'Begin to Hope' review.

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I downloaded Regina's new album (yeah yeah I know, but I'm going to buy it when it's released).

And really? My honest opinion is that she should've used her budget to buy a REAL drummer. Not a synthesizer that just puts fake sounding violins, drums, and other distracting noises in the songs everywhere, and ends up drowning out her voice, so she sounds as though she's having to really shout to be heard. To me her appeal is her voice and her lyrics; how can I appreciate them when I'm too busy being distracted by the silly and unnecessary noises, and struggling to understand her voice? The sad thing is that 'Field Below,' which is my least favourite Regina song, is probably the least tampered (and thus nicest sounding song) on the entire album. The rest of it (particularly 'On the Radio,' which, IRONY, I was looking forward to hearing the most!). 'Edit' I'll allow, as she has said that it's "as gangster as I've ever gotten." If they were real drums, I probably wouldn't have a problem with them; I like 'Pavlov's Daughter,' which has quite a heavy drum beat through it, but it's just the synthesiser which makes the whole thing sound fake and forced.

Basically - if you don't like the overproduced style of 'Fidelity' and 'Better' that were posted on her MySpace recently, you really won't like this CD. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I am really disappointed with it.

However, 'Lady' gets 10/10. OMG. Pretty! And it even has a real saxamophonist at the end, too.