Lady In Satin

Such a profound and romantic sound! Can anyone class up a joint like Billie Holiday? The only thing keeping this from being a 5 for me is the lack of variation in the tracks. It ends up feeling like one song. I realize that is because she is so unique, but it’s how feel.

Sunday coffee

Too sleepy.

Smooth like satin - easy listening but every now and then a line jumped out and punched me in the fucking guts.

Wanted to like it, different and old fashioned but boring, the songs sound the same

Fantastic ambience, but very, very repetitive. Distinctively haunting and beautiful voice. This rating is in no way an indictment on Billie Holiday as a performer + legendary voice + generational talent.

I liked it, but it all sounded very similar

Kinda boring, sorry

Vibesy. Overall pleasant music but not really my genre

higher rating for appreciation but lower for actual enjoyment. kinda boring

Great vocal jazz album.

Timeless, Gorgeous.

same old same old doesn’t mean it was bad tho

Pre-listening thoughts: hip hip hooray for album #250! And what better way to welcome my next round of 50 than with miss Billie Holiday. Voice of an angel. Post/during listening thoughts: I understand that this is the 50s and production isn’t great back then and maybe I didn’t notice this in other 50s albums but why can I hear her saliva when she opens and closes her mouth. It’s all I can focus on. But anyways this is pretty normal 50s jazz. I know Billie Holiday is culturally important but this particular album doesn’t feel like it has her culturally important moments. It just feels like another 50s jazz album of standard covers. It’s also just incredibly downtempo, vs like Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra had really upbeat songs along with ballads. This is like all ballads. And they’re all the same tempo. I cannot tell any of these songs apart. It’s not bad, just like mush. 5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: I Get Along Without You Very Well Least fav tracks: didn’t dislike any of it but I’d be lying if I said I could distinguish these songs

Just goes to show that raw emotions, as haunting as it seems, a tough listen you can say but this emotionally-orchestrally charged album is a masterpiece

Good album. Jazz with a great lady singer. Not my thing 1001 album worthy: Yes - 61/112

Female crooner? Croaky voice, gentle drums and strings

Greatly prefer Billie Holiday's earlier work. Her voice, ravaged by years of hardship, is fragile and weary. Some may find this vulnerability moving, considering this was recorded near the end of her life, but it's a stark contrast to the youthful clarity and smoothness of her classic recordings.

Artiste connue de nom uniquement. Je suis vraiment déçu par cet album : l’instrumentation orchestrale m'a rebuté dès le début, elle laisse très peu de place pour des improvisions (l'essence du jazz pour moi), et ... je n'aime pas la voix de BH ! Je ne suis pas sur que ce soit le meilleur album pour découvrir cette artiste. Un vrai calvaire, je ne suis donc pas allé au bout. =>1/5

Didn't exactly want to turn it off, but it wasn't really interesting.

Yeah this is not it. I'm just not a fan of her voice and a lot of the songs are too slow for me. This is my least favorite of all the old jazz albums so far. It doesn't help that every song sounds the same. Mid 2.

This is a bit of a difficult album for me. I like Billie Holiday, a lot, but this isn't her best work. Her upper register seems to have weakened over the years and the songs themselves aren't her best work. It's not bad, but if I was pointing someone towards a Billie Holiday album it wouldn't be this one. For that, I'd always suggest "Lady Sings the Blues".

I was excited to listen to some Billie Holiday but why this album? Any of her earlier jazz works are better and much more interesting. (I love her stuff featuring Lester Young). I suppose this lush, easy-listening orchestral music was popular in the 50's and a lot of jazz artists recorded this type of album "with strings" but I was never fond of this type of music. (One exception, Art Pepper's Winter Moon) Billie makes it work but at the same time it kind of doesn't. Her voice and style of singing are much better suited elsewhere.

A cliche it may be but it remains undeniably true. They just not make records like this anymore

Perfect album to have on in the background during dinner, there's no real shift in tempo from one song to the next, the songs tend to sound the same, her voice is excellent. Unlikely to listen to this in full again.

Billie Holiday has such a beautiful voice here. Even though they felt a bit too similar to each other, the tracks transported me to an exclusive jazz club over a fancy dinner. Favorite track: "The End of a Love Affair"

3.4

Frail, but still the greatest.

;4

Oh boy. Here we go, an album I can't come up with a reasonable defense for... I've always been an advocate of approaching art patiently. I think if you don't finish something because it is "boring," you don't get to have an opinion about it because you haven't engaged with the art in its intended way. You don't get to judge the quality of the whole movie if you stopped watching halfway through because you thought that the prologue was too boring. To assess its merit, you first need to know what it was building up towards. If someone were to ask me to create a long list of my favorite songs, probably 80% or even more of it would consist of tracks that are over 10 minutes long. Longer formats give musicians more room for artistic expression, let them paint a more full, bigger picture. By not being confined by time restrictions, they're not forced to be eloquent and can fill the composition with as much detail as they want. Of course, you can't expect a 20-minute song to be structured like a pop track. The parts will have to be longer, and there's going to be more of them. This almost inevitably leads to the emergence of more low-key or even "boring" parts. But isn't this a problem? If some part is boring, doesn't it bring the whole song down? Well, in the case of long-form music, not necessarily. If I'm listening to something like GY!BE of Swans, the low-key parts are not going to bother me since I know that somewhere in the song, there is a part that is going to blow me away with it's sheer sonic power. Although this sort of minimalistic, quieter, more relaxed composition would usually be a problem for me, in this specific case, it is actually a benefit because it helps to establish atmosphere and build up anticipation before a huge reveal. A good build up enhances the crescendo by rewarding patience. This is what makes me like long songs so much. In a typical pop or EDM song, before the chorus or the drop—the part that is supposed to be the most hype—you'll get, like, 30 seconds, maybe a minute, of build up. It just never hits that hard. Even when it's not bad, I never stop thinking that, compared to long-form songs, they fail to appropriately build anticipation. The composition of the song doesn’t do enough to make me hyped up for the drop—the vibes are just not there. It is certainly not impossible to achieve a similar effect in a shorter time frame. Off the top of my head, one example would be Fade to Black by Metallica. Before arriving at arguably one of the best riffs ever written, the songs spends 2 minutes on build up that does its job incredibly well. Still, although short build ups can be good, the strongest ones are always longer. But how does this all relate to Lady in Satin? Well, that’s precisely the problem—it doesn’t. It doesn’t have any huge or impactful parts. Neither the instruments nor the vocals are going for anything catchy or interesting. Nothing stands out, there’s no build up, nothing to anticipate, and nothing to get excited about. There’s nothing to catch your attention. You can be patient and sit through it (like I did), but there’s no reward. This is worse than elevator music, because elevator music is at least trying to be pleasant. Imagine an album that consists entirely of the boring parts of long songs—it is meaningless since the entire purpose is build up. It’s not underwhelming—it’s just not “whelming” at all. This album is completely devoid of fun. Even before I started listening to music, I sort of knew that vocal jazz would be at the absolute bottom tier of my preferences. This kind of music doesn’t attract me at all. I hate this slow and brooding style of vocals and instruments with no meaningful variation of tone or volume throughout the songs; no crescendos and barely any accents to break the monotony. Since then, I've learned that there's perhaps a bit more to this genre than I'd originally given it credit for, but I doubt that there's anything that would make me like it. This is just something that is fundamentally not for my taste. My ADHD brain simply can't handle something SO understimulating. Lady in Satin is the absolute embodiment of everything I dislike about vocal jazz with not a single thing that would've made it a little bit more palpable for me. It doesn’t feature anything I typically enjoy about music. Although it’s not offensive in any way—it’s not going to blow your ears out or have any tonally unpleasant sounds—it is boring to an utterly absurd degree. I know this probably reads like an angry rant, but it’s really not. I’m not angry. I just think that this is an extremely boring album—that’s it. Music is meant to be entertaining, and in my opinion, this is simply not. On an unrelated note, this is the second vocal jazz album I've heard that uses the word "gay" at least once... I'm starting to think it might've meant something different in the 50s...

