Lady In Satin

Pleasant. I feel like if I was sitting in a smoky whiskey bar I would've been more into it...

Billie Holiday has such a recognizable voice. It is so raspy, smokey, and beautiful. She is one of the greatest female crooners. Ray Ellis' orchestra is beautiful. The music is low, with Billie's voice overtop, but every now and again, waves of strings and flutes wash over you, and then amazing trumpet solos blow the roof off the place. This album features songs that are about love and heartbreak. I am not a huge fan of jazz, but can absolutely appreciate it all the same. Favourite songs: I'm a Fool to Want You, The End of a Love Affair, But Beautiful, For Heaven's Sake Least favourite songs: Violets for Your Furs, You've Changed, I Get Along Without You Very Well 3/5

Something about this type of music just gets me. However, I think her voice was better in her earlier works.

It has a nice feel to it. My complaint it that it’s hard to separate songs from each other since they all sounds so similar. 6/10

Not my thing

Relaxing to listen to. Felt like Christmas music.

sweet

Got to give it up for Billie. Great voice and a super solid backing track, the horns tie the bow on the album for me. Transported to a black and white Noire/romance film with every song, though it’s slightly hard to distinguish when one song ends and the next begins

Her voice was shot and everything became repetitive.

good background. not necessarily my cup of tea but. it was nice.

That’s a voice that, while still sultry, has hit the bottle hard.

I can't imagine anyone adamantly disliking this kind of music - it is so simple and honest, soothing and relaxing, reminiscent of a much simpler era. At the same time, I can't imagine very many new listeners in 2022 getting really excited about this kind of music either, because it is so very simple and straightforward. Billie's voice is timelessly beautiful, the instrumentation is classically pure, there just isn't any substance or complexity to really dig into which would make this album more of a repeat listen, for me. Standout tracks: "I'm a Fool to Want You", "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "But Beautiful"

OooOoOooOooOooooooooo

I can appreciate the music here, but, much like any jazz music, I need to be in a certain mood, and sadly was not in the mood yesterday. However I will be adding some of these songs to my jazz collection that weren't already there.

Billie Holiday’s voice is absolutely beautiful, and each song by itself is a lovely experience. But listening to the album as a whole, it was very difficult to distinguish when one song ended and the next began. It was nice background music to listen to while working on projects, but I don’t think I’d choose to listen to the entire album again. I think this music is best appreciated and enjoyed in small doses.

The poetry of falling in love, heartbreak, longing, losing, and all the loving in between.

This one often comes up in lists of best records ever (or just best *jazz* records, but given the gaping holes in Dimery's list in that specific genre, you can't expect it to be fully taken seriously anyway...). Towards the end of her life, Billie had the idea to record her own "In The Wee Small Hours", and when you listen to the lush strings orchestration around her gracile, fragile voice, it sure seemed like a great idea on paper. Holiday was no Sinatra, especially at this point of her broken life, so the overall effect is altogether different from Frank's crooning. But whatever huge fans of Lady Day's might first think of *Lady In Satin*'s overall concept, they must absolutely listen to this album at least once in their lives, that's for sure... Yet can the same be said for fans of music in general? For me there are at least two records from Holiday's fifties period that should be listened to first, *before this one*, if only for the timeless jazz standards that can be found in them. The first is *Stay With Me*, a generally lively, big band record which can boast of great versions of "Ain't Misbehaving", "Everything Happens To Me" and "Say It Isn't So". And the second is the very melancholic *Lady Sings The Blues*, with wondrous cuts such as the title track, "Love Me Or Leave Me", "Too Marvelous For Words", but most especially a poignant and very melodramatic take on her legendary "Strange Fruit", one of the best protest songs ever written throughout history. Compared to those timeless standards, the compositions of *Lady In Satin* sound a bit lackluster and samey, in spite (or maybe actually *because*) of their classy " third stream" orchestration. The writer of these lines prefers to hear a "rawer", back-to-blues-basic, version of Lady Day, no matter how raw her vocal performance actually is on this record. Which implies a tracklising a little more focused and dynamic than the one found in *Lady In Satin*, even if "dynamic" will never ne the right word for Billie Holiday's nonchalant art... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 879 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 65 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 30 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 27

I’ve heard versions of some of these before. Not my jam but it’s not bad.

Not her greatest in my opinion, but hey, she's Billie, so an extra half star for being her. There is never mistaking her voice and phrasing, and sometimes it's amazing, others, well, not so much.

This was fine, no more and no less in my opinion.

Slow & sensual. Felt pretty boring as a whole.

Old school music - beautiful voice with orchestra in the background.

A treacly, deeply scarred voice. Her unique talent is for exercising complete control over it without letting that control preclude her from baring her soul.

Respect but not enjoy.

A very nice album, and she has a lovely voice but not truly standout for me. Unlike some of the others in this genre have been for me.

Great music, but not my genre.

¡Qué manera de sufrir esta mujeeeeeeeeeer! Muy sentido y triste todo lo que cantó. Me dejé llevar y lo sentí con ella.

Again, an album on the list because the artist didn't release many records int he form we would consider the album format as currently understood. Billie Holiday's best years were well past by the time she recorded this, the year before she died. Alcoholic, drug addicted, and broke, she did convince Columbia to sign her, give her an unlimited recording budget, and access to her arranger of choice and great material from the American songbook (although sings she had not recorded before. With a lush, rich, middle-of-the-road orchestral backing, her voice is cracked and creaking, but still with her timing, emotion and intimacy intact. That amount of vocal fry was, at the time, unheard of, but has become almost normal now. Even when barely singing, she still casts a long shadow today in her phrasing, the way she moves around a melody, and in the dry, croaking tone that is now common. She certainly lives in the songs, and the emotional truth is extraordinary.

It's okay, but not really my preferred style. Everything sounded quite alike. Nice to listen to though.

Billie Holiday is lovely but this album is quite repetitive - it’s a nice long song - as a whole it’s great but it’s hard to pick individual songs.

