This album is way beyond expectation. Summer is back to her peak form. It is a modern dance oriented album. It is not just for Summer fans. In fact it has very little like her disco era materials.

Give this modern Summer a try.

Donna Summer has been gone for a bit..but comes back and is taking names! Buy it!

During her extraordinary run from the mid-'70s to early '80s, Donna Summer reigned supreme as the "Queen of Disco" and "The First Lady of Love." Ultimately, she was the only disco performer to make a meaningful transition to pop and pop/rock ("She Works Hard for the Money," "Unconditional Love," "The Wanderer," et al). With this, her first all-new album in 17 years, Miss Summer attempts to recapture past glories. Unfortunately, she fails. What we have here are some very pedestrian, cookie-cutter dance grooves that are interchangeable with so many routine hip-hop recordings these days.
Donna, you had a great run, but it's over now.

"Crayons" is a collection of Donna's new recordings which we have waited for a quite long time. It is a set of various flavours and styles of music, from slow-ballad as "Sand on my feet", electro-blues "Slide over backwards", bossa-nova sound of "Drivin' down Brasil" to dance-hits as "Stamp your feet" and I'm a fire". Variety of music approaches within this album is maybe announcing different music styles which Donna will face in her near future projects: it would be great if we could hear Donna's new project entirely done in electro-bossa-nova style, cooperating with Brazilian contemporary music stars, or electro-blues-y album arranged by some DJs. However, "Crayons" is puting Donna's beautiful and astonishing voice in new music technological industry background and standards, previously introduced by Madonna. Therefore, many people comment that "new Donna Summer" is resembling to Madonna's music. I would say that Donna Summer made us always expecting her to be original and intrigant, she used to be the Queen who introduces shocking and revolutionary sound in music (Love to love you baby, I feel love, Hot stuff, MacArthur Park, Last Dance, Enough is enough, She works hard for the money...). Unfortunatelly, "Crayons" does not contain any original or substantially new approach in (disco/dance) music, but just gives us a sign that "Disco Diva" is totally awake (after long sleep) and ready to return to her faitfull audience! "Crayons" could be understood as Donna's transitional step towards her new phase in music, as her investigation or experiment of her voice fitting in new sound technology standards. She already starded this investigation with "I got your love" and it seems she is prepared for new challenges. However, "I feel love" still sounds much more fresh, intrigant and "new" than many of new tunes. "Crayons" is brilliantly produced CD with magnificent voice of Donna Summer placed in contemporary music technology background standards.

First of all let me start by saying I have always been a huge Donna Summer fan. I was very disappointed when Donna Summer's version of "Time to Say Goodbye"... "I Will Go with You (Con Te Partiró)" didn't chart. It is one of my all time favorite songs by her and she was in exceptioally fine voice. Her holiday collection "Christmas Spirit" is one of the best holiday releases in recent years. So I had great expectations for this release.

This release is so contrived. It is meant to appeal to a younger generation and it comes off as "chessy". I saw her on American Idol this past season. She didn't look like the Donna Summer I remembered from the "VH-1 Presents: Live & More Encore!", nor did she look comfortable on stage. The album cover for Crayons should be your first warning. The photo looks like Donna Summer 30 years ago. It's obviously an airbrushed photo. Donna Summer is still a beautiful woman, albeit a woman who will be 60 years old this December.

The songs on this disc are some of the worst songs I've ever heard. As an artists ages, they sometime (and rightfully so) need to make consessions. Donna Summer would have fit more comfortably into the vein of young contemporaries like Dido. She should have been allowed to construct beautiful "pop/dance pop" songs which would suit her voice... one of the best voices in pop music, still, today. Unfortunately, she's trying to be the Queen of Hip-Hop-esque pop... it's unfortunate.

I recently read an article speaking to the fact that she was never comfortable being cast as "the first lady of love". This disc has a similar feeling, in that it appears that she is being cast into these awful contemporary dance numbers where she doesn't belong. I so would have loved to have heard a cd that showcases one of my favorite voices... hopefully I won't have to wait another 9 years.