Wasn’t that much of a fan. Some songs were ok but I thought I would like more from this than what I did. Id say probably a 3 but was 2.5 for me and gonna round down.

Muy classy. No me enteré muy bien porque estaba con los Sims, pero me gustó.

I see the historical significance here, but this album is very samey and songs do little to differentiate themselves from each other.

Ever since I heard David Sedaris do an impression of Billie Holiday, that's all I hear. I am sure that is sacrilegious but it's true.

It sounds like the same song over and over again, and if I’m bring honest Holiday’s voice doesn’t exactly enchant in this album. (If I’m being doubly honest it often sounds like Louise Armstrong, and since Holiday is attempting to reach traditional Beauty rather than any other quality there aren’t many charms to the guttural.)

Billie Holiday has such a unique delivery/style. It's iconic, and it fits really well with the orchestration. But also she adds so much flourish that there's something almost comical/caricature'ish about it. Still, I like it as background music.

Beautiful (if dated) production and vocals, only undermined by the sameness in tempo and subject matter from song to song.

A bit of sameness as the album wears on, but there's no denying her insane talent, the poingnant sadness that comes through in her voice and lyrics. A classic for a reason.

immaculate vibes

Solid album from an epic artist.

What’s not to love about this amazing voice!

pretty good, a lot of songs sound very similar

1.5

Really nice!

Calssic

Her voice has this sandy quality that I don't particularly love. Not to say she's a bad singer but the tone isn't for me.

She is excellent but sometimes the production makes the songs sound the same. Prefer her live

Billie is one of the greats. However, is it too much to ask for at least one song over 100 BPM?

Sure sounds like a lady in satin. Undoubtedly beautiful, but my millennial ADHD ears thought the songs sounded the same after the first five songs.

Her voice is kinda annoying, lyrics come out at a torturously slow pace

She’s got a great voice and I do really love some Billie from time to time but it just didn’t do it for me yesterday

Hun har en flot og ikke alt for "pæn" stemme, der er god kontrast til lidt for fine produktion. Når det er sagt kan jeg godt lide, at musikken aldrig tager opmærksomheden fra hendes stemme

Det lød godt og hun har en fantastisk stemme, men jeg synes godt nok at sangene blendede sammen

This was nice, chill and enjoyable. Great voice as always.

An incredible voice

Sad and beautiful

Decent Billie holiday

Standard

To be honest, this album felt repetitive and without much progression. It was like listening to the same song over and over again. At least, it isn't a bad song.

What a voice. And an amazing recording despite being almost 70 years old. It suffers from sounding slightly samey as the album goes on. But enjoyable overall.

This is one you really have to be in a dreamy or heart-broken mood for. No variation, but if it hits, it hits.

Not my preference

one of a kind voice. just her singing and minimal backup

Such great songs, and amazing voice. Though this album doesn’t show as much range as I’d like.

Love love love…

Every song sounded very similar, it was nice but didn't capture me. Wouldn't relisten.

I wonder if I can break the keyword system. meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow

Her voice is beautiful but the instrumentation doesn't do much for me. Also, something about the slow tempo throughout made the individual songs hard to distinguish.

This is ok. Vocal jazz, end of Billie Holiday's career. Her voice isn't what it used to be but conveys a lot of emotion. Songs are much more emotional and sentimental, which in the realm of jazz to me is on the boring side. Not for me, but a well crafted album and a good reflection of the end of Billie Holiday's life.

Would be amazing if I were sitting in a smoke lounge in 1958 listening to her soulful singing but I am not. Saturday morning sitting in the sun room with a coffee and this just isn't doing it. Really boring and it all blends together. Sorry lady in Satin.

That voice! She could sing the phone book and it would be a 5. But it’s a great album in its own right — nothing is forced. Even the dated orchestral arrangements are on point and work well with her delivery. I can’t say how influential Ms Holliday has been, because frankly, there’s never been anything like her before or since. This is coming to the desert island with me. An emphatic 5.

Lovely

What a strange album to include in this collection, especially since it's the only Billie Holiday we'll get. I'm not at all familiar with her career, and my first thought was that I hadn't realized how similar she sounds to somebody like Nina Simone, only to uncover that she predated Simone by quite a bit and that the sound on this album (vocals as well as string orchestra) is not at all what she was best known for. I'm glad that she felt this was her favorite recording, because otherwise it seems a bit cruel to have this be the lone album to represent her. In many ways this seems a lot like Johnny Cash's "American IV: The Man Comes Around"-- albums by powerful forces in music whose voices are literally croaking in their final years, ravaged by alcohol and drug abuse. I really enjoyed Cash's final studio album, in part because he chose remarkably diverse songs to cover (like Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" or NIN's "Hurt") and gave them a very Cash-like cast (and I'm looking forward to hearing this album in this collection). Similarly, Holiday's choice to cover Great American Songbook standards in a distinctive gravelly voice is an interesting choice on her part (especially given her jazz career), but I'll admit I don't particularly enjoy listening to these songs or style of music, sadly. that said, the final track "The end of a love affair" seemed to capture everything good and bad and tragic about this album and Billie Holiday's decline.

