2010 album by this US crossover star with mostly self written songs.
- 1 Wandering Kind (Prelude)
- 2 Bells of New York City
- 3 Galileo
- 4 L' Ora Dell’Addio
- 5 Hidden Away
- 6 Au Jardin Des Sans Pourquoi
- 7 Higher Window
- 8 If I Walk Away
- 9 Love Only Knows
- 10 Voce Existe Em Mim
- 11 War At Home
- 12 London Hymn
- 13 Straight To You
Label-Information:
Josh Groban breaks new ground with his long-awaited fifth studio album, Illuminations. The album is the result of Groban's unexpected but stimulating collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, known for his work with Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks, and many others.
This partnership saw both Groban and Rubin stepping out of their respective comfort zones. Groban tapped into a new range of expression with lyrics drawn straight from the heart. The lead song "Hidden Away," one of six co-written by Groban and Dan Wilson (of Semisonic), provides an emotional center, highlighting the natural gifts of Groban as a singer and writer.
"These are my stories," says Groban, who co-wrote eleven of the thirteen songs on the album. "For every one of these songs, someone's going to know it's about them. I'm going to get a text message about every one! This is a very personal record."
Elsewhere, Groban makes his first foray into singing Portuguese on the vibrant "Voce Existe Em Mim (You Exist In Me);" returns to the more familiar Italian language with "L'Ora Dell'Addio" (a lush collaboration with the great composer/arranger Walter Afanasieff and lyricist Marco Marinagneli); paints a loving portrait of the Big Apple with "The Bells of New York City;" and offers his own, highly personal take on Nick Cave's poetic and passionate "Straight to You."
"Josh is a one-of-a-kind artist and he works in a genre I have never worked in before," says Rubin. "So there was a great excitement discovering our 'way in' to get to his essence and make a fine art album unlike any he has made before."
Rubin devised a setting to maximize the spontaneity of the performances, recording live with Groban playing piano and singing alongside acoustic guitarists Matt Sweeney and Smokey Hormel. Organist Spooner Oldham also plays on several tracks. Orchestrations were crafted by David Campbell and James Newton-Howard, while Brazilian great Carlinhos Brown created the dynamic setting for "Voce Existe Em Mim (You Exist In Me)," powered by an all-girl drum corps.
Illuminations was three years in the making. "I was given the very lofty task of having more responsibility on this album than I've ever had," says Groban. "The bar was set high from the beginning. That's why it took so long. But I can say that more of me went into this record than anything I've done."