Reminds Shannah of Christmas. (2/5) Bill felt it was a little samey. Felt like B-sides. (2.5/5) Jane didn't hear it. Conor thought there were some great melodies, though not a lot of variety throughout. (3/5) 2.5/5

It's lovely but the jazzy lounge sound does get a little boring after a while. Lovely dinner sou Daypack but I probably wouldn't revisit it otherwise

C'est fou de penser qu'avec cette voix, elle a seulement autour de 40 ans. C'est une artiste incontournable qui a influencé plein d'autres chanteuses. Sa voix est plus agréable sur l'album Velvet Mood, mais cet album est très important dans sa discographie.

Lush arrangements and Billie's voice is as emotional as ever. Bit subdued and one-paced for my taste.

Billie Holiday’s voice is classic and unique, even on “Lady in Satin” late in her career when years of alcohol and drug abuse had led to a more raspy texture. In fact, that raspy texture can sound pretty great - but what it took to get Holiday there is tragic.

The crossover from jazz to the traditional love tunes did not rock my world. I wanted to see more experimentation which was clearly not the objective of the producer.

Nice voice!

Gotta say I’m a little unmoved or underwhelmed by this (given how I would have expected to react and my excitement at first hearing your music decades ago). I think these recordings with overly formal arrangements, mannerly phrasing and lush and syrupy strings are not aging well to my ears. Still, one of the most distinctive voices ever.

Bleak and pleasant at the same time. Amazing voice, but dinner party arrangements.

Malo mi je album ko album dosadnjikav. Mislim da je Billie bila zena za singlove. Al inace big fan, big, big fan.

Bio sam upoznat ovim imenom, ali nikad nisam ništa njeno slušao. Definitivno ima poseban glas, nije savršen, nije predivan, ali ima svoj glas. Melankolija vlada albumom, i slušajuć ovo se nalazim u prostoriji gdje gori kamin, vani je hladno, mrak je, moguć snijeg, a ja sjedim u fotelji čitajuć knjigu uživajuć uz jednu čašu finog vina. Moglo bi se reći da je u nekom osjećajnom debaklu, ljubavnom klinču gdje vodu okreće na svoj mlin. Orkestralno je popraćena sa kombinacijom jazza i to mi se jako sviđa. *3.5*

Jučer rat, danas instrumentali koji podsjećaju na falloutov neki radio.

It’s not my style, but it’s still good music

Inimitable raspy voice, powerful songs.

2/13/2022 Today's Album: "Lady In Satin" by Billie Holiday - This record is very similar to the softer slow dance moments on the last record. This sounds like if Nina Simone was plucked out of 1966 and put into 1958 and was told to make music that sounded like Louie Armstrong. Her vocals are very raspy and I don't think I'm a huge fan of them, but joined with the orchestral backdrop that feels like it belongs in a musical makes the general vibe feel whimsical and angelic. All of the songs are quite slow and have a similar beat to them, but I think it would be perfect for having family over and having something simple going on in the background. It feels classic and it would probably match most holiday vibes. It's not something I would listen to on a regular basis and it does much less than the Nina Simone record to innovate the sound that was all over this record. Not terrible to listen to but might put you to sleep. Score: 6 A bit boring Highlights: Any/None

Listening to this while wandering around Seoul forest was an interesting experience.

3, Don't listen to this genre often, she had a wiggy voice

I hadn't really heard Billy Holiday before and expected this to be easy to enjoy. The pace is certainly slow, though I think her voice isn't as warm (and a little warbly) as i thought it would be and isn't something i really fell into. Interesting to listen to.

Amb la veu rasposa i esguinçada per les drogues, Holiday dona llum al seu testament, un mes abans de morir. Els arranjaments són excelsos i tapen la feblesa de l'abans mejestuosa veu. Posat en el seu context, és un disc a admirar i celebrar. Escoltat sense context, és un disc pesumbrós, trist i dur

Track 01 - 3.25/5 Track 02 - 2.5/5 Track 03 -2.75/5 Track 04 - 2.25/5 Track 05 - 2.5/5 Track 06 - 2.75/5 Track 07 - 3.5/5 Track 08 - 2.25/5 Track 09 - 2.75/5 Track 10 - 2.25/5 Track 11 - 2.5/5 Track 12 - 2.5/5 Track 13 - 3.25/5 Track 14 - 3.5/5 Track 15 - 2.25/5 Track 16 - 2.5/5 Overall: 3.25/5 Album Art: 3/5

не ну наврено прикольно да, но я прям не слушаю чот такое все. Хотя на скока я знаю она крутая, но типо ваще нет никогда настроя на такую музыку

Pleasant but slow imo

Haunting voice that walks the line with being straight up goofy. A little sleepy

Mi piace molto l'accompagnamento orchestrale e penso sia musica molto piacevole, però non mi piace molto la sua voce né il suo stile, tipo louis armstrong, troppo vibrato...

Rustige kerstvibe

Music has come a long way. This was pleasant, but boring. I've heard countless female artists list Billie as a major influence, but I was underwhelmed.

solid just not that memorable.

I feel like I want to like this more than I actually like it. There is no question that she's a great singer, and some of these songs are really beautiful, but overall they do sound very much the same.

Songs too slow

Great voice and delivery. Such an icon! I never did establish an ear for the kind or orchestration that was used for this album, though.

There's no denying she has an incredible voice, and this is an effortless listen. It's not to my personal taste but I absolutely appreciate the craft and orchestration.

There's some things I really like here

Holiday's stylized vocals don't match my tastes, though she is still a great singer and everything else is jazzy bliss.