I much prefer Lady Sings the Blues with both Strange Fruit and God Bless the Child, but the orchestration on this album is great. Not sure why this album is the sole Billie Holiday album on this project though.

Legendary voice

Lady in Satin may not have been intended as the last album released in Billie Holiday's lifetime but it's got all the hallmarks of a farewell; a glimpse of a life truly lived through hell and beyond.

прочитал, что это последний ее прижизненный альбом и голос к этому моменту уже потерял свою магию. соглашусь, пожалуй

EXCELLENT♥

Billie Holiday has a unique voice. The music is so melancholic and pleasant.

Lady in Satin is Billie Holiday's swan song—a breathtakingly raw, emotionally charged masterpiece where imperfection becomes its greatest strength. With a voice weathered by life’s trials, Holiday transforms heartbreak into art, her every note wrapped in lush, cinematic orchestrations. Simultaneously flawed and sublime, it’s a requiem for a lost voice and a timeless testament to the soul’s enduring power.

What a voice

Beautiful voice but just sounded the same throughout the album

Billie Holiday is such an amazing singer. The album is great!

Marvellous singer. Fabulous album

Not really my jam, but sings very well.

I really enjoy jazz, and Billie Holiday has a perfect voice for it, but this just doesn't do much for me. I'd have to be in a very specific mood (like Christmas Eve at 9 PM) to wanna put an album like this on. It's delicately and beautifully produced, but not for me. All the songs could be one long track.

Billie Holiday is one of the most important voices in history. This album didn't feel like a standout however.

Schone stem, ja, maar dit album vond ik nu niet wauw ofzo. Als ik wat scroll door haar Spotify pagina, zijn er toch wel beter albums van haar. 3.2

Da wurden bestimmt etliche baby boomer zu gezeugt

I get it but, not it’s not for me.

Great voice but not the best

4+

lovely album

I generally have a soft spot for this kind of album. Jazz, voice, and light instrumentation. But that does end up putting a lot of pressure on the person singing, and for me, Billie Holiday's voice just isn't that great, at least on this album. She's very expressive, but that's really about it. For me personally, she ends up falling into what I'm going to dub the "Bob Dylan Category", which is a giant in the industry/their genre, but whose voice/vocal talent ends up hurting my enjoyment of the album. The orchestration here is truly incredible work. Light, for the most part, with well-timed swells. Favorite Song(s): It's Easy to Remember

Billie Holiday is deserving of her legendary status, I just don't feel this album suits her. Her distinctive, authentic voice just doesn't mesh with the strings. Still, thisnis Billie Holiday...

Amazing

A solid listen. Ultimately, I felt this was a bit samey across the whole album. Billie Holiday has a lovely voice but the songs stay in a pretty constrained range. I also don't usually listen for lyrics, but the constant talk about Love was a bit much for me. That said, it does invoke a peculiar feeling in me that I can't describe. No particular faves from the album, but the vibe was good.

Billie Holiday always wanted to record an orchestral album arranged by Ray Ellis for most of her career, but her previous record labels solely sought to sell more commercially viable jazz material featuring Lady Day. All of Billie Holiday's recordings are powerful and influential, some prefer her earlier recordings for Columbia Records 1933-1944 for the youthful and expressive flexibility of her unique vocal range and impeccable sense of phrasing, and her collaborations with Teddy Wilson and Benny Carter. Others love the emotive darkening of her vocals on Verve records, as all her vices and legal issues took their toll proving that Lady Day truly lived the life of intense despair depicted in her songs. Ray Ellis was disappointed with the deterioration of Billie Holiday's voice on her penultimate record, Lady in Satin, solely because he was looking at it from a technical perspective and not from emotional resonance. Deep, somber, reedy, choked, vibrating with a control, her voice was a peculiar instrument that eschewed the multi-octave "sophistication" and scat-singing improvisation of her peers. Not initially blessed with the best material, her unique mastery of timing and ability to make the most of her limited range helped to invent and expand the American song-book. For many Lady in Satin is the last great album by Lady Day, her Last Recording sessions were manipulated by the producer who adjusted speed and pitch to compensate for her ravaged vocals. It is rumored that Holiday was in such poor health during the Last Recording session that she was propped up on a stool in the studio, barely able to keep her eyes open. On Lady in Satin the weariness is present, beautifully orchestrated, cinematic and somber, elegiac. Nothing swings, Lady in Satin is entirely slow, heart aching ballads with the occasional ghostly background vocals, clarinets, horns, snares, and strings ("But Beautiful"). "I'm A Fool To Want You" begins with such a deep note of despair and sets the tone for a bitter maturity enveloped in strings, the break on "love" and the choking on "time and time again." "Glad to Be Unhappy" makes you believe it, "Unrequited love's a bore, and I've got it pretty bad." The vibrato gargle on "bad" rends my heart. "I'll Be Around" was the original final song of the album (before it got reissued with studio outtakes) and it is perhaps a grim reminder that she would not always be there enduring unrequited passion with patience, is it a resigned promise or an evasion? "The End of a Love Affair" (Mono Take 4 with Vocal Overdub Take 8) is beautiful.

Very rétro, smoky voice, all songs are abt looove <3

A really cool album. Billie has such a smooth voice, and her songs are great.

Hard not to enjoy just because of Billie's voice. I don't know if the songs are amazing standouts to me in terms of jazz classics but it's very nice and relaxing to listen to overall.

didnt know I needed this many songs about fools in love. Can't tell if i super love or super don't love her voice. giving me super Dorothy vibes

heartbreaking from billie. great artist

Always great to listen to - sensitive and really unique.

At the end of her life and career. Her voice showing signs of a hard life. Still beautiful. Terrible what was done to Billie just for singing a song about racists

Nice music to play in my office, will listen to it again.

Wow - this is pretty extraordinary

Beautiful

Molto chill, molto pacata. Come dice nelle quattro versioni della stessa canzone che per qualche motivo si trovano sull’album, fuma un po’ troppo, ma forse sarebbe meno affascinante se avesse una voce più comune o più morbida

che bello che bello che bello

jazz, blues, orch., sehr soft, 1958 -> 4

Not sure why this one of Billie’s over all others. Her voice was kind of shot by drug and alcohol abuse at this point: Also, most of her best songs aren’t here. Still gets a 4 though. Legendary

Un jazz bien meloso, bien de gala, 'seductor', de película blanco y negro. Canta la negra pero es medio embole.

