Il Divo - Siempre

Continuing their string of overtly sentimental albums, the multinational Il Divo released their fourth (including The Christmas Collection) full-length, Siempre, which contains more of the same Latinized versions of pop songs, as well as some originals (written by their producers). All four Divos sound professional and emotional, especially Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, who seems on the verge of tears every time he opens his mouth. The arrangements for the songs (including West Side Story's "Somewhere" -- the only one that's in English -- and the Italian version of the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin," among others) are always very clean, with soft acoustic guitars and pianos backed by subtle yet swelling strings, adding to the romanticized idea and portrayal of the group. To be fair, all four are very talented vocalists, and they manage to make Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" sound even more profound and sensitive when they sing it in Spanish, and their phrasing on both "Without You" (originally made famous by Harry Nilsson) and Lucio Dalla's "Caruso" (with some of the lyrics cut out, despite the fact they're all listed in the album booklet) is excellent, drawn out to pull as much emotion as possible from each of the songs. Siempre is exactly what you would expect from Il Divo, so if you want more of what they've already given, it should be a satisfying record. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andrew Dudman Engineer Andrew Powell Conductor, Orchestral Arrangements Armando Manzanero Adaptation Chippe Karlosson Programming, Percussion Chris Barrett Assistant Engineer Chris Laws Engineer, Drums Daniel Pursey Engineer, Assistant Dave Arch Orchestral Arrangements, Piano David Krueger Arranger, Producer, Keyboards, Percussion, Programming David Wickström Percussion, Programming, Guitar (Acoustic) Fredrik Andersson Engineer, Mixing Frizzy Karlsson Guitar Geoff Foster Engineer Gustave Lund Programming, Percussion Henrik Janson Conductor, Orchestral Arrangements, Guitar (Acoustic) Il Divo Vocal Arrangement John Miles Piano Lee McCutcheon Engineer Mats Berntoft Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) Matt Brooke Artwork Michel Comte Photography Paul Gendler Guitar Per Magnusson Arranger, Synthesizer, Producer, Keyboards, Programming Ren Swan Engineer, Mixing Scrap Marshall Assistant Engineer Steve Mac Vocal Arrangement, Synthesizer, Arranger, Producer Thomas Lindberg Bass Ulf Janson Conductor Vlado Meller Mastering