Dina Carroll | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Combining the early soul-pop of Mariah Carey, the power balladry of Whitney Houston, and the sophisticated dance-pop of M People, Dina Carroll was one of the most successful U.K. female vocalists of the 90s. Born in Newmarket, Suffolk in 1968 to a Scottish mother and Afro-American G.I. father, Carroll began singing with her sister at a young age, and after winning a talent competition at school, she decided to pursue a career in the music industry. In her teens, she moved to West London after signing to independent dance label, Streetwave, where she provided uncredited vocals for a production outfit named Masquerade. In 1989, she signed to Jive/Zomba Records where she released several club hits, including a cover of Dionne Warwicks "Walk On By," and contributed to Brothers in Rhythms single "Peace and Harmony." Her breakthrough came in 1991, when she appeared on Quartzs Top Ten dance reworking of Carole Kings "Its Too Late," and was offered an album deal by A&M; Records. Two years later, her first LP, So Close, had spawned two Top Five singles, "Dont Be a Stranger" and a rendition of Sunset Boulevard number "The Perfect Year" helped her to scoop Best British Female Vocalist at the 1994 Brit Awards, and up until Didos No Angel, was the biggest-selling debut album by a female artist in U.K. chart history. After moving to Mercury Records, she developed otosclerosis, a hereditary bone disease which affects the ears, whilst working on her sophomore, Only Human, which despite reaching number two, failed to achieve the same multi-platinum sales of its predecessor. Carroll changed directions for her self-titled third effort, hooking up with Rhett Lawrence in Los Angeles for a dance-pop sound reminiscent of her club roots, but although lead single "Without Love" reached the Top 20, various record company wranglings meant that plans for its release were shelved. Other than a performance of Van Morrisons "Someone Like You" on the Bridget Jones soundtrack, and a 2001 hits compilation, Carroll hasnt released any new material since. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 3 Title: So Close Released: 1993-01-18 Tracks: 12 Duration: 53:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Special Kind of Love (04:40) 2 Hold On (04:51) 3 This Time (05:22) 4 Falling (03:34) 5 So Close (04:54) 6 Aint No Man (03:53) 7 Express (04:36) 8 Heaven Sent (03:45) 9 Youll Never Know (05:57) 10 Don’t Be a Stranger (04:22) 11 Why Did I Let You Go? (03:30) 12 If I Knew You Then (04:17) |
| So Close : Allmusic album Review : Dina Carrolls debut album, So Close, was the dream of her record company, A&M;, the type of album that had an instant impact, a very slow fade in the charts, and a second wind more than a year after release. The singer had come to public notice as a guest vocalist on the Quartz remake of Carole Kings "Its Too Late," and after her solo dance hit "Aint No Man," she was invited to New York by Robert Clivillés and David Cole from the C+C Music Factory to produce her album. With two further singles released during 1992, "Special Kind of Love" and "So Close," both of which hit the Top 20, the album was finally ready in January 1993 and entered the charts at number two. It spent the next six months inside the Top 20 and became the must-have coffee-table album of the year, a smooth soft jazz-pop collection of beautiful songs, delightfully sung over a sophisticated full orchestral backing. Throughout 1993, yet another two tracks were released as singles, the ballad "This Time" and an electronic dance song, "Express," and although both were reasonably sized hits, they failed to connect with the mainstream. This all changed with the release of the sixth track as a single. "Dont Be a Stranger" was recorded with an even lusher string section and soared to number three, bringing the album back up to the Top Five during Christmas week and becoming the fourth best-seller during 1993. So Close spent the first three months of 1994 inside the Top 20, including three weeks at number two, as Dina Carroll hit the singles chart in a big way again with the non-album track version of Andrew Lloyd Webbers "The Perfect Year" from Sunset Boulevard. This was a classy album that fully deserved its massive success in the mid-90s. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 3 Title: Only Human Released: 1996 Tracks: 12 Duration: 56:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Escaping (04:47) 2 Only Human (05:17) 3 Give Me the Right (05:25) 4 World Come Between Us (03:47) 5 Love Will Always Bring You Back to Me (04:19) 6 I Didnt Mean to Hurt You (06:26) 7 Living for the Weekend (03:31) 8 Mind, Body & Soul (04:33) 9 Run to You (05:01) 10 Do You Think Im in Love (04:07) 11 I Dont Want to Talk About It (05:28) 12 The Perfect Year (03:45) |
