Libera Dreams

JimmyRiddle wrote:Libera is enjoying it's highest position in the UK iTunes Clasical Album charts at No.12
The Choir of Kings College Christmas Carols CD always sell well at this time of the year, and they are priced 40% less than Libera's CD.

So a good business to do a xmas album. I am always amazed they do not do one every year as xmas song albums always sell well. And they are that exact market for this time of the year.


It is the same reason every mother's day Ronan Keating ( boyzone fame) releases a cover album of songs. As the mums love him and mass buy the album. It called strewed marketing

Yorkie wrote:

maartendas wrote:I moved the discussion about the Songs of Praise recording for How Shall I Sing to this new topic

and any discussion about the Classic FM interview video to this new topic

You've linked the same thread their twice Maarten - the Classic FM one needs correcting.

Thanks, fixed now

Much of the critics', er, criticism is something like how I felt about Libera at first as well. "It's too sweet, too slick, too smooth..." Until I finally fell for them and had to admit to myself they moved me and I just wanted to hear them again and again. From that moment on, their music has grown on me. From a critic's viewpoint, with distance, yes perhaps those comments are true and viable (taking into account that every review is personal). But taken a step further, taken to heart, Libera's music shows itself to be what it is, a balm for the soul. Plus, the whole Libera phenomenon is so much more than "just" the music.
I don't think negative reviews will do them that much harm. At least it brings the album to attention which is good as Christmas albums are made by the truckload ofcourse so putting a spotlight on Libera's Christmas album is very nice

dani wrote:It is the same reason every mother's day Ronan Keating ( boyzone fame) releases a cover album of songs. As the mums love him and mass buy the album. It called strewed marketing

Yes, if you can conquer your share of the market you can pretty much bankroll yourself for life. That's why Classical violinist Andre Rieu has conquered the 'grannie' market, and Justin Beiber the 'teenybopper' market. Sure they also attract alot of critism but at the end of the day, they won't ever have to worry about their mortgage being paid for at the end of the month.

It appears that the downloads of the Libera album as achieving better sales than the normal CD. Currently the Libera album is ranked #9 in the amazon.uk MP3 downloads chart. 183 in overall music downloads. Maybe as the festive season draws closer, people are wanting that instant access to Christmas music.

JimmyRiddle wrote:

dani wrote:It is the same reason every mother's day Ronan Keating ( boyzone fame) releases a cover album of songs. As the mums love him and mass buy the album. It called strewed marketing

Yes, if you can conquer your share of the market you can pretty much bankroll yourself for life. That's why Classical violinist Andre Rieu has conquered the 'grannie' market, and Justin Beiber the 'teenybopper' market. Sure they also attract alot of critism but at the end of the day, they won't ever have to worry about their mortgage being paid for at the end of the month.

It appears that the downloads of the Libera album as achieving better sales than the normal CD. Currently the Libera album is ranked #9 in the amazon.uk MP3 downloads chart. 183 in overall music downloads. Maybe as the festive season draws closer, people are wanting that instant access to Christmas music.

Exactly. That is the same i feel for Libera ... screw the critics as long as the public like them who cares what so called " professionals" think.

While what critics may write about Libera may seem quite caustic, I never pay much attention to them. A critic's particular journalistic and in this case, musical background will influence what they write, whether it is positive, or in this case, somewhat negative. As far as not paying attention to the drivel, ramble, whatever-you-wish-to-call-it, of any critic is concerned, I can cite another example from my adolescence. When I was growing up in Montreal, our local newspaper had a blatantly negative pop music critic. His stock in trade was usually to take the most popular albums on the charts, recordings by artists such as the Moody Blues, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, etc, and almost literally tear them to shreds in his column. These recordings were, by all other accounts, selling millions, but since this fellow didn't like this type of rock/pop; I think he had stated several times that he was a blues fan, he lacked the ability to listen objectively. One wonders why this fellow bothered to review these albums at all. I think he just liked to go against the grain and enjoyed getting people a bit riled up. I suppose negative critics are entitled to write what they wish, even though in some cases, they come across as biased or even ill-informed. To each his own. It won't affect my opinion of any recording - by Libera, or anyone else for that matter.

dani wrote:Exactly. That is the same i feel for Libera ... screw the critics as long as the public like them who cares what so called " professionals" think.

I agree. My opinions pretty much never line up critics. Everything they don't like, I like, and everything they like, I don't like.

dani wrote:Exactly. That is the same i feel for Libera ... screw the critics as long as the public like them who cares what so called " professionals" think.

