Van Giersbergen; Anneke: Day After Yesterday – Agua De Anneke Collected

Having, since her departure from The Gathering in 2007, slowly raised her profile through ongoing collaborations with Devin Townsend and Arjen Lucassen (including her recent and much lauded The Gentle Storm double disc with the latter), the time feels right to highlight the early work of Dutch singer Anneke Van Giersbergen. Hence Day After Yesterday – Agua De Anneke Collected arrives doing exactly what is says on the tin; bringing together the three Agua De Anneke studio albums, Air, Pure Air and In Your Room, alongside the live disc, Live In Europe.

Moving away from the style of her previous band, Air utilised a more rock, with a pop heart ideal to focus on the quite stunningly fragile, yet confident voice this young lady has at her disposal. A variety of atmospheres are utilised through strings, strident riffs and intricate arrangements; always enough room left to allow Anneke to be the star, always enough musical impetus to ensure that things never become overly reliant on the main protagonist. "You Are Nice" delivers on the grittier end of the scale, "Day After Yesterday" a beautiful piano led piece, while "Ice Water" illustrates the middle ground between the two diverse approaches. Additionally there's a new bonus cut added on this disc, "Notthemostprettygirl" a melancholic, yet uplifting acoustic guitar infused piece which feels like it very much belongs to its parent album.

Pure Air on the other hand is a slightly odds and sods collection, where a mix of Air cuts and covers are reinterpreted – and in a few cases invite a guest to add their magic to the mix. Danny Cavanagh (Anathema) featuring on "The Blower's Daughter", Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) on "Somewhere", Arjen Lucassen sprinkles his magic on "Valley Of The Queen" and the unmistakable John Wetton (Asia/King Crimson/UK) brings his vocal warmth to "To Catch A Thief". Other guests come and go and yet it is still Anneke who makes the strongest impression, the singer making Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" her very own. In Your Room on the other hand brings a more jaunty and overtly adult pop approach to the party, and through "Pearly", "Hey Okay!" or "I Want" shows that Anneke really could operate at that end of the market extremely comfortably. It's a daring album given the progressive expectations placed upon this young lady and yet she comes through in some style. Add in the engaging live disc and this 4 CD box makes a wonderful introduction to an artist who definitely deserves more recognition than has so far come her way. Whether existing fans who've already bought these discs can be persuaded to partake in this set, when all that's really on offer for them is one bonus track, new liner notes and artwork, I'm not quite sure. However if you've been intrigued by Anneke Van Giersbergen's work with Devin Townsend, or Arjen Lucassen but are yet to venture further, then this "budget price" box set comes highly recommended.

Track Listing

Disc 1 – Air
1. Beautiful One
2. Witnesses
3. Yalin
4. Day After Yesterday
5. My Girl
6. Take Care of Me
7. Ice Water
8. You Are Nice!
9. Trail of Grief
10. Come Wander with Me
11. Sunken Soldiers Ball
12. Lost and Found
13. Asleep
14. Notthemostprettygirl (bonus track)

Disc 2 – Pure Air
1. The Blower's Daughter (feat. Danny Cavanagh)
2. Beautiful One (feat. Niels Geusebroek)
3. Wild Flowers
4. Day After Yesterday (feat. Marike Jager)
5. Come Wander with Me (feat. Kyteman)
6. Valley of the Queens (feat. Arjen Lucassen)
7. To Catch a Thief (feat. John Wetton)
8. Ironic
9. What's the Reason? (feat. Niels Geusebroek)
10. Yalin
11. Somewhere (feat. Sharon den Adel)
12. Witnesses
13. The Power of Love

Disc 3 – In Your Room
1. Pearly
2. Hey Okay!
3. I Want
4. Wonder
5. The World
6. Sunny Side Up
7. Physical
8. Home Again
9. Wide Open
10. Longest Day
11. Just Fine
12. Adore

Disc 4 – Live In Europe
1. Intro
2. The World
3. My Girl
4. Who I Am
5. Day After Yesterday
6. Hey Okay!
7. Fury
8. Beautiful One
9. Adore
10. I Want
11. Laugh It Out
12. Witnesses
13. Shrink

Added: September 13th 2015
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Anneke Van Giersbergen
Hits: 1816
Language: english

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