Such are the baselines that we messure against.... Presence, style, wrapping in the warmth... Enjoying this quite a bit

6/10. Lovely vocal performances but every song sounded the same :/

5/10. Okay, but didn't feel like it really held up

Nice orchestration with pleasant vocals

Qué voz. Saber sentir una canción que no has escrito tú e interpretarla de esa forma me parece un superpoder. No podía dejar de pensar en cómo hubiera sonado su voz diez años después, con una producción. El constante arreglo de cuerdas me ha cansado. Trascendencia:8 Género:7. Jazz? Muy easy listening para ser jazz. Opinión:8. Los dos puntos se los quito por las ganas que me han quedado de escucharla sin tanta puta cuerda

Where am I at with this one? It's Billie Holiday and I love a lot of her songs. This is good and all, but there's something in her voice that sounds tired to me and I couldn't get that out of my head. It's nice to listen to but I don't think I'd go back to it.

Prachtig kalm album met een licht kerstgevoel

What a voice!! Like many other artists that are listed on here Billie Holiday is another I have never listened to. Such a lovely rich voice that sings with so much emotion, was really impressed with this.

Good. Each song blended into the next.

I like some of her stuff but her voice really doesn't do it for me. Bonus point for growing up a few blocks away

Enjoyed the smooth dulcet tone as if I was in a film noir.

На большого любителя, не зашло

Такая камерная музыка с томным и вязким женским вокалом. Если бы я послушал это, не посмотрев дату альбома, подумал бы что это записано в 1920-х .. Подошло бы для мультика Диснея или же для какого нибудь нуарного фильма! Послушав дольше, погрузился в некую атмосферу спокойствия, как будто перенесся в фильм в роли с самим собой. Взаимодействие голоса и такого количества инструментов удивительно.

was okay in my opinion. billie holiday has a special voice and yet its not for me lots of classics, 3/5

I liked this album. But I don't yearn to hear it again.

It will never be my desert island Billie Holiday album, partly the choice of material, partly because her voice has lost much of its power. That said, it has many beautiful and poignant moments. The delicate orchestration supports and caresses Billie's fragility rather than overwhelming her voice.

Very old timey music; lady singing really slowly about love to an orchestral backing. My grandparents would have thought this was the bee's knees.

every song filled with feeling and great technique, altough not my style makes for a great performance

Just fine.

Nice, pleasant album. Billie Holiday's voice is full of emotion and feeling and the songs are all sad in their own subtly different ways. That said, the songs do blend together and are hard to distinguish from each other. Can't really imagine listening to this to just enjoy it and I think that's what music is really about.

She can sing. I didn't care for the music.

I wasn't sure about the vocal style at first, but I think I like it. It sounds to me like a trumpet soloist. Enjoyed this one

Schöner, gemütlicher Gesang mit Trompete

Easy listening with warbly vocals. Bit of a miss for me, but this is easy to listen to.

Buena música, buena voz... Pero es el segundo disco consecutivo del estilo que me sale y son estilos que tienes que escuchar en cierto estado de ánimo y momento del día para que te guste de verdad.

I don't have a lot to say about this album. It's a nice time capsule of music from the 50s

Such a rich full voice The 50’s vibes are amazing Brass is so nice, slow guitar Kinda sounds like a Disney soundtrack For all we know is a highlight

First song very raspy, tickled my ears. This album is just one verrry long song.

If you listen to recordings from the 30's or 40's she had a beautiful voice but here she sounds like an old lady, even though she was only 42 years old at the time. But I do think the soft and romantic orchestra presents an interesting contrast to her voice and it gives a sense of nostalgia which matches the tone of the lyrics quite well

Easy listening - I like it.

I enjoy the album as a stark departure from the normal djent/metal that I listen to. I don’t know that I necessarily like how she leans into the vibrato on every held note but I think that’s more a product of the time/genre.

I hesitate to disparage Billie Holliday but these songs are almost all the same. Tempo, dynamics. The melodies vary and obviously her voice rises above it all. Still, there's something staid about this that disengages me.

nice

In which Billie Holiday does Frank Sinatra's 'In The Wee Small Hours'. Her voice is cooked after years of alcohol and drug abuse, but the arrangements complement what's left of her voice, and the result manages to be harrowing yet triumphant at the same time.

Not an album to listen to whilst working, at least not for me. Its very good, her voice is incredible. I just don't know when/where I'll listen to it again.

Quite good

A perfectly fine, pleasant album, but for some reason I just never connect as well to Billie Holiday as I do to her contemporaries, like Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald. A lot of the songs I’ve heard done by other artists that I prefer, but it was still a perfectly nice listen.

Quite nice relaxing music.

not my music but its good in the background. i understand the appeal; billie holiday was a heck of a vocalist

Classic, but wasn't really my jam.

Billie’s top notch, but this is maybe not her best

Classic voice and nice easy listening jazz

The events leading to the recording of this album were interesting to read about before listening. Helped me appreciate the tone and setting Billie and Ray were going for.

Yeah was alright. Enjoyed. 6.5/10

This is an okay album. A little redundant at times. Still, I love BH's voice!

Voz y orquestación. Un poco igual

3.7 - sumptuous but a little same same throughout

Beautiful vocals that I could listen to forever. Everything was pretty samey throughout. This is Sunday music.

Voz sedosa y negra como pocas.

Bonito y tranquilo. Jazz clásico. Como es de sus últimos discos está mejor grabado.

Soul, jazz. Un poco aburrido.

Nice

Nice rainy day music. Not my taste but I like the mood it instills. The songs feel like they they should play over the opening credits of a movie set in Paris. The more albums I listen to the more I see the importance of song order. There needs to be an ebb and flow to stop songs from feeling redundant. Lady in Satin doesn't really do that.

Iconic woman in a terrible time. Voice is a little harsh but very easy to listen to this album. 3.5/5

pretty but not for me

Wow. Classicly good vocals. I can't believe this was recorded over 60 years ago.

I listened to this several times. It has a pleasant sound but also a deep sadness.

This is apparently her last album? You can hear the years worn on her, but that adds a kind of beautiful-tragicness to it. I like the 1st song the best. Really makes me want to go to a Jazz bar and just sit and take it all in. 3.5 to 3 since it's a bit one-dimensional.