Fav song: The End of a Love Affair Amazing performance and incredible band from Billie Holiday. Hauntingly beautiful voice and great lyrics. A gem of her generation.

No soy un gran fan del jazz vocal, pero este álbum es definitivamente relevante en esta lista y, puesto en contexto, me ha gustado mucho. La voz de Billie Holiday tiene muchísima personalidad, con ese timbre áspero, consecuencia de su adicción a la heroína. He apreciado este álbum como una obra seminal que me recuerda a otras artistas posteriores que valoro mucho, como Janis Joplin o Amy Winehouse. Además, las letras (aunque las canciones sean versiones) son preciosas. En definitiva, un muy buen disco, aunque no sea mucho de mi estilo. 3.5

I recognise Billie Holiday's talent, and think Strange Fruit is a fantastic song. However I found it hard to connect with this album for some reason. The only songs that stood out for me were I'm a Fool To Want You, You Don't Know What Love Is, and You've Changed. I often find it hard to connect with music pre-1965 or so (except for instrumentals), so it could be another case of that. She had an amazing voice, but I found that the songs were too similar or something.

Classic!

Reminds me of spending time with grandma

Beautiful music, but not for me.

This album had me in daze because I figured this was gonna be a rough listen considering how rough Billie's voice sounded at times, like you can hear how strenuous sounds for her but it genuinely gives the listening experience more depth, character, and feeling. It's kind of beautiful in that way. Accompanied by the prominent orchestra this was a wonderful listen. Top 3 Favorites: I'm A Fool To Want You, For Heaven's Sake, and You Don't Know What Love Is No bad songs 4.00-4.25/5

Great vocals but music is a little too old for my new gen taste. I think it’s a style that has the potential to grow on me. 1/5 just because I kept losing interest in the style.

Lovely. It's not Billie Holiday's fault that driving around doing normal holiday-season city activities while listening to this album made me feel like I was hearing the soundtrack to my very own Rob Reiner holiday romcom. 3.5

I am not one for an entire album of Billie Holiday at a time, but there are some standout tracks that I like in more varied playlists

listened during a snowy miserable commute to work and am afraid ms holiday suffered for that, this was a bit too jazzy christmassy for me to enjoy

This really isn't Billie Holiday's fault at all but boy was this an inopportune listen for when I was wrapping gifts

Amazing voice - unfortunately the songs/production are just so dated that does do her justice.

Never heard of Billie holiday other than pac rapping about her in thugz mansion and I get it now. Nice vibe to it, very vintage and you can tell this was recorded in 58. The album has almost Christmassy vibe which is apt considering we're in December, I won't visit it again but glad I passed through this town. Mid 3.

This was nice enough. Only half listened to it while cooking a Sunday Roast but it fitted that vibe well.

Absolutley love Billie but this isn't the one. Her voice was shot and she was sadly near the end after years of being slowly and systemically destroyed by her management, herself and the government. A tragedy. As for the album, its interesting as you can hear the years in her voice but too orchestral for my liking. Not enough jazz and too floral instead, especially when compared to her previous in stone cold bangers like I'll Be Seeing You and Strange Fruit. Can't give it lower than a 3 as she's the GOAT but its a very low 3

This is so easy to just listen to. Beautiful singing, instrumentals blending so well. Talented puts it too lightly and the feeling in her voice is unreal. For sure makes sense to have on the list.

I know the name, but have no experience listening to her that I can recall. The orchestra plays a supporting roll falling to the background, almost responding to her. Although maybe not the most bombastic of voices, the power lies in her attention grabbing timing and cadence. I liked It's Easy to Remember.

Favorite Track: I’m a Fool to Want You

I dunno, very same same for me

Man this sounds dated. I'm sure it must have been a revelation back in the day, but I'm struggling to look past the vignette.

Really dull

Lovely but i thought i’d like it more - a bit monotonous

It’s the same song repeated 12 times. If you start at the beginning, listen to 10 seconds, skip to the middle, listen to 10 seconds, and then skip to the end, listen to 10 seconds, it sounds exactly the same. She has an interesting voice, I guess, kind of like a frog that has been smoking it’s entire life. If you are nostalgic for this era of music there has got to be a better fix. 3/10

I enjoyed this as I enjoy all Billie Holiday albums. The slight ageing to the voice doesn’t detract at all from the performance for me, but I would rather hear her with a jazz band than a orchestra

Vocal jazz is the one type of jazz that I actually seem to like most of the time. This falls into the likable category, but it also becomes a little same-y with most of side one just being love songs in the same tempo. Side 2 improves this somewhat by touching some other subjects. Standouts You've Changed I'll Be Aound You Don't Know What Love Is 3/5

It was likely brilliant for its time but what a dreary album, her voice is sounds like she’d smoked a few too many or she had a terrible chest infection. Enjoyed the first few songs but it got boring really quick and I could’ve done with 3 versions of the opening song. Would love to comment on the audio story song but after 30 seconds of what I can only imagine would’ve been the longest 9 minutes of my life, I had to skip it. I’d love to say more about this album but it was very unforgettable

Listening to an album this dated obviously requires you to try and appreciate it a little bit for what it would have been 70 or so years ago. I also have to factor in that my appreciation or understanding of jazz and blues music, is probably a bit stunted to say the least. All that being said, and I'm talking about this album specifically now, but Billie Holiday quite clearly had dementia. Every single song on the album was about the same thing, Billie, in whatever fossilsed form she was in when recording this album, just sang in simple circles for over an hour, basically saying the same things, over and over and over. I just hope you can't catch this version of dementia, but time will tell. The music in parts in undeniably nice, the yawning, gentle violins, the wind instruments and initially, the croaky, smokey voice that accompanied them. The novelty does wear off quite quickly however- and you're left with essentially the same tune for basically the whole album, trapped in this early Disney sounding loop, with this slow, sleepy, often melancholic, alzheimic singing to accompany it. It's what I would imagine Louis Armstrong's hemorrhoids would have sounded like if they could sing. You can immediately hear the influence Billie had on the likes of Amy Winehouse, and it's probably fair to say someone like Billie as a musician had to walk (around in circles), so someone like Amy could run (right over a cliff and off the rails). All in all a 2/5, it's not for me, and outside of not liking or understanding jazz to any great depth, I still thought it was quite shit. I just hope you can't catch this version of dementia, but time will tell.

nope. Old and shite. Not for me at all. So repetitive.

