| Tissues and Issues | 
 enlarge | Artist: Charlotte Church
Label: Sony/Bmg Int'l
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $7.25
You Save: $9.73 (57%)
New (19) Used (6) from $6.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  70 reviews
Sales Rank: 66798
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.5
EAN: 5099752034628
ASIN: B0009U5DCQ
Release Date: August 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Call My Name - Charlotte Church, White, Eg | | • | Crazy Chick - Charlotte Church, Scott, F. | | • | Moodswings (To Come at Me Like That) - Charlotte Church, Scott, Fitzgerald | | • | Show a Little Faith - Charlotte Church, Chrisanthou, Steve | | • | Finding My Own Way | | • | Let's Be Alone | | • | Easy to Forget | | • | Fool No More | | • | Easy Way Out | | • | Casualty of Love | | • | Even God - Charlotte Church, Nowels, Rick | | • | Confessional Song |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Tissues and Issues is the eagerly anticipated new album from Charlotte Church. Heralding a major musical change of direction for Charlotte, the album is a scintillating journey through a whole range of genres and moods. From out-and-out pop anthems to Motown-infused tracks and heartfelt ballads, Charlotte radiates confidence and maturity. Album highlights include the first single 'Crazy Chick', the personal and anthemic 'Finding My Own Way', the intimate 'Confessional Song' and the intriguing and addictive 'Casualty of Love'. By turns exuberant and impassioned, heartfelt and accomplished, the album is the perfect showcase for Charlotte's own unique style. Sony. 2005.
Album Details
The Youthful Classical "Angel" Sheds her Wings and Dives Headstrong Into that Vat of Pop, Shaking off Any Divine Dust Left Behind. The Grown Up Ms. Church Has Decided to Join the Forces of Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson and Shifted her Allegiances. Includes the First Single "Crazy Chick".
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| Customer Reviews: Read 65 more reviews...
 Coping with moodswings August 29, 2005
74 out of 85 found this review helpful
Call her "crazy chick." Charlotte Church debuted as an angel-voiced soprano in her early teens, belting out opera and hymns alongside more seasoned singers. But like many other young stars, she's become a tabloidal darling with her partying and blabby boyfriends.
Now she has joined the pop choir. In "Tissues and Issues," Church completely drops the crossover-classical sound; instead, we get a slew of vaguely funky-Latin bubblegum. But the teen-angsty sound keeps it mediocre rather than amusing, as does the fact that Church hardly ever uses her pipes.
It kicks off with some funk-flavoured pop tunes, which sound perfectly suited to radioplay and clubs. This also disguises the fact that they are outrageously bad -- the tunes are catchy and not too bad, but the lyrics stink: "I may like the rain, I may like the symphony/I may like the feel of your frame on my frame..."
At least nobody can claim that Church is only doing a few kinds of pop music. She also tries out some overwrought piano-pop, overproduced synthpop, and finally some "confessional songs," focusing mostly on rotten relationships. As a result, the whole thing feels very scattered, with nothing to unify them.
There are a few good ones -- "Confessional Song" has a restraint and quietness that the other songs lack, and "Easy to Forget" is an expansive flamenco-pop tune. Unfortunately, these are almost the only ones on the entire album that don't feel like a pop grab bag.
It's actually rather entertaining to hear Church's poorly-written efforts to sound more mature -- lots of quasi-sexual lyrics, with a nod to S&M. It's such an obvious effort that it's actually funny. "I like the sound of your shirt ripping/My will slipping under the table/I like the sound of your hand slapping/Your whip cracking, this could be painful!" Church is completely in earnest, but that only makes it funnier.
What isn't funny is the sad misuse of Church's voice. Though she overworked it in the past, it obviously still has powerful depths. They simply aren't used -- she croons virtually all the songs in a one-note manner that is more worthy of Britney Spears than a trained soprano. Only a few, like the hyperangsty "Even God," make use of her smooth, strong vocals.
"Tissues and Issues" is unintentionally funny, but it lacks any real good points. With her voice and background, Church could have done better than halfhearted imitations of Britney Spears.
 Talk about Moodswings! August 9, 2005
60 out of 68 found this review helpful
Charlotte Church is well known as the soprano from Cardiff who belts out the classics, selling millions of albums of hymns and light opera to crossover classics buffs. She's also pretty well known for her extra-curricular activities too, from blabbing boyfriends, weight related gaffes and other classic foot-in-the-mouth incidents.