Great music to listen to while cooking

Like walking back in time to a rainy night in the 40s. Smooth and classic--but not something I'd listen to in my own free time (unless it was Christmas). Makes me think of Esther, which is nice.

Bel album mais je n'ai jamais aimé le Jazz vocal.

Okay

pretty but a bit one note and slow

3. She has a great voice.

I can't claim to be a connoisseur of Billie Holiday music, but this album sounded different than what I was expecting. Turns out it's because they recorded this after her voice broke down. It's rougher and more seasoned than how she sounds on her more famous works. I wish the producer would have thrown some more varied songs at her. It sounds like 12 variations on a theme, which is probably what they were going for, but not necessarily the most interesting choice they could have made. Best track: But Beautiful

Tapped into some stuff I'm going through so was a bit of a heartsore listen. Overall still a bit bland for my taste

Wonderful listen.

This sounds super dated in 2021 and tbh the "jazz singer does other people's songs" thing never really sat well with me... but this has some kind of charm to it. I was bored on the first song, but as it went on I just kept listening and listening. I can see why she's regarded as a classic singer. It's captivating in a weird way. 3/5, but it's a high 3.

No es mi estilo de música. Suena muy lindo

2.08

I struggled with Lady in Satin for one big reason. Musically it's a beautiful record, providing a rich and immersive soundscape. Unfortunately, I do not care for Billie Holiday's voice on thisrecording. It's haggard, craggy, and absolutely worn down from years and years of alcohol and heroin abuse. It would ultimately be her last album before she died at age 44, which is probably the reason for inclusion. I know it's a matter of taste, but I'd rather hear anyone else from 1958 sing these songs.

Overall, kind of a sad album. Has me wondering who did this to Billie Holiday! She has a good voice. Not really my jam. Super down tempo. 2.0/5.0 sorry Billie!

Late-career album using production tricks to cover fading skill.

This really wasn't my jam. The songs felt repetitive and the vocal delivery of miss Billie Holiday was incredibly dull after a certain point. The depth of her voice in undeniable but unfortunately I don't think it shines really well throughout the record. The beginning was nice but then it became the ultimate chore to get through. The instrumentals didn't go anywhere either. As a whole it felt like one song was playing over and over again. I read more about the tragic story of Billie Holiday and I couldn't help but wonder whether this album was a cry for help from a soul long gone. There is something eerie about her performance. The best song is "I'm a Fool to Want You".

Non c'était chiant.

I understand Holiday’s importance to music as an art form. I have nothing but the highest respect for this artist. I just don’t like her voice.

1950s jazz. The album feels very one-note because all of the songs are slow and about the same topic (relationships). You can hear the years of smoking and drug and alcohol abuse in her distinctive raspy voice, and it made the album kind of depressing to listen to.

- Billie's voice is interesting with a cool texture, here, but it doesn't have much range, and it makes it hard to find interesting variation in these songs. - I find the music on the dull side... not totally unpleasant, but dated in that 50s/60s way. I guess that's to be expected since it's all covers. Why an album of covers (of super unmemorable songs) when she has her own music? - Felt like the same song over and over, and the lyrics aren't hers (and are boring), so I just don't really care. More of your typical 50s/60s love songs. To me, the album felt like it went on forever. - Unfortunately, it also felt like a waste of an orchestra.

Idk, balsas nesužavėjo, bet melodijos ir tekstas gražūs.

Seems like this was included to shore up the obvious paucity of female artists so far, but Billie had plenty of records of varying types before this, which is not representative of her voice. Dunno. Show tunes eh?

great voice, historical importance, blah blah blah - sure...respect, but i've no desire to listen to this.

decent

Great singer and an album I'm sure is historically relevant. A little too slow for me and kind of sounded the same throughout. 2.5/5 Probably won't listen again

Not my thing

I love Lady Day but have never liked this album. It's too sad to listen to in many ways, none of them good. Her voice is gone, the orchestral swell attempts to cover and carry it all forward. The album on the whole feels like death tourism.

Respect to Billie but this was pretty samey

She is a legend but this was long

Not my cup of tea

Oldie, not Goldie

Tolle Stimme, als Album mir aber zu monoton.

I get it, but it's not for me. It's not something I would pick up and listen to often. It definitely fits a very specific vibe, but it's not mine.

Pretty good and I understand why it's on here but I don't care much for the style of singing where you make everything work through cadence. Sort of talk singing like Bob Dylan. The music is nice but nothing amazing. I know she is a legend and trying to tell a story but it's not something I would listen to again.

Whilst it was cool to get a little bit of history listening to Holiday’s haunting, broken voice, it really wasn’t that captivating a listen

Very little variety

not bad, very mid-century classic, very slow-dance, very melancholy or sad. don't mind it, but never going to be on repeat.

Quite relaxing to listen to, songs not noteworthy at all, and every single one of them sound the same

Interesting, lovely voice, but I got bored with it. All the songs sounded the same. Sorry, Billie.

The songs are nice, but I just don't enjoy her style of singing. She sounds 30 years older than she was. Doesn't work for me.

2.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/billie-holiday-and-ray-ellis-and-his-orchestra/lady-in-satin/ Holiday is obviously a voice to be reckoned with, even on this album where many claim her voice has deteriorated too much to properly enjoy. The album itself is just not very interesting, with every song sounding pretty similar due to mainly the instrumentation. Suppose there are more of het albums on this list, so interested to hear those from earlier in her career.

Look I know Billie Holiday is a classic and a legend, but I’m judging on my listening experience. This was fine. There is a place for this. But it’s not a fave. I find the slowness at times awkward for me. The songs and their lyrics are beautiful but would I come back and listen? Meh.

Vocal jazz.

A classic, I know. But tbh, you know one song you know them all.

Macy Gray does 12 subtly different takes of the theme song for a Disney Animation Studios James Bond film.

