Melissa Giges, Far Beyond the Pacific

Today is a confusing day for me. I swear I spent eight hours at work, but it felt like I was in the waiting room of my dentist’s office. You know the ambience: old musty couches, lamps from the 1970s, and copies of Highlights intermingled issues of Cosmo that let you know of “50 ways to pleasure your Man.” Topping it off is the faint sound of adult contemporary music playing from a small radio next to the secretary’s desk. Melissa Giges’ second full-length CD, Far Beyond the Pacific, must be what the secretary is listening to and the source of my confusion.

First off, let’s give singer-song writer Giges her well-deserved props: she appears fully capable of performing all the work of the songwriters, composers, and lyricists needed by a Sara Bareilles or even a Barbara Streisand. Now I’m not saying Ms. Giges’ music is as good as the incomparable Barbara Streisand, but the ability is there. Furthermore, her classical training gives her an impressive three-octave range that’s strong from top to bottom and which she uses to channel a myriad of influences and genres.

Songs like “Caught” and “Carry You” have that nice, smoky jazz feel that made Norah Jones so popular a few years ago, while “Find Some Time” manages to slip a little country into the ’90s pop sound. All these songs are carried by Giges’ good vocals — good, but not great. Strong vibrato and a clear tone with an almost calculated amount of aspiration, Giges’ voice can most easily be described as a good choir voice: her voice fits equally well in doctor’s waiting room or a Sunday morning service.

It seems as if there’s something, however, that fails to separate her voice from the other good voices. It’s as if her voice is too well-trained and lacks that “something” that allows her to move beyond the pack. Sometimes her voice seems out of place, as if she’s covering a song she wrote herself. It’s a good cover, but it doesn’t bring the same feeling as the original.

I think my biggest problem is that I’m not the audience that would go see Ms. Giges perform. I’m not one who needs to his music to throw him into some sort of emotion-driven frenzy, but I listened to this and didn’t really connect to anything. It’s a good CD in the same way a Honda Accord is a good car, but I’m not ready to go out and buy a sedan. I really think she has a perfect place in the Adult Contemporary scene, but you might pass on this brand of pleasant but non-threatening music.