Listen to Clips:

Last Night I Had A Dream  (Randy Newman) 

Shakin' All Over  (Johnny Kidd) 

Love It Away  (Donna Loren)

Only Love    (Donna Loren)

OK    (Donna Loren)

Be Your Best Friend  (Donna Loren)

We Are Woman    (Donna Loren)

  UR  (Donna Loren)

Live Nude Cabaret    (Jackson Browne)

Don't Bring Me Down    (Jeff Lynne)

Old Man  (Neil Young)
 

Still Love You  (Donna Loren)

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight  (Bob Dylan)

Satisfied Mind  (Rhodes/Hayes)

Bonus Track: Love It Away (Remix)  (Donna Loren)

Donna Loren’s latest musical endeavor includes a tasty selection of original compositions along with classic rock standards like Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”, Neil Young’s “Old Man” and Randy Newman’s “Last Night I Had a Dream”. This is a very personal story-telling through music and it illustrates the woman Donna has now become. “The little girl with a big voice” has matured since her efforts as a recording artist for Capitol and Reprise in the sixties. She expresses herself now, not only through singing, but songwriting and music production as well. She even adds a bit of her own musicality on keyboard and percussion. Other collaborators include legendary “Wrecking Crew” bassist Carol Kaye, (they worked together on many of her records in the sixties) and celebrity bassist, Bob Glaub, who literally took time off from a world tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash to add his beautiful sounds. On keyboard you’ll hear a young musician, Jamieson Trotter; truly a treasure. Living in Hawaii has not limited her ability to record. There’s a world-class studio nearby run by Grammy-winner Charles Michael Brotman. And, Skype technology allowed Donna to work from Hawaii and also continue to produce at Maurice Gainen’s Los Angeles studio. A twist of fate united Donna with famed photographer Mark Arbeit where, at her home and world-renowned Mauna Kea beach, he captured her essence in the sensual photos used for this exquisite album. Produced by Donna Loren.

Donna Loren is a sixties girl that made appearances on all kinds of TV shows and movies. That work carried her a long way and now so many years later, her voice still resonates and touches those within earshot. Now in her early sixties living in Hawaii, she has embraced new technologies and decided to cut a new album titled Love It Away.

The recording is a mixture of originals and carefully picked covers. Besides maintaining a commanding and beautiful vocal style she adds keyboards and percussion to the album. The main instrument is her voice, with a resounding sense of definition I might add.

The title track, “Still Love You”, “Only Love”, “OK”, “We Are Woman” and “UR” develop into a fine set of originals with some well known rock and pop standards sandwiched in between. The most prolific cover is Neil Young’s “Old Man”. When I saw that listed I had my doubts as anyone would after hearing her original material. Her voice is so silky smooth yet powerful when she throws all of her emotion into it. Even so, how could she even come close to Young’s original? Well she pulls it off and makes it her own, and that is the X factor, the difference. Some artists make the mistake of trying to sound like the original artist when they cover a track, not Donna, it’s all her and it totally works. “Shakin’ All Over” is exceptional as well, it has that original haunting vibe and reverberating vocal that I remember when I first heard it, which actually was the Guess Who version in the early seventies.

I think one of the reasons for the success of this recording besides Donna’s flat out stunning vocal performance, is the production is kept to a minimum and the instrumentation generally focuses on the keyboards highlighting the sweet sensual vocals of Ms. Loren.

With the help of Skype Donna was able to produce the album from Hawaii right in the studio in Los Angeles. The importance of this release can be found beyond the music, it is a personal statement from the artist and her heartfelt interpretation of her feelings relating to her own life. Whatever emotional pain this woman has experienced she sounds strong enough to have dealt with it and moved on by allowing love and her own heart to let the scars heal. I can hear it and feel it in her voice on both versions of “Love It Away”. Every other track can be considered somewhat of a departure from all of that intensity, in fact many of the tracks usher in some levity to bring the listener back into the here and now after reflecting on the singers’ passionate plea for the redemption of her soul.

Love It Away is music to listen to while in the car, at home, while you are alone sitting underneath a tree on a hot summer’s day. This is music to remember how to love life and cherish every breath you take. An artist like Donna Loren brings back the innocence of another time while reminding us that living today can still be enjoyable and entertaining while listening to music and bringing out those memories from the attic in your mind, blowing off the dust and reliving every moment once again. 4/5 Stars

-Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck, June 8, 2010 ©MuzikReviews.com