It's perhaps easy to expect too much after the stellar debut single "Chains." That's not to say Arena's debut offers nothing to the listener; it could have been far worse, since top session men Tim and John Pierce and drummer Pat Mastelotto (the Rembrandts, King Crimson) don't appear for nothing. Even so, a lot of Don't Ask remains twee. However, there are good moments in the shape of showcase single "Chains," power ballad "Heaven Help My Heart" and the bouncy closing track "Standing Up." There's room for improvement then, although Arena can deliver some fine vocals, and David Tyson (Alannah Myles, Amanda Marshall) supplies some equally fine production. The gorgeous "Sorrento Moon" suggests Arena may yet become the Astrud Gilberto of Australia.© Kelvin Hayes /TiVo

Tina Arena's slow-developing international career must be a source of frustration to Sony Music. Given the pop singer/songwriter's success in her native Australia, where In Deep, her second Epic album, became a number one hit upon its release in August 1997, the obvious plan is to turn her into a down-under Celine Dion. In that pursuit, this American reconfiguration has added "If I Was a River," written by Diane Warren (who wrote Dion's "Because You Loved Me") and produced by Walter Afanasieff, who also produces Dion and Mariah Carey, as well as a duet with Marc Anthony on "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You," written by James Horner and Will Jennings (who wrote Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"). The album was produced in typically gargantuan fashion by Jim Steinman, and "Lifetime" was used in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. Actually, Arena is not the next Dion, and she doesn't need this kind of high-powered help. Her own songs, co-written with a team of others, are perfectly good contemporary pop/rock, and she sings them with passionate commitment. The six songs produced by Foreigner's Mick Jones have a harder rock edge (not surprisingly), notably a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," but the four produced by David Tyson can rock out, too. Nevertheless, Arena is not distinctive enough a singer or songwriter to break through on her recordings alone. If she wants American success, she will have to work for it. On the one hand, the U.S. market has never been so open to female performers; on the other hand, there's a glut of them. In Deep is brimming with potential hit singles (it spawned three in Australia), but it had no commercial impact upon release in the U.S., which must be considered a disappointment after the modest American success of her Epic debut, Don't Ask, in 1996.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Tina Arena's slow-developing international career must be a source of frustration to Sony Music. Given the pop singer/songwriter's success in her native Australia, where In Deep, her second Epic album, became a number one hit upon its release in August 1997, the obvious plan is to turn her into a down-under Celine Dion. In that pursuit, this American reconfiguration has added "If I Was a River," written by Diane Warren (who wrote Dion's "Because You Loved Me") and produced by Walter Afanasieff, who also produces Dion and Mariah Carey, as well as a duet with Marc Anthony on "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You," written by James Horner and Will Jennings (who wrote Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"). The album was produced in typically gargantuan fashion by Jim Steinman, and "Lifetime" was used in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. Actually, Arena is not the next Dion, and she doesn't need this kind of high-powered help. Her own songs, co-written with a team of others, are perfectly good contemporary pop/rock, and she sings them with passionate commitment. The six songs produced by Foreigner's Mick Jones have a harder rock edge (not surprisingly), notably a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," but the four produced by David Tyson can rock out, too. Nevertheless, Arena is not distinctive enough a singer or songwriter to break through on her recordings alone. If she wants American success, she will have to work for it. On the one hand, the U.S. market has never been so open to female performers; on the other hand, there's a glut of them. In Deep is brimming with potential hit singles (it spawned three in Australia), but it had no commercial impact upon release in the U.S., which must be considered a disappointment after the modest American success of her Epic debut, Don't Ask, in 1996.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Following the success of 2007's Songs of Love & Loss, one of Australia's most successful female musical exports, Tina Arena, returns with another collection of orchestral cover versions of classic pop songs. While its predecessor concentrated on the lounge-pop standards of the '60s and '70s, the second volume is ever so slightly more contemporary, with renditions of several hits from the early-'80s era which inspired Arena to pursue a singing career. Backed by Simon Hale's London Studio Orchestra, the 12-track release is far from the quick-buck karaoke affair favored by many less inventive artists, as apart from faithful renditions of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and Lulu's "Oh Me Oh My," Arena manages to put her own stamp on songs several decades old, with admittedly mixed results. Her take on the Carpenters' "Close to You" will undoubtedly shock fans of the Bacharach-penned classic, but its echoing Massive Attack-style trip-hop beats, haunting synth strings, and gothic operatic backing vocals are an impressively bold attempt to add a previously unheard sinister edge to the hopelessly romantic love song. It's an edge which is sorely lacking on her interpretation of the Police's stalker anthem "Every Breath You Take," which removes the dark undertones of the original and replaces it with an out of place, breezy, Sade-inspired cocktail bar arrangement. Elsewhere, Blondie's new-wave anthem "Call Me" is turned into a '60s-inspired Brill Building, girl group stomper; Canadian one-hit wonders the Promises' synth-glam number "Baby It's You" is given an overblown musical theater make-over, while the tribal drums, Hindu chanting, and Indian flutes on "Nights in White Satin" provides a Middle Eastern flavor to the Moody Blues' standard. But the album is far more convincing when Mark Blackwell and Greg Fitzgerald's bombastic production is toned down in favor of a more subtle and stripped-back vibe which allows Arena's sweet but powerful vocal abilities to shine. "Wouldn't It Be Good" is a gorgeous adaptation of Nik Kershaw's synth pop hit whose melancholic piano-based sound evokes the wintry balladry of Sarah McLachlan; "Only Women Bleed" is a tender, countrified reworking of Alice Cooper's bluesy tale of domestic abuse which enables Arena to unleash her Celine Dion-esque powerhouse tones, while her respectful cover of Elton John's "Your Song" emotes more feeling in its opening bars than the entirety of Ellie Goulding's recently celebrated version. With such a stunning voice, Arena should be a much bigger star than she is, but despite its admirable attempts to inject new life into some iconic songs, its inconsistency means that Songs of Love & Loss, Vol. 2 isn't going to change things any time soon.© Jon O'Brien /TiVo