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Page 5
P O C L iS
Music Boulevard
Nicols Ronéo
Nicole Renée Isn'tjustasinger. She’s
a writer, producer, arranger, and com ­
pletely self-contained visionary w ho
does it all (she had written 200 songs by
the tim e she w as ready to record her
debut album for Atlantic Records). She
doesn't just sing: she sangs. If you
d o n’t know the diffem ce you’re in fo ra
pleasant surprise. From the opening
notes o f "Telephone,” the first track on
Nicole Renée’sself-ti tied album, it’sclear
thatam ajornew talent ison the line. Her
virutosic vocal talent is quickly revealed
inallofits stunning diversity: shem oans
and writhes, hervoiceacham eleon shift­
ing from blue blue notes into spine-
tingling falsetto with deceptive ease. As
a person, N icole Renée exudes a com bi­
nation o f boundless w arm th and vora­
cious intelligence; as a singer, she has
the sam e mix: by turns, she rocks out like
a furious head-banger, screams bloody
m urder in a w ay that reminds us that
to hold all o f those disparate ingredients
together in one, organic whole. .And
that’s all within the first minute.
“N IC O L E REN EE” is an album o f
subtle charm s and obvious pleasures.
O v er th e co u rse o f fifteen songs,
“NICOLE RENEE” will liftyouup.make
you think, and have you dancing before
you know what ’ s hit you. W e are treated
to soul in all o f its variations. In “Cocaine
Lane,” Nicole Renée compares a drug
addict’s relationship to coke w ith her
own senseofreligious devotion. “Iasked
adrugaddict, ‘W hat is it about this drug
that w ould cause you to steal from your
m other and lie and hurt people you
love?” N icole Renée says. “A nd he said,
it’ssom ethingthat'salw ays there,some­
passion is one o f nature’s m ost pow er­
ful elem ents an coos delicately enough
A sk h er how sh e ’s co m e th is far
and sh e’ll sim ply answ er. “Faith. Faith
thing that loves you unconditionally.
A nd 1 said, ’ well that ’ s the w ay that 1 feel
about G od.” Such w isdom proves that
N icole isn’t just about astonishing us
with her vocal and musical pyrotechnics
- she’s a deep thinker with serious
spiritual and philosophical insights to
share. D o n ’t let the fact that she marries
these keenly intelligent lyrics to such
sensual and melodic m usic fool you.
N icole Renée really has it all.Ofcourse,
a talent like this doesn’t just appear out
o f thin air.
In fact, N icole has been in the public
eye since her early adolescence, when
she first began appearing on Black En­
tertainm ent Television as an original
m em ber o f the posse from Teen Summit,
a talk show hosted by teens. During her
four-year stint on the program Nicole
interviewed m any o f the brightest lights
in R & B and rap, but it was her ow n
singing that caught the ears o f some
music company executives visiting the
show one day. “A t the time I was a
student o f classical singing, and w asn’t
even interested in pop in fact, 1 was
gearing up to go to a conservatory, ’
Nicolerecalls.“Butsomeexecutives from
a record company overheard m e singing
in the green room and soon I started
getting all this interest from labels. ’
ttlonlng belief that doe»
has g iven m e the strength to get to
w here I am now . It’s allo w ed m e to
beco m e the strong w om an 1 am . I
have faith in G o d I have faith in m y
abilities. I am w hat 1 am . 1 am F aith .”
NFW YEAR
MT. HOOD
M EADOWS
A s anyone touch by the p resen ce
o f things truly p ow erful an d d ivine
can testify , acts o f faith are m ean t to
b e experienced. S uch is the case w ith
Faith E v an ’s sophom ore album , K eep
T he Faith. W ritten and co -p ro d u ced
alm ost en tirely by the 25 y ear old
songw riter, p ro d u c e r an d vocalist.
K eep T he F aith is a b reath tak in g tour
de force in the tradition o f vocal pow -
C ihouses P h y lis H ym an and A n g ela
PACKAGE INCLUDES
♦
♦
♦
♦
Fireworks Display
Torchlight Parade
Night Skiing Until 12:15am
New Year's Eve Dinner
Buffet & Party
♦ Entertainment By
Bobby Torres Ensemble
♦ Round Trip Transportation
from Portland
Bofill.
F a ith ’s vo ice d elivers em o tio n s
that are altern ately sw eet and loving,
then visceral an d raw -w ith a sin cerity
that strik es deep in the solar plexus.
W ith flaw less production provided
b y D a v id F o s t e r , J - D u b , R o n
L aw ren ce, C h u ck y T h o m p so n ,
B aby face an d P u ff D addy , K eep T he
F aith is p o ised to tak e its rightful
PACKAGE PRICES
MT. HOOD
MEADOWS
p lace as on e o f the best R & B alb u m s
o f th e year. T he single “ L o v e L ike
T h is” has up tem p o grooves g u aran ­
teed to co n ju re up m em o ries o f early
' 80s h o u se p arty vibes. O n lu sh bdl-
lads like “ L ately I” an d “C aram el
K isses,” F aith delivers riffs w ith a
p o w er an d effo rtlessn ess that w ill
m ake y o u feel every b ito fh e rjo y and
k n o w ev ery b it o f h er pain. F a ith ’s
*
su p erio r vocal are d esig n ed to elicit
u n co n d itio n al em o tio n al surrender.
S h e ’s ab o u t to take y o u th e re ,”
Adults (13 & over)
Juniors (12 & under)
Bus and Lift ONLY
$50
$40
$35
are available at all
6.1.
J o e ’ s T icketmaster O utlets
an d
T ickets
M t . H o o d M
eadow s
S ales O ffice
FOR MORE INFORMATION
w h eth er y o u ’re trying to go o r not.
M
V., - A J
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