Billie Holiday's voice stands alone in its uniqueness, it has it's own gravitational pull. The broken, trembled affectation she puts on every word never gets old. She certainly convinces me of her general turmoil and woe. Let's give props to the beautiful brass and string arrangements on this album too. A serene and elegant listening experience. I enjoyed it a lot, I'm only going to mark it down to 3 because I'll rarely return to listen to it, maybe when having a Radox bath and enjoying a Cadbury’s Flake. Billie also did the definitive version of The Man I Love. Which is of course from the movie Hot Shots! I like to listen to it and pretend I'm Topper Harley, cooking and eating breakfast off Ramada. Ooh, suit you sir! I'd like to end things on a downer. Billie had no love as a youngster, pretty much abandoned, locked in a room with a dead girl by evil nuns, addicted to drink and drugs, and then of course died in her forties. Anyway, I hope we get Chumbawumba tomorrow!

In general, I really enjoy Billie Holiday, but there is a quality to her earlier recordings that just hits me a lot harder than this album. This seems just a little stripped of emotion and seems more generic. You’ve Changed is the only song that seemed like it had a bit of that spark to me. Her voice is still lovely, though and this was perfectly fine. I can only compare it to other things she has done, which guess were before LPs were really a thing.

Κατι που σιγουρα δεν θα ξανακουσω ξανα.

I know this is heresy, but Billie’s voice has always grated on me if I listen for longer than a song or two. Nice enough album, but it’s too much Billie in one dose for me. 3/5 Highlights: I’m a Fool to Want You Glad to Be Unhappy The End of a Love Affair

Classic . Great background music for work.

Gets a bit samey

Saved Prior: None Off Rip: I'm a Fool to Want You, For Heaven's Sake, You Don't Know What Love Is, For All We Know, But Beautiful, The End of a Love Affair Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: I only know Billie Holiday by her reputation as one of the greatest singers of all time, so the late-career husky voice you get here was not what I expected. That being said, her performance plays well with the album's predominant theme of love gone sour. A great companion piece to Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours -- and I might like this one more. 3.5 rounded up.

Not my thing but I recognize greatness

It’s a sweet, elegant collection of vocal jazz tunes, great to have on in the background while cooking a Sunday dinner, but too soft for my day-to-day liking.

An unusual choice I think. By now her voice has largely gone and you can hear it. One of her last albums. Sounds glorious at times

Horror movies have ruined this genre for me

I didn’t finish this one. It was incredibly boring. What a snooze.

She's great, but I feel like it all started to sound the same after a while

A Beautiful record

Mindbreakingly boring. It even drove a guy that never rated anything lower than a 3 ("I LIVE INSIDE YOUR WALLS" one) insane

Perhaps the slowest album on the list. Made me remember "69 Love Songs" and how painful of an experience that was

You had me at Billie Holiday. Not her best work but, in my opinion, very enjoyable.

For Heaven's Sake let's turn this off. Didn't enjoy the vocals. Or the content. I would say it was too smooth ... but actually the vocals were quite harsh. And every song sang in exactly the same way. Plus the music was all kind of big and silly. An over decorated cake of an album. No flavour at all. Nothing here for me, I'm afraid.

'Strange Fruit' is incredible and she is much loved and respected so I had high hopes. This reminded me of 'In The Wee Small Hours' but I didn't like it as much, no real connection. Oh well, on to the next one :)

I have never listened to Billie Holiday before but somehow I still got much less than I had hoped from this album. Truly forgettable. On a bit of further discovery, I did find it interesting to see how the ‘Strange Fruits’ song inspired ‘Blood on the Leaves’ (2013).

Not unpleasant to listen to but sooo booooooooooring. I wasn’t keen on her voice either.

4 - It was nice, but just nice

I liked this as background music. I think if I tried to engage more I would have liked it less. 3.5/5

De vacaciones me voy a ir yo para no escuchar esto

her voice has a way of making anything sound like its from fallout i would also like to place an order for more trombone solos also also if i were this album i would run on a few songs less

Absolutely lovely and beautiful and perfect record to listen to on a lazy Saturday morning with your coffee.

Solod

I love Billie Holliday's voice. It's raspy but enthralling at the same time and is loaded with emotion. And the songs in this album have a beautiful background whispy chant that peak through on several songs that I really like. There are tons of examples in You've Changed, but it happens a lot. That's really the main negative on this album, all the songs are pretty similar in style, tempo, and progression. This could have been a 45 minute song. I wouldn't have minded so much if it was, as it's such an essy listen, but it does lose a point for that.

The Lady In Satin smokes more than a little too much. This album is one song that’s an hour and five minutes (too) long. That it was released post-humorous must be why it made the 1001 too long album list. A couple of the songs are on the album three times, sheesh. Not good (1.4*s)

This album really had me questioning why Billie Holiday is so celebrated, such a drag. All the songs sound the same, nothing good about them, much too long with repeats of the same track multiple times (or was this literally just the same song 16 times, I can't even tell). This sounded so 50's and reminded me of a Disney princess ballad at times (only way worse). I didn't enjoy it at all, low 0.65.

Good god I'm done with the 50s. No more please. It's such a slow and boring era for music. Was everyone just too boozed up on breakfast, at work, and after work martini hour to pay attention? Was there a different song on this album? Swear it was on groundhog day loop. I did not care for Holiday's voice waggle at all. Done...out...please make it stop before I fall asleep at the wheel or my desk...0.7.

Woof. Didn't think this would be so bad as it got started but this was a tough listen. I didn't find anything notable in this album as I wasn't impressed with the vocals nor the backing band. Felt like it was almost the same song 10 times in a row, which I didn't enjoy the first time through. This was a tough 45 minutes. .52 stars

Not bad, but every song sounds the same. Music is good.

5.5/10

Wow! Stellar! Mellow Jazz doesn't get much better than this.

