"Eden" is a journey into a wonderous world of beautiful music. Frank Patterson, her producer, understand how to blend Sarah unique styles into a collage of beauty. From the very beginning of the cd, Sarah begins to draw you into her world. Her "Eden". From the covers of some popular artist, Hooverphonic and Kansas, to the use of opera in Puccini, Sarah shows you why she is one of the finest sopranos in music today. My personal favorites on the cd are "Lascia Ch'lo Pianga" and "Deliver Me." Also, she gives great "girl power" to "Nessun Dorma" a song made for tenors. The only curious selection on the cd is her rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" in italian. However, that is the only weak point on the entire album. The duet with Richard Marx is another very fine high point, added only to the US version of the cd.

If you are just starting out with Brightman, buy this cd first. It is a better feel of her. She shows you more of her "pop" side, but that side of her in no way takes away from her operatic appeal. "Time to Say Goodbye" should be included in your purchase of Sarah, but if you are going one at a time, get this one first.

Good Muse Travels Fast
As a listener unfamiliar with her previous work, I was delighted to "discover" this talented British vocalist. Since hearing Eden I have researched the bulk of her previous work. This departure from opera and musicals is an obvious attempt at tapping the adult contemporary radio market. Eden succeeds in achieving mainstream acccessibility and goes beyond, reamking a few familiar songs like Kansas' "Dust In The Wind". Sarah went on to do me a huge favor in recording "My Heart Will Go On", made famous by that annoying twig of a vocalist, Celine Dion. To outdo Celine even further, Sarah Brightman sings the song in Italian, lending a more romantic, operatic and old-world feel to a song we all heard too much of last year. Speaking of cross-Atlantic themes, the track "Only An Ocean Away" musically and lyrically will touch anyone with a soul. Vocally speaking, Sarah's got the goods. Over the course of the album and even individual songs, her voice ranges from a sweet whisper to full blown operatic explosion. Sarah Brightman's range and versatility is reflected in the choice of material as well. Mainstream music is fortunate that this diva has crossed over more than just the Atlantic.

The Amazon.com review here is almost just right!
Yes, the angelic and fragile voice of Ms. Brightman is one of a kind, and she's doing contemporary music a great service by recording some really fine, unique tunes, in a new pop/classical hybrid. To call her sound "kitsch" is surely an unfair criticism, since Sarah and her collaborators have recorded some of the finest pop CD's ever, and she is especially good, considering the huge amount of true junk is out there. This album does not have the drive and orchestral brilliance of the earlier "Time to Say Goodbye", but is still a near-masterpiece. Listen to "Dust in the Wind", a very underrated pop masterpiece, redone here by Sarah. Indeed, though not perfect, it's tough to find anyone around today with such a high quality of finely done tunes as the divine Sarah!

This COULD have been a great album!
I am surprised that so many have given this album such positive reviews because it has one fatal flaw: the synthesizer mucking up about half the tracks.

Whatever in God's name possessed her, or her producers, to put that godawful synthesizer throughout the album. Here we have these great orchestral backgrounds, only to be mucked up by a cheesy sounding synthesizer.

I love her selection of songs, I love her voice, but I only wish she'd stop trying to be "hip" (although synthesizer sounds went out years ago, except for some New Agey crap) and just do some straightforward musical arrangements using traditional arrangements, with real drum tracks, not drum machines! (Actually I'm not sure they are drum machines, but if they aren't they sure tried to make them sound like they are!)

So anyway, I hope her forthcoming albums continue in the same vein of pop mixed with classical sounds, but without the synthesizer which only cheapens the overall sound quality!

The Best Sarah Album Overall
Eden has something for everyone. It has the more pop songs done with that special Sarah twist of lyrical melody. The Cd also has operatic tracks that don't sound as if any effort was put into singing them at all. From the rythmic "Anytime, Anywhere" to the powerful "Nessun Dorma", Eden is one of the best Cd's I have ever owned. The truth is you either like Sarah or you don't, and this album gives you a very good reason to like her.
In this follow-up to the smashing success of her 1997 CD Time to Say Goodbye, Sarah Brightman continues down the primrose crossover path, blithely gliding from covers of Hooverphonic (the title track) and Kansas ("Dust in the Wind") to Puccini and film scores (Titanic and The English Patient). Sometimes, as in "Anytime, Anywhere," the crossover happens within the same song--in this case welding a rhythm track to the somber harmonies of Albinoni's "Adagio." But there's nary a stylistic speed bump to jolt her listeners, as Brightman focuses her tiny, seraphic voice like a beam of light on each melody. The result, bless her heart, may be the invention of a whole new form of kitsch. Like plastic surgery, Brightman's years of specialized vocal training have helped refine her ability to float confidently well-rounded, sparkling tones in her upper range. These have a Dresden china-like, touching fragility in such songs as "So Many Things" and are well-suited to the gauzily romantic (and overproduced) gloss of the string-heavy arrangements that predominate. Eden also introduces Brightman as songwriter ("In Paradisum," with its mix of sitar and modal chant) and features a bonus track unavailable on the album's European-released version ("The Last Words You Said"). --Thomas May
Asian edition of the sensational soprano's 1998 album 'Eden' with 'Lost Words You Said' (composed by & featuring Richard Marx) added as a bonus track. 1999 release. Comes packaged in a full color, embossed brilliant box.
Another Special Asian Release.