She re-invents herself on this album, casting aside the classical façade, and releasing her inner pop star. The album lets Church show her pop, funk, rock and even flamenco talents, but she sounds like a different singer with almost every track. The opening track (and second single) "Call My Name" could have been mistaken for a Shania Twain song, and the same can also be said for the first single "Crazy Chick". They're both buzz-worthy songs, but a long, long way from "Voice of an Angel", especially the lyrics.
There's no filler material here, but listen for tracks where she sounds like Wilson Phillips, Madonna, Amy Lee and even Olivia Newton John. Slightly ballad-heavy, other tracks to watch are "Moodswings", "Finding My Own Way", the dance ready "Let's Be Alone", "Casualty of Love" and the grand finale "Confessional Song".
If this experiment pays off, it'll be extremely interesting to see which direction she goes in next.
Amanda Richards, August 9, 2005
Great first effort September 18, 2005
20 out of 25 found this review helpful
A lot of people were really nervous about Charlotte Church's debut pop album, mostly because it was so far from anything she had done before---a quick Amazon search will pull up a handful of enjoyable classical albums, but no pop. Nobody knew exactly what shape the album was going to take, and, let's be honest, everybody cringed at the album title "Tissues and Issues"---everyone who's American, anyways; Brits seem to like it; perhaps we're a bit too cynical on this side of the Atlantic.
Still, I'm of the opinion that it turned out fairly well. People make a lot of Charlotte's constant presence in the British tabloids, but that can't really be considered her fault---anyone who's watched the recent documentary on her can see she's a normal, down-to-earth girl with quite a bit of money and a penchant for bad boys. That's probably part of what makes her so fascinating.
Anyways, back to the album, I think some people are being a little too high-strung here. This is POP we're talking about, not a stretch for any nineteen-year-old girl with a good voice. When Britney Spears decides to put out an album of arias, then we'll talk, but I think anyone who doesn't like this album listened to it with a determination to hate it.
The only problem with it is that Charlotte has yet to find her own pop voice. While I disagree with a previous review that said "Call My Name" and "Crazy Chick" sound like Shania Twain (where on earth do you get that?), I do agree that the album, in Charlotte's own words, even, is "eclectic", which isn't exactly good for listeners who are trying her on and seeing if they like her style. We'll have to wait for more albums from the Welsh songbird for that discovery.
Nevertheless, the album IS fun. None of the lyrics made me gag, which is always a bit of a risk with pop albums. Here's a run-down on how I feel about the songs:
Track 1, "Call My Name": "Call My Name" is alarmingly sexual, in a good way, and SO catchy. And any song that contains an Edna St. Vincent Millay reference is fine by my book (I just figured out that she was saying "both ends of the candle burned by the flame" the other day and was so excited---I hate it when I can't understand lyrics.)
Track 2, "Crazy Chick": If you like pop music at all, you can't resist "Crazy Chick". It's fun, it's fast, it's catchy, it's sexy, it's about a girl obsessed with a guy but not in a creepy way . . . what's not to like? Perfect first single, I think---it kind of prepares you for the more overt "Call My Name".
Track 3, "Moodswings (To Come At Me Like That): It's funny that my favorite three songs on the album come one right after each other. "Moodswings" is great---it's kind of a "Hey, people have wronged me, so I'm lashing out---sorry if you get caught in the crossfire" sort of song, which we all need, because we've all been wronged. It's also catchy, and the lyrics are great. I think this is a unique song because it's not as much of a groaner as Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors"---Charlotte's not even taking pot-shots at the paparazzi here, at least not explicitly. It's more relatable for normal people.
Track 4, "Show A Little Faith": The message here is acceptance. It's not an exceptional song lyrically or musically, but there's nothing wrong with it, and Charlotte's voice sounds a little freer, whereas on "Call My Name" and "Crazy Chick" she needed to reign that famous vibrato in more.
Track 5, "Finding My Own Way": I'm going to try to keep the comparisons to a minimum, but this song has the same message as Britney Spears' "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman", which is catchier than "Finding My Own Way", but not as heartfelt. Anyone who knows Charlotte's personal history can hear how earnest she is in this song. Even though the phrase "sweet time" makes me want to gouge my eyes out, the rest of it is fantastic, especially the high note at the end.
