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| Artist: Donna Summer
Label: Burgundy S
List Price: $18.97
Buy Used: $4.98
You Save: $13.99 (74%)
New (48) Used (26) Collectible (1) from $4.98
Rating:  158 reviews
Sales Rank: 6489
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.3
MPN: 722992
UPC: 886972299228
EAN: 0886972299228
ASIN: B0016B6ZKG
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Complete with original case, disc(s), and artwork. In stock and ships right now. 10% chance the case has small spider cracks in it.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 158
 Big A*s Sound June 19, 2008
Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States)
25 out of 27 found this review helpful
Donna Summer's "Crayons" is an amazing return to form by this great singer. "Stamp Your Feet" is perched at #1 in my personal top ten. It's a great track that Donna co-wrote. I haven't seen a lyric sheet, but it sounds like she's singing "Make a big a*s sound!" That's my story & I'm sticking to it. ...Anyway that's what I'm singing as I drive along the road! The title track with Ziggy Marley bounces so joyfully that it's the perfect summer song. I may be wearing out the repeat button on the chorus, "Take a walk on the wild side, Don't be afraid, you could be mine." "The Queen Is Back" sounds like a musical biography referencing her hit "On the Radio," "She walks into the room & everybody knows, it's not a day too soon, she stands & strikes her pose." What a dynamic dramatic track! I also love "Drivin' Down Brazil" with its samba beat and Summer's expressive vocals. Other tracks like the 7-minute "I'm A Fire" and "Science of Love" are also excellent. This is a disc that is sure to be on my "best of 2008" list. Bravo!
Summer is here at last! May 20, 2008
Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria)
21 out of 29 found this review helpful
After a long drought of some 17 years, Summer is finally here. If you think I'm referring to the weather, you'd be half correct (what is Summer without Donna?), but I'm actually referring to the long awaited release of Donna Summer's first studio album in some 17 years.
"Crayons" finds Ms Summer at the peak of her creative and vocal abilities, and much like her classic albums "Four seasons of love", "Once upon a time", "I remember yesterday", "Bad girls", or "I'm a rainbow" there is a unifying theme running through the album; celebrating human diversity through diverse sounds.
Signed to Burgundy records, her label wanted her to do an album of standards like her contemporaries Rod Stewart, Diana Ross or Natalie Cole had. Summer however, had other ideas. She played them a song she'd penned, inspired she says by James Blunt's "You're beautiful", and the covers idea was never brought up again.
What we get is a beautiful kaleidescope of colours expressed in sound, with all the songs co-penned by Summer. Opening is the anthemic "Stamp your feet", an inspirational get-back-up-in-the-game message set to a dance/pop/hip hop sound. In a similar mould are the catchy but skeletal "Mr music" (with Timbaland-like synth strings and a reference to the ubiquitous iPod) and the tongue-in-cheek dig at her Queen of disco title "The queen is back" in which she name drops 2 of her big hits; "On the radio" and "Love to love you baby" (after a TV News segment-like intro). The last pair were co-written with Evan Bogart, son of her mentor at Casablanca records, the late Neil Bogart. Talk about coming full circle.
Title track "Crayons" is an incredibly bouncy pop song with an island feel and additional vocals from Ziggy Marley who sounds so much like his father. I love the fun "Ay ay oh ohs".
"Fame (the game)" is jaw-droppingly amazing, a dance/rock hybrid a la "Hot stuff" with a stomping beat which takes a look at the quest for, and pitfalls of fame with spoken verses (in an almost unrecognisable voice from Summer). This song sounds like it could have been lifted off "Bad girls" or "The wanderer".
"Sand on my feet" is a tender acoustic ballad with Donna declaring undying love for her man and sounding very young. This song is a real grower, and reminds me a bit of "Big girls don't cry" by Fergie. Next is another awesome song, the salsa/jazz-tinged tinged "Drivin' down Brazil" (I love the ad libs, and the heavy bass line) inspired Summer says by a player type cool guy she spotted driving down a street called Brazil in Florida.
"I'm a fire" is classic Summer, a latin-tinged dance song with a very European feel and a retro-yet-contemporary sound. This has already topped the Billboard dance charts, and is sure to please those hungry for her disco days. The version on the album is slightly different from the single version; additional verses, and additional fleeting harmonies.
Next comes a song bound to shock listeners. Is that really Summer singing? "Slide over backwards" finds Summer adopting the persona of a character called Hattie Mae Blanche DuBois (her photo appears in the CD too, of course it is Summer in silhouette), singing in a raspy drawl very much like Macy Gray, and singing to an upbeat harmonica/steel guitar laden honky tonk blues sound that would fit Tina Turner very nicely (think "Nutbush city limits"). It sounds strange at first, but grows more and more as you play it.