It's okay. Billie has a beautiful voice, and the arrangements are very sleek on this, but I can't help but find this kind of jazz quite dated. I'm glad we've mostly moved on from the Songbook stuff, a little sweetness can be very good but this is much too saccharine for me. Best Track: I Get Along Without You Very Well Worst Track: It's Easy To Remember

Each song sounded exactly the same Best Song: You Don't Know What Love Is Worst Song: It's Easy to Remember

A voice like an instrument, beautiful musical accompaniments, pulls on the heartstrings. Good stuff

I realise a big problem with rating these albums is that I listen to them when I'm working. So I tend to favour music which suits that environment. This includes either (a) albums I already know and am familiar with, or (b) easy listening 'background work' music e.g. drum n bass or blues rock. Billie Holiday fits into none of these categories, so it's a pretty tough workday listen straight off the bat. So I need to take this into account. Really this is a great album for the first hour of a cocktail party, as people arrive and I'm making Campari Sodas all round. Or maybe the last hour, as we sit around with herbal teas at 2am. With those (hypothetical) scenarios in mind, this is a great listen. Her voice is obviously fantastic, and the production sensibly puts it centre stage. It's very atmospheric. Yes the lyrics are all a bit trite, and I'm not going to actively seek this out to listen by myself. But next time we spin up the Dansette and open the drinks cabinet, I'll be looking through the vinyl for Billie.

You can slow-dance thorugh the whole album. Classic pure sound of the early pop with an addition of not-so-pure voice. 3.5/5.

Pfoeeee, dit is echt een ontzettend oud album volgens mij. Waar andere oudere soulalbums nog wel wat swingender zijn, hoor je hier echt dat het oud is. Ik ben eerlijk gezegd ook niet de allergrootste fan van Billie's stem. Eigenlijk vind ik dit album een beetje saai. Ik weet het, dit is heiligsschennis want Billie Holiday is een gigantische naam, maar het is wel de waarheid. Dit zou precies zijn wat ik leuk vind, want het is jazz/soul. Maar ik vind het gewoon saai. Muzikaal gebeurt er eigenlijk vrijwel niets, met af en toe een saxofoon die ik dan wel weer meteen heel fiin vind. En dus de stem van Billie die me gewoon niet zo veel doet. Dit word denk ik gewoon een 2, puur omdat ik het saai vind, ik vind het verder niet slecht ofzo. FAVO: I'm a fool to want you, I get along without you very well,

my heaven is drowning

Shes obviously a very good singer. I just find it really boring

An incredible voice but the songs are a bit too much love based for me.

I love singers from the 50s, but her voice got annoying after a while. Beautiful music

Loveliness

It's nice to hear her later voice and even though it's clearly been through it, it's still Billie. The arrangements are lovely and she adds a lot to the songs, but I'm just not really into standards.

Nice

Lady in Satin Interesting reading about this after listening through it for the first time, as I don’t know much about her whole career outside the big songs, and it definitely felt like her voice didn’t have the sweetness and tone I’d expected. I guess drinking pints of neat vodka all day will do that. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that her voice sounds cracked and careworn in places, as it tells its own story and gives the album an edge and counterpoint to what could be a bit of a syrupy album, with its slightly Disney-esque arrangements. Every song pretty much follows that pattern of slightly schmaltzy arrangements all elevated by her vocals, but, to my ear, there is a variance to the quality of the material, meaning that when the songs are good this is excellent, but when the songs are average it’s merely good. I’m A Fool to Want You, You Don’t Know What Love Is, I Get Along Without You Very Well, You’ve Changed, But Beautiful all stand out as the highlights, particularly I’m A Fool to Want You’s vocals, and I Get Along Without You Very Well, which is just an excellent song. Kind of tricky to rate, I enjoyed the whole thing, and her vocals are uniformly excellent, but some songs are definitely of lesser quality and the arrangements do get a bit cloying and repetitive. I’d love to give it a 4 for it’s vocal, but it’s really a high 3. Hmm, I’ll tip over to 4 just as her vocals deserve it and for those highlights. 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ Playlist submission: I Get Along WIthout You Very Well

Un peu déçu par cet album de miss Holiday. Je comprends comment les critiques étaient mitigés à sa sortie car ça sonne peu inspiré en comparaison aux autres chansons que j'ai entendu d'elle. C'est très monotone, très unidimensionnel, sa voix est très peu exploitée (évidemment elle n'en avait plus à cause des abus de substances). 5/10

This album, to me, is a prime example how a great blues voice can lift the somewhat mediocre orchestrated songs to a higher level.

God damn I'm depressed...

And here it is, the last album on my list. Yesterday's was Limp Bizkit, so I think it just goes to show you what a wide variety the list has. Maybe too much 80s synth pop, but, y'know, whatever. As for this, it's gorgeous, lush, beautiful. I don't know what else I could say about this that hasn't been said already: it's an album that you absolutely float around to. Favorite tracks: "For All We Know", "It's Easy To Remember"

Didn't showcase Ms Holiday's best but it was an excellent soundtrack to wandering around looking at Jacaranda trees in full and glorious bloom

While the songs feel a bit same-y at times, Billie's voice is angelic and has that iconic grit that can only be associated with her singing. Perfect for listening on a lazy, breezy Sunday morning - or while nursing a glass of whiskey in a darkened bar.

Nice background music, but not sure I would listen to it very often.

Very chill.

Emotional and vulnerable, perfect.

I will always pull through for Billie Holiday. Her beautiful, enchanting vocals have a way of enhancing any song that she is a part of. However, it has to be said that all of the songs here maintain a very similar sound and blend together. There’s nothing standout or particularly enticing, but it all makes for good, easy listening on a nostalgic Sunday morning or at a jazz bar on a rainy evening.

Vocal jazz - one of these albums that are fully justified for being included on the list, but are just a little too boring.

Holiday's voice might not have been in the best shape anymore for recording this album, but I still very much enjoyed her performance of the songs, accompanied by beautiful orchestral arrangements.

I don't get excited about this but it's smooth jazz for in the background.

Obviously a lot of talent, but I was really bored during this. Not for me at all.

when records come out of particularly significant circumstances, for obvious reasons because of how Art Works those circumstances arent usually visible in the final product in a totally unambiguous unavoidable way. just about the only way it can is if it noticeably changes how the record Sounds, and the instrument most prone to bearing the weight of the circumstances it lives thru (without being replaceable) is ofc the human voice. there is a great and beautiful orchestra present here delivering very moving (and sometimes heartrending on their own) renditions of the songs here, but it wouldnt have a tenth of the power without billie's voice. ravaged by decades of abuse, substance and otherwise, it still proves incredibly expressive both in its inherent characteristics and in the choices she makes...her jazzy phrasing is lowkey conversational, lends recognizable readable emotions to lyrics that might pass you by could u simply get lost in the melody. ive seen descriptions to the effect that she sounds like she's about to drop dead but this is counter to the appeal to me honestly...she sings with patience and presence , sounding not one bit fearful of time. a rly rly difficult listen honestly,,,partly because of billie's life ofc but more immediately and enduringly how that life created this sound, which is at times excruciatingly painful even as it is totally beautiful and approachable

It feels almost wrong to say this, but I just don't care for Lady In Satin. In particular, I don't care for Billie Holiday's voice. The tone and delivery grates on me. Also, every song sounds the same. She's a legendary musician, but she doesn't appeal to me at all.

