she'll always be a quintessentially French artist). This album was my absolute favorite in college, and I still go back to it, particularly to the beautiful ballad Je Te Dis Vous, which is just SUCH a beautiful song (and, if you know a bit of French, the words are great, too). Other than that, JoJo is very good (a little Russian, even), as are La Liberte, full of very native rhythm, and the bluesy Laissez-Moi Chanter. In general, a great compilation of songs from a lovely and talented singer. January 5, 2003

Nice, but buy the French version "Je te dis vous" instead

This is a beautiful album indeed, but my first caveat is that -- in comparison with French release entitled "Je te dis vous" -- getting Mlle Kaas's version of "La vie en rose" is not compensation for getting a VASTLY inferior arrangement and version of one of her biggest hits ever "Il me dit que je suis belle." I bought the English release first and the song made no impression, and then with then French release I heard how powerful and transcendent it is. If you already like this song, you will not believe your ears when you hear the version on "Je te dis vous." The English album also omits the very pop "Hôtel Normandy" and an odd-ball German rocker "Ganz und Gar."

Otherwise, it's a well-integrated musical collection spanning French cabaret tradition, Piaf-inspired vocalism, the drive of rock, with blues at its heart. Songs like the omitted "Hôtel Normandy" and "Je te dis vous" (following her signature tune "Mademoiselle chante les blues" from her first album) are excessive in their self-regarding posture -- the performer's world view, alternately gutsy and winsome -- but, it IS great music. "La liberté" and "Jojo" are more convincing, touching on more universal themes, yet they bear the indescribable Frenchness that one associates with Juliette Gréco. How satisfying it is to have something new that reminds one intuitively of old favorites.

The English songs (included in the French album) are performed creditably, even memorably, but the material isn't quite as arresting and come off as blues exercises. I'm sure her ability to communicate in English will improve, but we need her in French. February 10, 2002

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