Angels have inspired songstresses from many different genres through the years with highly successful results from Amy Grant’s pop song “Angels Watching Over Me” in the early 80’s to Sarah McLachlan’s mournful ballad “Angel” in the late 90’s. Now seasoned performer Cheryl Metrick brings a Broadway flair to the mystery and wonder of angels with her tune, “There Are Angels.”
Celestial beings have a knack at making their presence known to us during the time of a traumatic or life-changing event. For Metrick, she was recovering from surgery when the lyrics to this heavenly tune materialized. To properly sing a song about this huge comforting revelation, Metrick asked Frank Owens to embellish upon her music and lyrics. Owens is another Broadway veteran and has previously served as musical director for such artists as Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis and Petula Clark. This sound is evident in his arrangement style and he does a fine job of making “There Are Angels” a big production number.
The song opens with Owens on piano playing the introduction to Bach-Gounod’s “Ave Maria.” Metrick enters with her cabaret phrasing and dramatic speak-singing about her contemporary thoughts on guardian angels. Classic Broadway, she even adds in a few cutesy squeaks, a la Kristin Chenoweth. At times there may be a little too much echo on Metrick’s voice and her “errr” enunciation, as in “other” and “heart,” are borderline grating. Owens nicely uses the full string section at his disposal adding moving sweeps and lots of color, and the horns and harp are great. As the song progresses, it is reminiscent of a popular 1960’s Dusty Springfield hit or Jimmy Webb arrangement.
Despite the grand instrumentation, the song lacks a huge climax. It goes forward but fails to go anywhere really exciting. Metrick does pull off a fine vocal performance including holding on to the last held note of the piece where she falters initially and then settles into the tonal center and adds a tasteful vibrato to the fade out. “There Are Angels” is a good song, with a good message that may indeed truly touch some listeners, but it seems to be yet another variation on a long-standing theme.
Review by Kelly O’Neil
