JOEY  ALBERT  DISCOVERS  THE  NEW  SONGS


[PHOTO AT LEFT - (Joey Albert epitomizes the light pop style Filipinos like best)

MANILA, JANUARY 27, 2010 (STAR) SOUNDS FAMILIAR By Baby A. Gil - It is always a joy having Joey Albert in town. Although Vancouver in the British Columbia is now her home, her status as the Philippines favorite singing sweetheart remains unchallenged and her visits are much awaited events for her many loyal fans.

Her last homecoming turned out to be very special. This is because, after several years, Joey has come up with a new album. Titled Music Of The Heart, it is a collection of local favorites. It is made up of covers and should not be big news. Everybody is doing oldies now. Pinoys cannot seem to get enough of the classic tunes.

But this is Joey Albert, and you have to admit she has a unique way with any song. In fact, I do believe that if there is any girl singer around who epitomizes the light pop style Filipinos like best, it’s no other than Joey.

That however does not deter her from experimenting and I do think Joey does more than she ever did before in this new album. The contents feature such a wide-ranging line-up there are times I thought she won’t pull it off. But she does and it is such a delight to hear her take on the new sounds.

There are some of her usual stuff like the Louie Ocampo compositions. Remember, he did some of her biggest hits like A Million Miles Away. This time around she has one of his newer works, Kung Nasaan Ka Man, a recent hit for Martin Nievera and an oldie fans have long wanted her to sing Kahit Isang Saglit, originally by Vernie Varga. She is so at home with these two which are among the CD’s highlights.

There are songs she seems to have always wanted to do like Janet Basco’s Minsan Pa and Special Memory by Iwi Laurel from the ’80s. There is also Forevermore by Side A, because the band once recorded a version of her Tell Me. I Believe In Dreams by Janno Gibbs was also composed by Side A Joey Benin.

The stretch happens with songs that turned up after she had already left the country. There are some she would have picked for herself like The Way You Look At Me by Christian Bautista, Muntik Na Kitang Minahal by The CompanY or Kung Ako Na Lang Sana by Bituin Escalante.

I do not think though that she would have chosen to record You’ll Be Safe Here by Rico Blanco or Saan Ka Na Kaya Ngayon by Anna Fegi, Stay by Cueshé and two South Border songs, Kahit Kailan and the best of them all, the monster hit Rainbow. Joey rose up with such charm to the “rock chick” challenge of these songs and I am sure we can look forward to more of these experiments in her future albums.

Top-selling CDs of 2009

As I wrote early this year, we were not able to get the complete picture of how record releases performed in the market last year because we still do not have something like Soundscan, which tallies all music sales, in the Philippines.

Astroplus, one of the leading music and video chains in the country has thoughtfully provided a copy of its best-seller list last year. So here they are, the 20 top-selling CDs as per Astroplus of 2009:

Ikaw Na Nga by Willy Revillame, Star Records; Live In Bucharest/Dangerous DVD by Michael Jackson, Sony Music; Giling Giling by Revillame again; We Are One, the songs of Kris Aquino and Baby James, Star Records; The Essential Michael Jackson, Sony Music; My Inspiration by Charice, Star Records; Addicted To Acoustic by Princess, Viva Records; Fearless by Taylor Swift, MCA Universal; As 1 by Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano, Universal Records; Fame by Lady Gaga, MCA Universal.

Songs Rediscovered 2 by Jed Madela, Universal Records; Romance Revisited by Christian Bautista, Universal Records; Eraserheads: The Reunion Concert DVD, Sony Music; Paalam Maraming Salamat, Pres. Cory, featuring various artists, Star Records; For You by Richard Poon, MCA Universal; The OPM Album by Sarah Geronimo, Viva Records; Low Key by Regine Velasquez, Universal Records; Revelation by Journey, MCA Universal; Level Up 2 by Various Artists, Star Records; and You’re The Inspiration by Various Artists, Warner Music.