Search - Dana Winner :: Waar Is Het Gevoel

Belgian chanteuse who deserves to be better known... Lovely

dooby | 04/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dana Winner is sadly little-known outside the Dutch speaking world. Her English albums have had some success but here we get to see why she has sustained such a dedicated following in the Dutch world for close to 20 years. This album from 1996 contains many of her best songs, including the lovely ballad, "Ik Hou Van Jou" (I Love You), "Waar is het gevoel" (Where is that Feeling), "15 Jaar" (15 years) and Spijt (Spite). "Dat Ben Jij" (That is You) is a lovely Dutch cover version of the Joni Mitchell classic "Both Sides Now". One of my favorites is Marleentje (Little Marleen).



Although there are a few up-tempo numbers, the music is generally subdued, gentle and perfect for listening to on a quiet evening.



The album was made at Belgium's Galaxy Studios and is beautifully recorded. Dana sings with a full orchestral accompaniment.



For those new to her, Dana Winner is Belgian of Flemish descent and sings mostly in Dutch, although she has recorded albums in German and more recently, English. Her audience is sadly confined to Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa (for which she has recorded songs in English as well as Afrikaans). Her songs are a combination of easy-listening pop and folk ballads and she has the perfect voice to project them. Unfortunately her albums are only released in those four countries. Amazon brings in too few of them and as they are special "Imports" the prices aren't cheap. At $16, this is the cheapest of her CDs available on Amazon. Everthing else is at least double price. A good CD to start with would be "10 Jaar - Het Allerbeste Van Dana Winner" (10 years - All the Best Of Dana Winner), released in 2003. Sadly Amazon has not come around to bringing it in yet. So this album would be as good a place to start as any.



Note: The original liner notes and lyrics are included, though this being an import, everything is in Dutch."