Was in at track 1. Never quite reached those heights for the rest of it though but I of this era, this is up there for me.

Clearly an influence on Lana Del Rey. It was a little samey and boring for me, but there were some pretty songs.

2.5 - good but got boring

Bra och ikonisk röst, men bedrövligt tråkiga låtar, tyvärr.

Nice, laid-back music, but a whole album of it is just a bit too much for me...

Schmalz

This sounds like a movie soundtrack. I initially didn't like her voice but it grew on me. It sounding this good despite being from 1958 is a bit crazy but I'm not sure how much the digital remaster is carrying that aspect. Overall it sounded like the same track over and over sooooooo 2

Day 231 Not remotely for me. Highlights I’m a fool to want you

relaxing

3/10

sitting here at LAX i had ample time to digest this album but unfortunately it is basically the same song for 45 minutes. i have heard very little of billie holiday, and while her voice is really nice, i do not feel like this was a great introduction to her. as ana noted, a compilation album would've worked better, because it's not like there was any pretense of this being An Album in the first place. quite unfortunate!

There's one Billie Holiday album on this list and it probably should've been a compilation album, because a lot of the best of Billie Holiday predates the album era and so were only released on singles. Gloomy Sunday or the haunting Strange Fruit, I'll be seeing you and Easy living are all great, there's absolutely enough Billie Holiday songs to compile together a great album on this list. Those were all only released as singles that were only later added into compilation albums. All this preamble is to say, despite really liking Billie Holiday, I don't like this album much. It simply doesn't hit the incredible highs of the best of Billie Holiday. There are good highlights on here, The end of a love Affair or I'm a fool to Want you, but overall this is very samey and monotonous. Songs quickly started to blend together in a way that honestly nearly put me to sleep. The singing on here is excellent, the orchestra is great but stripped back- the issue is that every song structure and tune sounds the same as the last. I hate to give this a 2, but its honestly just not her best work.

Not my cup of tea. Beautiful melodies, but a little repetitive and I’m not a big fan of the voice, either (sry)

This album starts off strong but it falls through halfway. While I’m not a huge fan of her vocal style I did enjoy the classical arrangements. I feel like the instrumentation stood out the more for me. Overall it’s a pretty decent album.

The star power of Holiday's music is palpable, no matter when in her career it was recorded. But in Lady In Satin's case, it's not particularly great-sounding or revolutionary (as a standalone record) compared to some of her earlier works. The slow tempo, identical arrangements, relatively limited range of moods... all of these are extremely consistent between the album's 12 tracks. So it's hard to enjoy this as a full album experience in the modern-day sense, something containing ups and downs and a variety of genres to demonstrate what an artist is capable of creating and performing (or, sometimes, to showcase a concept). But then, expectations of musical output were very different in the 50s. Even Elvis had only recently appeared on this scene by this point, and the British Invasion was still half a dozen years away. Are these excuses for something this unvaried – as another reviewer wrote, "listening to one monotonous 40 minute long song"? No, they aren't. We can't be holding different eras to different standards. In addition, judging by the number of streams, this record doesn't seem like a particularly influential release amidst the rest Holiday's discography. It really leads one to question why *this* album was picked, you know? You Don't Know What Love Is is an instant highlight. Not for Holiday's performance, but rather for Mel Davis's clear, angelic trumpet delivery during the solo. Later, the song But Beautiful is just as great for exactly the same reason. But all the other songs blend together, and by around the halfway point (Violets for Your Furs), I'm looking forward to the silence of the inner groove. Absolutely no effort is put into variety or textural changes. Or original compositions: every song is a cover. Shameful. We know Holiday is capable of writing good songs, based on her earlier output, so she has no excuse here. This is a weak record. 2/5 Key tracks: You Don't Know What Love Is, But Beautiful

Great voice for sure, but very dated

What can I say, not a fan..music for grand grandmothers

Album #51: Lady in Satin - Billie Holiday Genre (W): Vocal jazz No singles. I have listened to this album several times. Thoughts?: I think historically it is an important album. Billie’s penultimate album (the final one released during her lifetime) shows a weak and weary Holiday acting longingly. However, historical significance doesn’t automatically elevate an album. A lot of these songs are jazz standards that I know but don’t associate with Billie Holiday. Not the best. Favorite songs: I’m a Fool to Want You, I Get Along Without You Very Well, Glad to be Unhappy

Why? Why not show her at her best? What does this show except a great in decline?

I respect her more than I enjoy her.

Not my thing

I realise Billie’s name and influence in music is huge, but I just couldn’t get into it

I don't know, yall. Her story sure is a bit sad. How did she become so renown - logistically it's hard for me to comprehend? Jazz with vocals is not my thing but the music wasn't annoying. Glad she was able to find some joy in her life via music.

Every song sounds the same. Not bad, but not great either.

Siempre me gustó más ella por su voz que por sus canciones.

It's ok, not really my thing though

Just a little too slow for my liking

Best Song: Glad to Be Unhappy. I liked the melancholy lyrics and the trumpet. Worst Song: You Don't Know What Love Is. The warble in her voice was far too prominent in this track for me. Overall: I know it is an artifact of the times, but goddamn if it didn't feel like every song was being sung in slow motion. Her voice is nice, but I couldn't stand the pace. It's probably a fine album on at least double speed.

Her voice is so grating compared to the beautiful music

All the same song to me

Great voice but meh

Sounds like an old Christmas love movie sound track. A middle schooler would call it lame boomer music. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. Probably unfair.

If I’m dying in a nursing home beside the one I love, then and only then can you play Billie Holliday. Other than that, keep this dogshit away from me.

Man, hate to disrespect, but I never want to hear this again. Looks like this was her final album before she died, and she sounds a lot older than 44. The circumstances of her death are wild and sad. Ray Ellis and his orchestra at times sound like they’re making the most boring Bond movie ever. But, there are some moments that sound pleasant enough.

