"Since You've Been Gone" by Michael Ball from One Voice

Michael Ball has an extraordinarily broad repertoire of easy-listening songs, but "Since You’ve Been Gone" stands out for its more rock style. That’s not to say it’s anything like a rock track, but it does demonstrate the same smooth, light vocals that make easy work of ballads, gospel, country; and pop tracks, amongst others, can also take on this more aggressive genre. As such, it is a good place to start for those who want to find out if ‘easy listening’ music has anything to offer them.

The lyrics of "Since You've Been Gone" are all about frustration. The narrator has lost the woman he loves—she's even been cruel to him—but he is unable to forget her, destroying his sleep and his happiness. He is “under [her] spell”, and he wants her—not to come back, but to free him from his continued obsession with her. (One damn is used in the song at this point, but to an effect that would be difficult if not impossible to duplicate without the swear word.)

The nuances of frustration, anger, despair, and pathos are well highlighted by both the backing track and the vocals. The accompaniment begins with violin, suggesting a pacy but classical tune. But this quickly metamorphoses into a dramatic electric guitar riff that accords with the anger in the lyrics. This is backed with an insistent drum beat, yet the violin also remains, providing a subtle depth that emphasises that this track is about more than just rage.

This meaning is borne out in the vocals. Michael Ball’s voice is always light and smooth, but here he uses its power to full effect. He does not, however, merely belt out the track at full volume, but nuances his voice to each lyric from the sad “you can’t know what you mean to me”, to the angry “your poison letter” through to sarcasm in the “huh” after the potentially pleading and conciliatory “if you will come back, baby, you know you’ll never do wrong”.

This is a powerful song, especially by easy-listening standards, and while the themes and lyrics are standard fare, the performance is memorable, even excellent. If you like easy-listening tracks, you’ll probably like this in spite of the rock undertones. If you like rock, this may be a more comfortable entry into the genre than calmer tracks, and therefore is well worth a listen (or two!)

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Lyrics: *3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocals: 5/5
Overall: *7/10

*Includes one instance of damn

Reviewed by Shadow Wolf

"One Voice" by Michael Ball from One Voice

Reviews here have been kinda heavy on my particular favorites, lately, and that's not for want of asking acquaintances for ideas. Finally, one suggested this song. (Hi, Scylax!)

This song is actually a cover of a song that was originally sung by Barry Manilow. The review is pretty much the same for either version, except the accent instrumentation's a bit different.

"One Voice" is one of those songs that's intended to be simple. The music's pretty much a drum keeping the beat and an electric guitar accent, though neither of those come in until partway into the song. The singing is what is meant to attract listeners, and Michael Ball certainly knows how to sing.

His clear [high baritone] is smooth and soothing, while still carrying a maturity. He could sing in a traditional church choir without raising any eyebrows, but he also sings well. The backup vocalists sound how you'd expect for this kind of song. [Edit thanks to commenter!]

The lyrics are fairly repetitive in their insistence that if just one person leads while singing to give others the confidence to join in. Nothing impressive, but nothing possibly objectionable, either.

I'm not quite sure what to call this song, genre-wise. I recognize it, in that I've heard this genre before. Scylax suggests it's easy listening. Anyone else want to comment?

Overall, if you like the smooth easy listening type of song, or if you like a traditional mature tenor on vocals, you're apt to like this song. If one or the other isn't your general cup of tea, you likely won't be particularly fond of this one, though there's nothing wrong with it. I didn't mind it, myself, but I doubt I'll ever listen to it again, either.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 6/10

Check out the One Voice album on Amazon! (Sorry; Amazon didn't offer the direct song link.)