Album Review: Tina Arena – Greatest Hits & Interpretations
3 min read
Over the course of 40 years Tina Arena has established herself as one of the most celebrated and defining Australian musical exports; a national treasure. Starting out in music at a young age when she caught the attention of her homeland after appearing on Australian talent show, Young Talent Time, Arena became a household name the world over in 1994 following the release of international breakthrough album, Don’t Ask, and hits including Heaven Help My Heart, Sorrento Moon and Chains gave the pint sized songbird a heavy footing on the global stage.
Several albums later and Arena is looking back on her time in the spotlight and has released a collection of her finest material – along with a disc of hits that she has either re-recorded herself, loaned to fellow musicians to reinterpret or recorded alongside some of Australia’s brightest talent.
Within the collection fans will be able to find the obvious hits from the Tina Arena vaults – Chains, Sorrento Moon, Heaven Help My Heart, Burn and early career disco hit Need Your Body all find a worthy place on the opening disc. Spanning the singers extensive catalogue, some of her finest work plucked from later albums can also be found placed alongside the classics; tracks such as You Set Fire To My Life from 2013’s Reset and I Want To Love You from the musicians most recent studio album, Eleven.
While the first disc in the collection contains all that can be expected from a Tina Arena greatest hits record, disc two offers a unique track listing that shows off the versatility of that impressive back catalogue. Among those found here is her remarkable Chains collaboration with sister band, The Veronica’s and Can I Get A Moment hit-maker, Jessica Mauboy. The track was reworked for Arena’s performance at the 2015 ARIA awards where she was inducted into Australia’s ARIA Hall of Fame and the pairing of The Veronica’s and Mauboy could not have been more suited to the the soaring signature Arena hit.
Other tracks found on the second part of the collection include the gorgeous re-recording of Sorrento Moon alongside friend and fellow Australia pop idol Dannii Minogue, a cover of Still Running courtesy of Nashville starlet Clare Bowen, and captivating Arena covers of Foreigner’s I Want To Know What Love Is and INXS’s I Need You Tonight; showcasing just what that flawless voice is capable of as she delivers memorable versions of two contrasting 80’s hits with a power that only an artist of Tina Arena’s skill and level can.
Combining a career spanning two discs of hits, covers and interpretations by one of the industry’s most gifted vocalists, this is certainly THE Tina Arena hits collection to own.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
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