Good singing, production, and compositions. However vocal jazz is just not my jam.

Love it

beautiful instrumentals, a little slow sometimes

Þessi plata hreyfir ekki mikið við mér í dag. Mjög falleg tónlist og Billie er frábær. Þetta eru of miklar drama krúsídúllur fyrir mig og of mikil vocal-jazz fyrir minn smekk.

Mjög ljúft og þægilegt.

Albumi #62, 28.09.2024 Käheä-äänisen jazz-laulajatarlegendan viimeinen julkaistu albumi hänen elinaikanaan vuodelta 1958. Hienostuneita jazz-balladeita, mutta ei kovin kiinnostavaa musiikkia omaan makuuni.

Beautiful vocals and my favorite one was i'm a fool to want you, loved the lyrics and the melody <3 The rest of the songs were a little flat for me but still beautiful music.

Beautiful.

Dated lyrics and themes but a lovely listen

Folks sure loved differently back in the day. Not my fave of her songs but some classics.

own

This one wasn't my style necessarily, but I can really appreciate her voice and the stories she is telling through the songs on the album. I enjoyed it enough.

Nice enough but just not my genre.

I just don't get on with her voice I'm afraid

Her voice is amazing. The music is mellow. But lordy it is samey, unengaging and pedestrian. I want to love it, but I just can't.

Weird, I get that she’s got pipes but it really didn’t do anything for me at all. Disappointed to say the least.

Listened to it in a hot tub, didn't I. That improved it somewhat, but ultimately it was still someone with an absolutely world class voice singing songs that sound like a Disney princess should be singing them.

Nice smooth jazz album

Ok

These songs all sound the same.

She's got a lovely voice, sure. It's just not doing anything that interests me, unfortunately. Getting this one the day after Nina Simone is possibly doing her a disservice as I feel similarly about both, but it's not a genre I enjoy listening to a lot.

The voice is smooth and iconic. The music sounds like a lazy Sunday afternoon. My only issue with it is that it all sounds like a lazy Sunday afternoon. It could use a little bit of variety.

Holy crap this is so annoying and bland and repetitive.

Jazz vocal. Ni fu ni fa.

Rollete. Largo.

This must be the oldest album I have gotten so far, and this is also quite honestly the first time an album has stunted me for words (so far). I don't quite know how to review this one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with anything here. Billie Holiday has one of the most warm and soothing voices I have ever heard, and she matches up perfectly with the slow tempo jazz and gorgeous orchestral arrangements; all thanks to a pretty good song selection throughout the tracklist. She sings with so much soul you can tell she is heavily invested in the material she is pouring her heart into. However, this is one of those times where I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. This isn't something I would go out of my way to listen to, but it can all be appreciated on some level; and that's where I stand regarding this album. Not my jam, but I can totally understand why people would love it and why it is on the 1001 albums list. A high 3/5 for me.

kaffihús og depra. en ótrúleg helvítis rödd auðvitað. þetta gerir lítið fyrir mig vanalega en gefum þessu aðra umferð. 3,5.

I loved this record. Beautiful, dreamy, soothing.

1.5/5

I thought I would like Billie Holiday. Nope! At least not this album.

A bit of a snoozefest! The orchestra was pleasant and Billie is talented, just not really my jam.

I HATED this one I'm sorry to say! The songs were quite nice although a bit boring. But her voice was terrible And it just kept going on and on. Multiple versions of the same songs - it was too much! I really was begging for this one to end and I struggled getting through it 1 ⭐️

I wanted to like this more than I did.

Was about to write how good this album is, but apparently I was listening to a different record by Billie Holiday. This one is much more toned down and actually not that interesting as I would assume. Beautiful voice, but boring album.

Unmistakeable, timeless and unmatched.

Billie Holiday is a name I have heard and I knew she was a jazz singer but I don't think I have ever heard any of her music. I can see why she was known for her voice, though I am not wild about some of the way she uses it for some reason. I personally wasn't a huge fan of this album but I was still very glad I listened. I think everyone should definitely experience this once.

Amazing voice but all the songs blend and blur together. Without looking at each track go by, I wouldn't be able to tell when one ends and another begins. All too samey

More velvet than satin

Classic album with great Songs.

I’m truly just not the biggest vocal Jazz guy, but this is very good. She was excellent. 3.5/5

Okay

Billie does a Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning here by making the focus how her voice has changed over the years. It’s a beautiful album, but not quite as effective because her voice is in worse condition

In principe sta ik vrij positief tegenover dit soort muziek, laat maar komen die jazz uit de ouwe doos. En dit is dan 'de' Billie Holiday. Maar die schraapstem! Ik kan er niet aan wennen. Neem eens een dropje, en stop eens met roken, denk je dan.

Ik heb zo vaak over Billie gehoord en zo weinig van haar gehoord. Leuk om het nu geserveerd te krijgen. Het blijkt een krachtige fijne stem, maar ook heel gedateerd en klein begeleid. Je mist toch joie die bijvoorbeeld een Shirley Bassey later wel toevoegt. Het duurt nu al snel te lang. Dit is zo'n album waarvan af en toe een nummer voorbij moet komen in je playlist.

"Toegegeven, het album heeft een duistere bekoring die even betoverend als aangrijpend is als het kijken naar een heroineverslaafde die een shot zet". Aldus de 1001-auteur van dienst. Daarbij verwijzend naar het feit dat tante Billie aan de troep zat. Nu heeft heroïne ons heel veel goede muziek gegeven (en levens verpest), maar je hoort hier wel heel erg dat ze goed naar de kloten is. Komt nog eens bij dat dit genre muziek totaal niet aan mij besteed is. Toch moet ik zeggen dat tante Billie wel een kleine snaar weet te raken. De muzikale arrangementen op de achtergrond treuren mee om dat wat ooit is geweest: een betere stem, een beter leven, geen verslaving. Het is wel echt muziek voor op de zondagochtend en het tempo is bijzonder laag. Maar omdat ze niet meer kan uithalen met haar stem, houdt ze het allemaal heel klein. En dat komt de muziek ten goede. Na de eerste noten dacht ik aan een 1, maar ik kan er alsnog best een 3 voor geven.