Indeed! It's still doing good in the UK charts despite the lukewarm reviews out there. And country by country, I think Libera is doing way better than any critic's favorite. Libera must be doing something right that somehow those critics just don't get. That's just how the world works, I guess.

Well, another "professional" review just published, on site the arts desk :

Libera: The Christmas Album (EMI)

Robert Prizeman’s South London boys’ choir give us their Christmas disc. Despite having been recorded during the early summer heatwave, the group do enter into the spirit of things. And the singing is generally great – you can detect a very slight rough edge to the boys’ sound which is exactly as it should be – this is a childrens’ choir.
Their intonation is spot on. My reservations have to do with the synthetic production values; carols are invariably fussily arranged and the recorded balance is too upfront and two-dimensional. You just wish that Libera had been taped with a single microphone in a church acoustic with a simple piano or organ accompaniment – listening to this disc can feel like being pelted with boiled sweets.

This is such a shame, as the performances are accomplished and there are some interesting items here, and there’s a nice balance between traditional songs and modern schmaltz. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas suits Libera’s glitzy approach perfectly, and there’s a nice stab at Billy Joel’s Goodnight my angel. Britten’s Corpus Christi Carol survives with its dignity intact, but the austere 16th century Coventry Carol feels too cosy, too comfortable. For a better demonstration of how good Libera can be, purchase Simon Rattle’s Berlin Philharmonic recording of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, where they add a magical contribution to the Waltz of the Snowflakes.

Another one of those reviews that want Libera to be like every other choir out there.

A cliche maybe but "There's no such thing as bad publicity" rings true for me regarding these reviews. Libera are obviously mainstream enough for the critics/reviewers to both have heard of Libera and feel they should be reviewed. The end result is more publicity, and probably some, indeed many, people reading these critiques will take the time to search out some samples and make their own minds up .

Once again its the same old same old

"My reservations have to do with the synthetic production values; carols are invariably fussily arranged and the recorded balance is too upfront and two-dimensional. You just wish that Libera had been taped with a single microphone in a church acoustic with a simple piano or organ accompaniment – listening to this disc can feel like being pelted with boiled sweets."

Robert should maybe work on this more as one person saying it is not a big deal but nearly everybody who has reviewed has said its just simply too sickly sweet and just too "over produced".


He has really worked on this in concerts and its very noticeable with the whole band behind them now but in the studio its still sometimes to over produced. I can see where the critics come from in that respect. And it does seem that is the big bug bear.


Even Jubilate Deo has suffered in the album from this. It sounds so much better live with the backing violins not being drowned out.

Of course us ordinary fans don't really know what goes on down Libera way but we do know a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. With regard to the album and the 'over produced' sound (whatever that means) could there be a reason for it other than a deliberate choice by RP?

I get the feeling that these albums are produced on a shoestring. I don't think EMI are hiring huge recording studios, supplying dozens of sound technicians, editors and mixing guys or footing the bill for a live orchestra. I think it was once mentioned that the parts are recorded separately (i.e. the boys are not all together in the same room at the same time singing together and responding to each other). Maybe they use a small (home?) studio, record bits over many different sessions and then have to match them up. That would explain why the sound isn't quite as 'natural' as at a live concert.

One of my gripes about the Christmas CD is the over use of '80's synthesiser sounds and drum machine affects - we've been there and done that, so on that point alone I can agree with the (professional) critics.

Yes, dani, I think that you have made a good point about concert vs. recorded sound. The concert sound is breathtaking with the chamber orchestra and the piano and organ rounding out the sound of the voices in an authentic manner. That being said, for me, when listening to Libera on this CD, I can't say that the accompaniment really bothers me - I tend to focus more on the voices.

phlibera wrote:Another one of those reviews that want Libera to be like every other choir out there.

You're absolutely right; don't these twats get the idea that Libera are meant to sound slightly different to everyone else. If they didn't, they'd just be another choir in an overcrowded market. And they'd be dreary.

How do these idiots get to be critics? (Oh silly me, they can't do it themselves, so they criticise others).

This gets me as well. Just because Libera sounds different and does no conform to the "standard" choir sound, the critics give negative reviews, maybe they should do some in-depth research and find out why they sound different and maybe they would understand that this difference is a deliberate choice by Prizeman to bring Libera into the mainstream and reach out to a larger audience.

As we all know, RP renamed St Philip's boys choir to Libera because he wanted the choir to break away from the typical boy choir image and be more "Free" with the sounds and music they produced.

Just my 2 pennies worth