 | Album: 3 of 3 Title: The Very Best of Dina Carroll Released: 2001-06-11 Tracks: 28 Duration: 1:09:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Aint No Man (03:55) 2 Special Kind of Love (04:42) 3 Someone Like You (03:22) 4 Escaping (03:44) 5 The Perfect Year (03:45) 6 It’s Too Late (04:01) 7 Express (03:35) 8 Don’t Be a Stranger (04:42) 9 Without Love (03:34) 10 Good to Me (03:51) 11 This Time (03:46) 12 Only Human (03:47) 13 Mind, Body & Soul (04:33) 14 Son of a Preacher Man (02:47) 15 One, Two, Three (04:01) 16 All I Ask (03:46) 17 Living for the Weekend (03:47) 18 So Close (03:50) 1 Aint No Man (Brothers in Rhythm remix) (?) 2 Special Kind of Love (C & C Special Love club) (?) 3 Express (Xpressed dub) (?) 4 Mind, Body & Soul (Sci-Fi dub) (?) 5 Living for the Weekend (Canny vocal) (?) 6 Without Love (Tall Paul remix) (?) 7 Say You Love Me (The Almighty mix) (?) 8 Run to You (Masters at Work vocal dub) (?) 9 Good to Me (AFTCs Tumescent vocal) (?) 10 Someone Like You (Lost Witness remix) (?) |
| The Very Best of Dina Carroll : Allmusic album Review : Its hard to believe it now, given her complete retreat back into obscurity, but in the mid-90s Scottish soul-pop vocalist Dina Carroll was one of the biggest pop stars in the U.K. Unfortunately, due to various record company wranglings, her career has undeservedly gone the same way of fellow Brit winners Shola Ama, Desree, and Sonique. She hasnt really been heard in the subsequent decade at all, bar a contribution to the Bridget Jones soundtrack, and this 2001 collection, her first and only official album to compile the biggest hits from her career in the 2000s. All six singles appear from her 1993 debut So Close, whose mixture of soul-pop, power ballads, and commercial dance pop earned her comparisons with Mariah, Whitney, and Janet. The epic "Dont Be a Stranger" remains her signature tune, but the C+C Music Factory-produced "Special Kind of Love," the smooth disco-pop of debut solo hit "Aint No Man," and the jazz-funk of "Express" proved she was more than just a big-voiced balladeer. Her 1996 sophomore album Only Human is represented by five of its 12 tracks, including her rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webbers theme to Sunset Boulevard, "The Perfect Year," her joint, worldbeat-inspired, highest-charting single "Escaping," and the Black Box-esque "Living for the Weekend," which pushed Carroll further into the dance diva territory she originally came from. But while sales of two million between them suggest many fans will already own most of this material, The Very Best Of does, in fact, include eight tracks that have never appeared on a Dina Carroll album before. Her collaboration with Quartz on her breakthrough cover of Carole Kings "Its Too Late" will be the most familiar, but there are also late-90s Top 20 singles "One, Two, Three" and "Without Love," both of which were scheduled to appear on her shelved third album, and two canceled singles, "Say You Love Me" and a sassy R&B; reworking of Dusty Springfields "Son of a Preacher Man." Elsewhere, there are two previously unreleased songs, "Good to Me," and the Ronan Keating-penned "All I Ask," and her final Top 40 single, a faithful performance of Van Morrisons "Someone Like You," all of which suggest Carroll still has much to offer. Of course, much of the material here is so quintessentially 90s that it should come with a free pair of combat trousers, but even though the more up-tempo material hasnt aged particularly well, The Very Best of Dina Carroll is still an enjoyable and welcome reminder of the career of one of Britains forgotten pop talents. | ||