Kinda like listening to one song over and over again

very disney very old disney cute

In isolation, I like each of these songs. But as a whole, it's too much. A bit like listening to early Bond themes or your grandparents' wireless for an hour.

I sound like a simpleton but i really dont enjoy this. Her voice is kinda eartha kitt catlike to an extreme that infuriates me. To me, this is just crawlingly slow (beautiful sure but very slow) strings with an annoying sort of grandmotherly vocal. Its nice and I suppose its likeable… I understand why people like her but this is not my favorite.

Boring. Soulful, lovely voice - but a bit dull

solid 2

Amazing voice but a lot of the same, good for chilled background music

>Jazz singer in the golden age >Dies of drugs and alcohol complications Every time. It's almost like a right of passage to be one of the greats

Nice enough but also dont have the patience for any for it

An over-produced bar blues album of a great jazz singere.

Sometimes great music just doesnt resonates that much with you. This is one of those occasions for me.

Meh. All the songs sound the same

“Not quite my tempo” This like showtumes slowier vibe I think for the most part just drags. Spotify keeps scaring me making me think this is an over an hour album when really just 43 minutes but still really boring. I will admit I was playing cod in the background so they didn’t blend well together. The one exception I’ve found so far for slow show toon jazz vibe is in the wee small hours of the night which I really liked but this ain’t it chief!

This is quite a slow album, pretty repetitive, but overall sounds nice for background listening. It is jazzy and calm, and given that it's from 1958, this was probably pretty nice back then as well.

Lovely

It's what I expected. All the songs are basically the same. Not a cohesive jazz album with a story to tell. It get more emotion out of Nina Simone . Sorry, Billie.

I asked for kimono my house in my heart since yesterday was my first sparks concert. and let me tell you a fact: they are so goddamn fucking awesomely biblical (in the liam gallagher sense, which means “extremely awesome”). but you got me this. so, i have a conflicting attitude toward singer with non-pretty voices. i think bob dylan sucks. i hate leonard cohen. i like tom waits because his voice suits his music very much. and let me get it straight: i don’t like this, but the instrumentations is really pretty. 2.5/5

Incredible voice but this is boring

Sure they are all good songs in their own right. This felt like the worlds longest single

I am going to be absolutely honest here. I don't like her voice ... and every song sounds exactly the same!

- ääni ja kasvot ei jostain syystä kohtaa - ihan kivaa entisajan jazzfiilistelyä - monet biisit kuulostaa aika samanlaisilta, tasapaksua - persoonallinen ääni ja ymmärrän miks hänest on varmasti tykätty, ei kyl itelle yhen kuuntelun jälkeen erityisesti potki

Appreciate the artist. Songs are a loiter dated and not for me.

First... the music. I don't really like it. I'm not a fan of big band orchestral "jazz". It's so old fashioned and beige. I hardly even call it jazz because it feels so watered down and over polished. Second.. her singing. It's fine but I don't feel like she's really singing about anything that her soul wants to sing about. Compare this to Nina Simone who sings with soul and feeling. I have to separate the art and the artist with this one. Total respect for who she was as an artist and her obstacles but my little stupid opinion of her music... nah. pass.

With all due respect to her impeccable talent....no thank you.

bit slow

This was a welcome relief after the horror of the Allman Brothers. The dreamy orchestrations are the perfect setting for her fragile, prematurely ancient voice. During the second song, I found myself wondering if Bob Dylan had studied her phrasing. I tired of it by the end, but I would listen to it again. When I found my attention wandering, the solos brought me back in.

Not really a fan to start with and these songs are awful. They all sound the same.

Old sounding. Vocals seem too affected for me in this day and age. I'm probably a heathen.

Two wildly different takes: 1. "Lady In Satin" is what we get for a Billie Holliday album so that she gets representation in music we should all be familiar with/hear before we die, but since albums were a nascent format in 1958, this is all we get and it's not very representative of her best work because of drugs and a production style that tried to prop her up as much as possible. 2. "Lady In Satin" is a heartbreaking performance of a giant of vocal jazz, herself heartbroken. Each note is a reminder of loss and sorrow. I'm going with 1. This is far from her best performances, but due to the constraints of the list, this is what we get. Go out and find some early Billie Holliday and see what she was really about.

Crec que ja havia escoltat aquest album.

I prefer the older, jazzier music I've heard from her. This was interesting for a listen but I don't feel I'd listen repeatedly.

Only previous experience I have had with this lady was being dragged to the cinema by a former girlfriend in the 70’s to watch Lady Sings The Blues. In my musical ignorance in those days I’d no idea who Billie Holiday was but remember being bored to death watching it. Don’t know if that bad experience influenced me or not but I continued through life completely ignoring Billie Holiday because her music meant nothing to me at all. Only recently have I eventually dipped my toe into the female jazz singer catalogue. Patricia Barber and Melanie De Biasio to name just two of my favourites. When I listen to this album I obviously compare it to these two modern contemporaries who I am sure if I were to read their biographies would cite Billy Holiday as an enormous influence. That may be so but personally i do prefer the more modern offerings. But no one can deny that Billie Holiday was a very significant artist and singer and so deserves a place on this list. 2/5 18/10/25

I love Bob Dylan, love Neil Young, love Joni Mitchell. Non of them can be described as having conventional voices. But Billie Holliday's voice leaves me cold. Would like it to be different. It is what it is.

The production on this album is dreamlike. The vocals though are not. They are weathered and not as effective as before. Something does not quite happen within the marriage of instrumentation and voice. Better collections of Billie holiday are available

Reminds me of old cartoons/Disney movies. All the songs kind of blended into one. Nothing really stood out to me. Favorite song: n/a

Sad smoky warbling. Can think of precisely zero occasions when I would think "oooooh, I must play this"

Honestly didn’t really like this, the vocals were kinda off putting and the instrumental wasn’t that interesting. 2 stars

Holiday’s voice sounds like the floorboards are about to give, which, in her case, is another way of saying it sounds like truth. Her life was nothing short of tumultuous, and her singing on this record, recorded a year before her death, is a testament to everything she endured. It’s too bad that her voice is accompanied by an orchestra whose sole job it seems was to soften the pain and tiredness emanating from that truth but really just ends up diminishing the power of the performances. This isn’t jazz so much as exploitation.