I like her voice, though I understand that it's not to everybody's taste. The material was a little schmaltzy for me. Overall I preferred the Ella/Gershwin album.

I liked this! A nice lil album I was thinking that the songs were all a bit similar but I liked them 4.5 rounded up to 5, I think the last couple of songs helped bump it up

Good

Feels like an old classic Christmas

Holiday croons in a way that makes it feel like you’re being embraced by all the best holidays.

Holiday's weathered, vulnerable voice intertwined with lush orchestrations creates a haunting, emotionally resonant capstone to her illustrious career.

definitely one for the small dark whiskey bar vibes or a lazy sunday afternoon. Didnt hate it but didnt fall in love with it.

Lidt langt, lidt kedeligt. Hør bedre af andre.

Hun synger da okay godt. Ikke sådan at det rører mig, og det gør musikken slet ikke. Den er nærmest så enslydende at jeg ikke opdagede hvornår et nummer sluttede, og et nyt begyndte. Strygerne minder om musik fra 50er film (duh!) eller tidlige disney film (hvilket vel lidt er det samme). Det kan være udemærket som baggrunds musik, men jeg bliver ikke fænget af det.

Oldish jazzy sounding album, a bit sad. 30s 40s?

50s jazz from the queen

Really enjoyed this! Listened twice.

Really lovely. I love albums that make me feel like I'm in a movie and this one did exactly that :)

Beautiful, beautiful tunes!! I was roused with each swell of the strings and with each quiver of her voice!

Very pleasant!

Read up on Billie Holiday's very tragic life... had never listened to her music, the songs were very pretty and this was a very nice album.

I don’t dislike Billie Holiday by any means, but I do have to give this a low rating because it made me suicidal.

Not my thing

Aight

Great choons! One of my dad’s favourite singers

I didn't know what Billie Holiday sounded like. I was expecting a voice like Ella Fitzgerald, so I was taken aback when she started singing. She has an odd, old lady smoker voice, which is fair enough considering she had probably been singing in smoky night clubs her entire adult life. I got used to it. As far as the album goes, it's slow, dreamy orchestral jazz. There's not much of a difference one track to the next. It's mood music. Favorite track: You Don't Know What Love Is

She has a nice voice, the arrangements are smooth, simple and do well to compliment Holiday's vocals. From what I am to understand, this album is sort of a swan song for her as she was withering away from alcohol and drug abuse which certainly adds an emotional undertone to some of the lyricism and music. The album itself probably goes on for a tad bit too long but it does manage to be a relaxing listen. Having said all that though, personally, this album just doesn't really do much for me, as smooth and relaxing as it is. I'm probably just not into vocal jazz enough to fully appreciate it.

So sad for Billie.

another genre i've heard a lot from and loved for a long time but never fully delved into...Holiday's tender, pained vocals never cease to amaze 10/10

This album, released near the end of Billie's life, doesn't present her at her best, in my opinion. Her voice can no longer hit the highs it used to, due to a life of rough living. The songs aren't particularly strong either, blending into one another without much to differentiate them. I can't say I enjoyed this listen all that much, but because it's Billie Holiday, I can't quite give her two stars. Let's settle on 3?

Nice voice

Very textured voice, but every song sounded the same. I didn't realize I was on the fifth song until I looked - it could have been the second or the seventh. I know there are better Billie Holiday albums out there.

Nice vocal jazz that sometimes reminds me of Disney music. Her voice doesn't seem to be as smooth as other vocal jazz I have enjoyed, and the songs do start to sound a little samey around halfway through.

I enjoyed this but by one hour Billie's voice got a little tiring on me. Still a good record and another win for 50s jazz.

I know she's a legend and respect that. Just did not work for me.

3 - demasiado oldie para mis gustos

Not my favorite

Idk why they went with this one for Billie. Shes still amazing tho

Did not enjoy it unfortunately. Felt like one samey-sounding song for the entire thing

Billie Holiday has such a profound effect on music as a whole, and this album showcases it all. While the instrumentals themselves sounds like you’re being laid down on fresh satin sheets, and Billie’s voice caresses you, the lyrics themselves are a painful reminder that love is not always guaranteed. A beautiful juxtaposition of pain and courage to seek new horizons while longing for one who held you close at one time. Beautiful album.

I love Billie Holiday! I enjoyed this album more and more throughout, but it doesn’t have any of my favorite songs from her on it. She is one of those artists that has a zillion albums/live albums, so I’ll be interested to see if any more are on the list. One thing that was neat about this album was that it showed you behind the scenes a little bit. You got to hear a few takes with some stopping and starting. It was cool, but also jarring and overall I would say that it took away from the album. Based upon my reviews for the list so far, coupled with my love for Billie, 3 is fair for me here.

I was really enjoying having this album on in the background, right up until the last half hour of the album is the same song over and over. I’d definitely listen to this again for background music, but just the first half. Billie Holiday is a massively important artist but as an album, it just doesn’t hold up.

I love Billie's voice. It's somehow sweet and gravely at the same time. I love her vibrato, and I even like the ASMR sounds right before she starts singing. That being said, I'm not crazy about the songs. They're all very similar with a meandering drum and bass line. The only variations that I can think of is the trumpet in "But Beautiful". This would be a 2 if it was based on songs alone, but Billie brings it up to a 3.

Fantastic, no surprise there.

need to try again

Really beautiful singing but such a shame that her life was taking its toll.

Smooth sultry songs

Smoky vocals

The last album recorded and released during her turbulent life. The voice was apparently shot, but it sounds perfect to me for these sad, sad songs. An auditory version of sleeping pills and cheap red wine. Best Tracks: I'm a Fool to Want You; You Don't Know What Love Is; You've Changed

I know I’ve heard Billie Holiday before, but I’m not sure what songs I’ve heard. None on this album felt familiar, so it must be something from elsewhere. Her voice sounds wise beyond her years. Wikipedia says she passed away in her 40s, but I would have guessed from her husky vocals that she would have been older even when recording this. Everything here felt quite depressing, but in a way that felt warm to listen to. You know, the blues. Anyway, I really like this.

Antigueira 1959. Jazz. Tipo um Sinatra feminino. Legal

undeniably beautiful, like a classic hollywood movie

I'm a Fool to Want You