"Science of love" is a bouncy and edgy rock number which is incredibly catchy, with lyrics about trying (and failing) to resist a lover. Summer, after all, was the first recipient of the best female rock Grammy award, a feat overlooked by most. This song is very radio friendly.
Next is the album's masterpiece, the autobiographical ballad "Be myself again", the song she played for her record execs. It is a stark haunting piano ballad (with eerie synth flourishes during the bridge and chorus) and lyrics touching on the persona she had to display during her hey day, which was far removed from whom she really was. The opening poignant lines "Let me introduce myself/I'm a woman that you never see" reminds me of the beginning of the Rolling Stone's "Sympathy for the devil". Summer says she wanted her vocals to shine unencumbered by effects and beats, and thus came up with one of the most beautiful and powerful songs in her repertoire.
Closing cut (on most versions of the CD) is the powerful Gospel tinged "Bring down the reign" which starts off with the rumble of gunfire before haunting Eastern violins (played by Miri Ben-Ari; she also makes a fleeting appearance on "Stamp your feet") African chants (backing vocals by The Agape Children's Choir, a group composed of South African AIDS orphans) and percussion sweep in, with Summer singing a prayer for Darfur. This song is incredibly moving, and reminds me a bit of Wyclef's "Million voices" from the "Hotel Rwanda" soundtrack. A stunning performance, and a prayer I hope is answered, not only in Darfur, but everywhere there is hate, intolerance and killing.
As I stated, this is the closing cut on most versions of the CD, but some versions have a bonus cut, a track I feel is vital to your Summer collection. "It's only love" is a trancey dance song with surging, pulsing and throbbing synths, and Summer cooing in a voice last heard on songs like "Could it be magic" or "Now I need you". At a little over 7 minutes, it is a masterpiece, remniscent of her electronic classic "I feel love" and deserves to be massive. "Dancing dancing" she intones in a robotic trance as she takes us to a "land of a thousand dances". Awesome!! Buy, beg or steal a copy with this song!
The album comes in a nice digipak with lovely photos of Summer. Her famous effusive "thank you" notes are back, and her daughters get a very touching tribute.
There you have it. Her "Bad girls" album got 5 grammy nominations in the Rock, R&B, Disco and Pop categories, and "Crayons" has the potential to cut across genres come Grammy time. I know I'm a big Donna Summer fan so I'm probably biased (lol!), but this is definitely my favourite album released this year, and up there with the best of Summer's career, and one of her most heartfelt and personal artistic statements.
For all generations, The Queen is Back... May 20, 2008
Luis G. Aranibar (WDC)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
"Be Myself Again" and "The Queen is Back" make this cd a Five Star. Two masterpieces that should become instant classics. Very different from each other, the first, a beautiful and very profound ballad and the second a fun, hip-hop-dance tune that makes you want to get up and dance. They both have: The right words, the right music and magnificent vocals. PERFECT! The rest of the cd is a lot of fun with many different sounds....for all generations.
 Lots of fun! See the Tour if you can! June 24, 2008
DonMac (Lynn, MA United States)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
A solid comeback to the dancefloor for Summer who has waited way too long to record a new record. This one has some good stomping beats and high powered vocals (maybe tampered with a bit too much). Still, Summer is Summer and she's great at what she does. Why she sounds so much like Tina Turner on one of these tracks is confounding and strange, but otherwise good fun!
Update 7/12/08 - Just saw Donna tonight in concert in Boston. Her voice is still AMAZING live. A great evening. The entire crowd was singing along and dancing all evening. A great shared experience. All the songs from the new album tranlslated very well to her live performance. See it if you can!
Donna Summer Crayons Wonderful New Music June 22, 2008
Homero Vela (Idaho Falls Idaho USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Donna Summer Crayons starts with a hit n run (Stamp Your Feet) a wonderful song about not giving up. This is a feel good song with a punch. This is a sure fire hit, with all the beat you need to dance and stay inspired all day. The whole cd is very versitile from up tempo to a southern sound on (Slide Over Backwards) as only Tina Turner could sing untill now.Crayons is another favorite fun Reggae makes you wanna dance and celebrate life"s diversity of all people on our planet.This Mega hit features Ziggy Marley, love it love it love it and you will too.
I"m a fire is like some of Donna Summers great past magical hits with a added 2000 latin sound. This song gets under your skin and wont let go WOW.The ballads on this cd are beautiful, such as (Be Myself Again,Bring Down The Reign). The songs Fame,Music and The Queen is Back rivals any new artist out there.Then there is Drivin Down Brazil, this refreshing song makes you wanna get in your converatble and go for a spin in the sun and fun.This cd will have you dancing,singing along and wanting to hear it again. You will enjoy this cd I do very much reccomend it Buy it. Dear Donna, we met several years ago in Los Angeles,you"ve done it again. You have a Mega hit cd, and yes The Queen is Back.
Homero Vela
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