Old school female crooning. Decent voice, inspiration for Winehouse? It gets old so quickly Spotify version has bonus tracks.. not listening to those thanks! Best track - any, they all sound the same... picking Glad to Be Unhappy since that's how this album makes me feel. 2 stars

I didn’t really like this one

I thought it started pretty strong and I enjoyed the self-aware lyrics in her recognition of being in a relationship that she just can't quit. But this all started to blur together, and frankly bored me by the midpoint.

Amazing voice obviously but musically not all that interesting

Love the instrumentation, don’t love Billie Holiday’s voice. She was in her early 40’s when this was recorded but she sounds at least 70. Plus, I can hear every single one of her mouth noises in perfect clarity on this recording and it’s driving me nuts. It’s like listening to someone chew peanut butter slowly with their mouth open. 2.4/5

I felt like I listened to a lot of slow dance songs. I like jazz but this was a bit too slow and a bit too much for me. She has a great voice though.

vocal jazz... het is een genre maar niet het mijne... sorry aan alle puristen (maar toch niet)

I've heard plenty of Billie Holiday that I liked, but this one is just incredibly slow. Like painfully slow. Up the tempo just a notch and I'd have liked it. Up it a couple of clicks on the dial and I might have loved it.

1.9 I went off this the more I listened to it. At first I was intrigued, but god does it get grating after a while. I'm not sure why I gave it a third play through. Also, can we not normalise albums full of cover songs on here?

Not bad, just boring

Meh

Lady in Satin is often spoken about as a poignant, late-period work, but as an actual listening experience it is hard to enjoy. Billie Holiday’s voice by this point had lost much of its strength and clarity, leaving her delivery fragile and often strained. The orchestral arrangements behind her are lush and carefully put together, but they highlight just how much she was struggling to carry the melodies. Songs that should sound elegant or heartbreaking instead come across as tired, and it makes the record more uncomfortable than moving. There is certainly historical weight in hearing Holiday so near the end of her career, and some listeners might find the vulnerability powerful in its own way. Yet musically, it does not come together. The orchestra feels disconnected from the worn, shaky vocals, and the result is an album that is easier to respect as a document of an artist’s decline than to enjoy as a record.

William Holiday. Excellent. The 50’s. My most overinflated decade. Nothing has been outright bad, but nothing has blown my mind either. Of course because the rest of the music from other eras has been generally so dreadful, it looks from my profile as though I’m one of those guys that wears porkpie hats and pines for the bygone era of lobotomized housewives and segregation. I’m not, ok? I know that Billie Holiday has a unique voice, so I’m excited for this, but I’m not excited for every song to be along the same lyrical lines as every other 50s song. Ooooh you love me and I love you, OR you don’t love me, but I love you OR we loved but you left for another. The trinity of boredom. Will the unique tone of her voice trump tired lyrical tropes? Or will I be whisked in a blender of mediocrity? What is that metaphor? Ugh. I’m a Fool to Want You - Oh boy. This is what this is hey? Billie Holiday near the end of her life. The voice is raspy. This is the exact kind of sentiment that fits this sound. Miserable, dark, and eerie. For Heaven’s Sake - See, this is the opposite of what this should be. This is incredibly creepy, but seeing as it isn’t intentional, it just comes off as sad. You Don’t Know What Love Is - Not a huge fan of the instrumentation on this one. It feels soaring and triumphant at times where that just shouldn’t be the case here. Between the voice and the general state of this person singing, this should take a different avenue. I Get Along Without You Very Well - More Disney music with these tortured vocals that are singing the strangest lyrics I can fathom this voice to sing. For All We Know - What can I say? This format may be dead soon. I can’t comment on each and every track when they’re all kinda the same thing. Violets For Your Furs - What a bummer of a trade. I suppose PETA will be amped that you have got rid of your furs, but a paltry bouquet of violets? Sad. You’ve Changed - Heartbreaking. More of the same musical stuff here, with this odd happy orchestration. It’s Easy to Remember - But hard to get through. But Beautiful - Man this really is just so dark. Like there is nothing beautiful about this album. I feel like I’m watching somebody sing at a funeral, and they can’t make it through the songs due to crying. I’m in pain listening to this. Glad to be Unhappy - Well you’re going to LOVE this album. I’ll Be Around - I’ll be a member of the “Rounds” in seminal 2004 improvisational paintball movie “Blackballed.” That reference is only for the realest of the real. Yo my name is Clifford. The End of a Love Affair - A same sounding end to this meandering path through hell. Poorly cobbled streets guide us to the nowhere we always knew was coming. There is an element of insanity to this record. Like an old widow in a Victorian mansion being accompanied by her strange, obedient grandson. It feels like it’s out of a horror movie. It’s like somebody bought a 50’s standard karaoke album and let a heartbroken, grandmother ramble over the top. Her voice is haunting. This isn’t a criticism of a singer, but rather the composition of this record. She sounds out of her depth, and while it was emotionally poignant, it felt exploitative, rather than a direct account from the woman herself. Hold your breath; I feel like we’re about to pass a cemetery. 2 HIGHLIGHTS: I’m a Fool to Want You

Talented but oh so boring

2 songs in and I’m gonna struggle with this one. Slow songs that sound like they’ve been lifted from a Disney cartoon. If I’m not asleep by the end of it it will be a miracle.

2/3

Classic voice but all the songs sound the same.

