Product Description

The Georgia-born singer songwriter's third studio album follows 2005's quadruple platinum 'Piece By Piece.' Produced byMike Batt (Vanessa Mae, The Wombles), the record has been described as the third part of a trilogy of Melua albums, andremains faithful to the qualities that made her first two albums so successful. 'Pictures' is a collection of timeless jazz tinged pop ballads which further cement Melua's position as one of the world's most gifted artists.

Track Listing

1. Mary Pickford (Used To Eat Roses)
2. All In My Head
3. If The Lights Go Out
4. What I Miss About You
5. Spellbound
6. What It Says On The Tin
7. Scary Films
8. Perfect Circle
9. Ghost Town
10. If You Were A Sailboat
11. Dirty Dice
12. In My Secret Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #918 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Reviews

Those who were irked last time around by Katie Melua’s unsubstantiated claims that there are, and I quote, "nine million bicycles in Beijing" and that indeed "that’s a fact, it’s a thing we can’t deny"--when at best it can be no more than an exaggerated guesstimate and at worst just plain made up--will be pleased to learn that there are no comparable aspersions on new album Pictures. There may still be instances when things just don’t seem to make much sense at all, and metaphors can tire in her company, though set alongside a trademark melting lullaby such moments don’t really tend to linger. Pictures is an album that, while essentially doing only what it should and little more, also begins to signal that her potential could yet be realised. Where she has always had the silk-lined voice of a fairy admiring her beauty in a dew-drop, and her albums of modern mainstream jazz have become naturally affiliated with bubble baths by candlelight, or large glasses of red wine sipped slowly, or both, this is where she starts exhibiting signs of maturity. On "What I Miss About You", "Spellbound" and "Perfect Circle" she sounds older, more contemplative, almost commanding, and genuinely soulful. Rising above the generic parapet she makes small steps towards an identity of her own. Perhaps more than just a pretty voice after all. --James Berry

Customer Reviews

Contractual Obligation Album
Monty Python released an album with this title in the early 80s and this is what this album from Katie feels like. The songs are pleasant and pass an enjoyable 45 minutes but there are no standout tracks as there were on the excellent first two albums. The highlights are 'If I were a sailboat' and 'Ghost Town', both of which received much radio play. 'What it says on the tin' just grates on me as it's one of those annoying 'in' sayings that no-one had heard of until a few years ago (a bit like 'rocket science') and 'If the lights go out' is just plain depressing lyrically. What I don't understand is why the gorgeous 'When you taught me how to dance'; Katies song from the film 'Miss Potter' is not included here as that really would provide a standout track for this collection. I'll be listening to 'Call off the Search' and 'Piece by Piece' for a long time yet but I fear this album will just gather dust.

Outstanding Pictures
Pictures is a CD that seems to collect very diverse opinions and I am baffled by this. Yes, the songs are 'easy' to the ear and simple lyrics - but so what? Surely the point of music is to enjoy the performance and not to look beyond. Katie Melua has here an excellent collection of songs and is supported by equally excellent musicians. For me the whole collection is a joy to listen to.

I'm not sure why a fellow reviewer found it a problem when Melua thought a song was well written - in her opinion. What has it to do with the joy of listening to this CD?

Katie Melua I like this CD and will derive much pleasure from it, please continue with more of the same.

"nine million bicycles in Beijing"
"Katie Melua's unsubstantiated claims that there are, and I quote, "nine million bicycles in Beijing" and that indeed "that's a fact, it's a thing we can't deny"--when at best it can be no more than an exaggerated guesstimate and at worst just plain made up",
Very interesting.
About 16 000 000 people live in Beijing. According to Wikipedia the ratio of bicycles to people is estimated at 1 to 2. One may assume that in a big city it is slightly higher? On that basis 9 million seems a reasonable estimate (if it is only that!)