Reviews
When I received this CD for the purpose of writing a review, I was greeted by a photo of a Goddess-like creature, this is Amanda Waegeli. If one was to judge a book by it’s cover, or a CD in this case, I was curious and keen to listen to the contents.
The Inside (Cover) Story is a fascinating and sometimes harrowing biography about Amanda’s painful and negative experiences within the mental health system, but ultimately, a story that has a happy ending; it is touchingly real and untarnished, but leaves the reader on an optimistic and inspiring note. There is hope yet for any person touched by the perceived curse of Mental Distress.
The songs themselves contain a cross section of styles ranging from the blues tinged title track through folk and country themes to songs that might not have been out of place in The Mamas & The Papas era of the 60’s; that observation is by no means to be interpreted as a negative or critical comment. There is even a song, Sad Eyes, a duet between Amanda and her musical partner and collaborator Daniel Habermann, which is very much reminiscent of early David Crosby.
This music is different, refreshingly so, in that it contains a number of different traditional folk instruments not often heard in this modern era. It was recorded and mixed by Roger Illot of Restless Music; Roger lends his own subtle and unerringly tasteful skills on keyboard and Pedal Steel to the project.
Amanda’s voice is soulful, poignant and powerful, and takes the listener through the gamut of emotions, but in the end, the over riding message is one of Hope and Inspiration .
In a nutshell, Breaths of Fresh Air. Thoroughly recommended.
Charles Farleigh
” I love the unusual instruments Daniel plays. I especially love the hammer dulcimer, it is an amazing instrument that I had never seen before. I can listen to Daniel play it for hours, it is very relaxing” Mary
“Oceans Merge Music write songs that speak straight into my heart, I can relate so much to their songs and really enjoy listening to their music” Anne