A voice that just screams "classic". It's not really my thing to listen to, but I wouldn't change the song if this came on during a holiday party. Perfect mellow background music on a quiet snowy evening

This is one tone. Start to finish. You can’t start a party with it. You can’t hit the highway and feel the wind through your hair with it. You can’t commit a murder. It’s a fine dining soundtrack I guess. If you like both of those things, this is for you

Chilled out, easy listening album with unique raspy vocals and soft melodies Highlights: - You’ve Changed - I’m a Fool to Want You - For Heaven’s Sake

Ella Fitzgerald is the superior vocalist. I'm actually finding her voice kind of grating. The songwriting so far is not nearly as corny as the Gershwins. I really don't understand her popularity.

Rating: 3.5/10 Nah.

I’m confident this album was remarkable in its day. It’s easy to imagine winter time NYC, leaves collected in the gutter, Sunday afternoon listening to this as a family on the turntable “furniture” popular in the 1960s. But today? This just doesn’t speak to me or my ears…surely reductive but she’s the female Louis Armstrong. I don’t see myself coming back this way. 2/5

I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is but something about this album made me want to turn it off just a bit more with each passing song. Maybe how slow it was and how each song sounded too similar to the last. And I obviously know sound quality was nowhere near what it is today but I could hear the sound of her opening and closing her mouth at points, particularly noticed in the last song. I wanted to enjoy this album as I know Billie Holiday is a legend but it just didn’t do it for me.

Not a big fan of the vibrato technique that she uses. Other than that... it's... fine

It's clear that, by 1958, Billie had definitely lost much of her vocal range. Which makes me wonder, "Why put 'Lady in Satin' on this list?" There has to be a Billie Holiday album from the 50s that could easily top this one.

Vast leuk op een koude winteravond met een knapperend vuur in de haard, Maar in tegenstelling tot Ray Charles vond ik de nummers van Billie Holiday toch net iets te langzaam om er echt lekker naar te luisteren. Tussen 2-3 geef ik toch maar 2 sterren.

Beetje veel van hetzelfde, maar wel relaxte muziek voor in de ochtend

Hoewel ik het album een erg lekkere sound vind hebben, vind ik het ook allemaal te erg op elkaar lijken om er echt memorabele momenten uit te halen. Misschien dat door het UWV lastiggevallen worden de hele dag ook niet helpt met de toon zetten voor dit album dat het waarschijnlijk beter doet in een kerstvakantie.

She's a great singer, but her music really doesn't interest me overall.

I really want to fix the cover's uneven spacing in the title. I've never really understood the fascination with Lady Day's voice or her approach to singing. Her affectation is so distracting I can't get any sense of what emotion (if any) she's bringing to her songs. And the strings don't help. They swell or recede seemingly at random. She definitely has a vibe, though. I can see why her music has endured on soundtracks and in compilations. It's just not for me.

Distinctive voice, but the songs kind of blend into one for me. Plus there are quite a lot of mouth noises picked up on the recording which I found pretty distracting. Maybe an earlier Billie Holiday album would’ve sold me on her more, who knows? But I’m giving this one a neutral 2.5 stars.

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KARANJEEEE

Just not my thing. I could see it being my grandma's thing.... just.... not mine.

Captivating voice. It does feel like a collection of singles instead of an album.

Nicht wirklich meins. Fand es eher langweilig.

I understand that this is one of those names that supposed to be untouchable in music history, but I just don't get it. I don't think her voice is all that great, I'd take some of her contemporaries like Sarah Vaughn or Ella Fitzgerald hands down, and the music is just dry. Maybe it's one of those things that you just have to tip your cap to because you're listening 60 years after the fact and can't quite understand what it was like at the time, but I can't get there.

Några sköna låtar men allt är så tradigt och tråkigt. Fullt sjå att hålla sig vaken.

Songs were boring. I didn’t really like her voice.

Pretty sure this is an important record, but I just can't stand this kind of orchestral singing Jazz.

I'm sure this is great.

Every song sounds the same and there are only slow tunes. No variation on the orchestral arrangements. And I don't like jazz at all. She sing really good though but it gets tiring after a while. I'll probably won't go back to listen this. The score is only based on my personal taste. She's not bad at all.

pristojno, na trenutke jako lijepo, ali više-manje svaka pjesma jako nalikuje ostalima. glas mi ne sjeda :/

Background music for a (dinner) party when you don't want to offend anyone. Also you don't want anyone to pay attention to the music.

4/10 Music I can't relate to, so it's hard to give it a decent score. It's just so syrupy-thick. Maybe if I were to hold a dinner party and invite some mid 20th century intellectuals, this could play low in the background, smothered by the smoke from our cigars. I find it hard to grasp how raw emotion can be conveyed by such bland music, but what do I know. I was glad when it finished.

Das Album Lady In Satin wurde 1957 in den Columbia 30th Street Studios in New York City aufgenommen. Die Interpretin Billie Holiday war US-amerikanische Jazzsängerin mit einer langen Karriere, die bereits in den 1930er Jahren begann. Begleitet vom Ray Ellis Orchestra, zeigt das Album eine späte Phase ihres musikalischen Schaffens. Zu den besonders bekannten Titeln zählen „I'm a Fool to Want You“, „You’ve Changed“ und „For All We Know“. Die Arrangements sind orchestral gehalten, mit Streichern und sanfter Begleitung, was einen Kontrast zu früheren Aufnahmen mit kleinerer Besetzung bildet. Das Album gehört stilistisch zum Vocal Jazz und trägt deutlich die Handschrift von Holiday, deren Stimme hier brüchiger und rauer klingt als in früheren Jahren. Lady In Satin gilt als ein Werk, das weniger durch technische Perfektion als vielmehr durch Ausdruckskraft geprägt ist. Es dokumentiert eindrücklich die späte künstlerische Phase einer der prägenden Stimmen des 20. Jahrhunderts.

I get this is considered a great album, but I really don't like it much.

Mellifluous, if somewhat one-paced. Kind of like a sister record to Sinatra's 'In the wee small hours'.

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.

Kinda boring, sorry

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

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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