Track 6, "Let's Be Alone": A nice clubby, dancey kind of song, even though the lyrics are drowned out by the background music and kind of hard to understand. Not my favorite, but it's got its place here.
Track 7, "Easy To Forget": If I had to pick my least favorite song on this album, "Easy To Forget" would be it. I really don't like the way it starts, lyrically it is below the par set by the rest of album, and it never gets great. Average song, nothing special, but every album has one like that.
Track 8, "Fool No More": Everybody knows Charlotte has a great range and can sing up high, but did anyone know how low she can go? Well, you get a little bit of that in this sultry, bluesy song. It's not even the type of music that I normally like, but the vocals are so rich, the lyrics are resigned yet fiesty, and Charlotte seems to be putting her all into it, probably because she's had similar experiences. Kind of like Kelly Clarkson in slow-mo.
Track 9, "Easy Way Out": This song isn't very exceptional. Some of the lyrics are kind of cliched, and Charlotte's voice sound a bit, I don't know, strained in this song. The music is nice, with the piano. I'd prefer this one as an instrumental, but I guess that's not really the point. Still, it's not horrible, just not one of the best songs on the album.
Track 10, "Casualty of Love": I really like this song. It's reminiscent of the Spanish guitar in her version of "Habanera" on the "Enchantment" album. It sounds like this one is ripped right out of her diary, yet it isn't sappy. It's really about a meaningless relationship based on lust and naivete. It's relatable--who hasn't had one of those? Plus, you get to hear a little more of that vibrato, which is nice--it connects Pop Charlotte with Classical Charlotte.
Track 11, "Even God": This song is nice. Not exceptional, just nice. Sweet, I would call it. I love the strings and piano in the background music--adds to the sweetness, I think. But would it kill her to put a sweet love song in here that isn't about having broken up with someone? Maybe next album.
Track 12, "Confessional Song": "Confessional Song", which I expected to be akin to Britney Spears' disgusting "Dear Diary", turned out to be one of my favorite songs on the whole CD. It's incredibly personal, obviously, because she's actually singing about herself specifically. And she's right, it's not a confessional song; it's just about her life. I think that's great; it's a little like she went into the studio and just started singing. It's got a great hook, and it's really honest.
Well, that's my take on the "Tissues and Issues" album. My only question is, when is this album debuting in the US? Anyways, hope this helps.
 From Angel Voice to Wanna Be Pop Diva December 31, 2005
18 out of 25 found this review helpful
Charlotte Church had very early carved out a niche in making some great classic songs and a few newer tunes ring melodic. Her emerging voice was sweet, innocent, angelic.
This "swing" is Charlotte trying to break into the top 40 and its sad. Her distinctive gift is blurred into a Britney Spears wanna be series of tunes ... all contemporary. I can only pray that Charlotte remember her earlier fans that loved the fact that a young talent could re-present great classical, opera, and hymnic material to old and young alike. I miss you Charlotte, leave the pop to Christina and Britney...and let your voice ring pure once more.
 Tissues & Issues? Hardly... August 18, 2005
17 out of 22 found this review helpful
Gone on _Tissues & Issues_ are the operatic aria's, broadway renditions and sweetly sung lullabies heard in the past. In their place are more mainstream pop/r&b-inspired songs. And while I can't blame Charlotte Church for trying something new, in her case the transaction from opera to pop star has not worked well in her favor, as did the similar evolution of Sarah Brightman.
Now I know she's been through a lot of unruly criticism in her lifetime but the issues at hand sound too much like all the other watered down teen angst being spewed on the radio these days with most of the music and lyrics lacking substance. That's not to say all the material here is bad, though. "Show A Little Faith" and "Fool No More" are two surprisingly sultry ballads; "Let's Be Alone" is a great dance track; "Casualty Of Love" has a subtle, addictive flamenco groove, and "Confessional Song" is one of the few instances in which she'll tug at your heartstrings (if only a little).
Charlotte Church still has a far ways to go but I have faith that she'll eventually come full circle and wow us all someday. Granted, she has the voice, but I also believe she has the potential to do more than just sing well. However, it's quite apparent she has some growing up to do first, and perhaps some soul searching, too, to hopefully unearth her own unique style.
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