New Vibrations: Liza Minnelli's Confessions

She might be best known by our generation for her hilarious turn as Lucille “2” on Arrested Development, but big-voiced Liza Minnelli might be singing the rest of us to sleep with her new album, Confessions, which really defines what “easy listening” should be about.

Taking old songs like Frank Sinatra’s All The Way and Peggy Lee’s He’s a Tramp, Minnelli puts her own spins on them in order to give listeners a closer listen to the music that is important to her in her own life.

Inspired by the evenings she spent with her family and friends singing around a piano, the pieces on Confessions have her voice paired with a piano — a simple arrangement, but one that works extremely well.

For the listener hoping for some laid-back music to relax with, Minnelli’s album is probably something close to what they want.

Minnelli shows off her voice in this album, and because it is just her with a piano, it is not overshadowed with instrumentals or other distractions.

Rather, this album focuses on her as a singer and what she can do with pieces she enjoys.

This is the type of music one would want playing at a dinner party, or perhaps while in Starbucks enjoying a cup of coffee.

The songs she picked to include vary from well know pieces such as “At Last” (track 14) to songs that aren’t as well know, but still treasures, like “Moments Like This” (track 12).

The piano arrangement for each of these pieces also contribute to the album; each was thoughtfully arranged and helped show off, not cover, Minnelli’s voice.

Songs range from playful to sensual, and Minnelli shows that she is capable of handling her own album, her first one in 15 years.

It is refreshing to hear these old classics being sung again, and Minnelli does a good job of keeping them fresh and giving listeners a new way to look at these pieces instead of just copying what other artists have done before her.

Rhythm and melody do an intricate dance in these pieces, especially the fifth track, “This Heart of Mine,” and the second track, “You Fascinate Me So.”

The songs are refined and reflect the talent of someone who is extremely familiar with the pieces she performs for the album.

Because this album is easy listening, though, it tends to be music that can put the listener to sleep.

Although the music was certainly pretty, and her voice lives up to the legend Minnelli has become, nothing especially draws the listener into the album.

There wasn’t a spark or a kick that keeps listeners listening to see what she will do next. The album sounds pretty much the same the whole way through, and perhaps this is why it isn’t exactly party music.

While elegant and mature, it can be good background music for an event such as a dinner, but not much more than that.

Listeners who are fans of easy listening should definitely give Confessions a try, but they shouldn’t go and buy the album unless it’s something they are sure they enjoy.

For her next album, if she wishes to do something like this again, Minnelli should keep the simplistic nature of it and the elegance, but try and do something to make the songs stand out in some way so that listeners will want to keep listening instead of turning the music off as soon as the dinner is over.