Songbird Susan Boyle’s life was changed forever after her performance on the popular UK TV Show “Britain’s Got Talent” where she dazzled the judges with a performance of “I Dreamed A Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables”; the song that is now the namesake of her debut album.

The album begins with a slow ballad and cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”. This was the album’s first single, and on it Boyle’s voice is truly exquisite, even better than when we all first fell in love with her. “I Dreamed A Dream”, the title track is up next and truly delivers much like her first performance on the show that has been watched more than 80 million times already on YouTube.

The album takes a jazzy swing with her rendition of “Cry Me A River”. At times this forty-eight year old’s voice takes on a new character with the sultry points sometimes reached in the song. A return to ballad country is up next with “You’ll See”, a Madonna cover. In the track “Daydream” Boyle shows vocal talent with somewhat of a vocal choke, that produces a sound more raspy than her usual tone for the final chorus of the song.

She then has a cover of Patty Griffins’ “Up to the Mountain” with a good old gospel feel of sometimes jumpy keyboard and a soulful choir backing her up. The ease with which she manipulates her voice is a testament to her years of personal practice. Then, in line with the gospel feel “Amazing Grace” follows; a staple in any good ballad album.

 In the only original song on the album “Who I Was Born to Be” Boyle belts out “Though I may not know the answers/ I can finally say I’m free/ And if the questions led me here/ Then I am who I was born to be”. Following is the heartfelt ballad “Proud” which shows the shear amount of emotion Boyle can bring out through her voice, perhaps with the help of much life experience.

“The End of the World” is a 1962 song about heartbreak originally performed by Skeeter Davis that Boyle delivers gracefully in acoustic form. “Silent Night” is also added at the album’s end as a Christmas treat seeing that it was released on November 23^rd. On the Japanese version of the album a rendition of Akai Tori’s “Wings to Fly” is performed exceptionally by Boyle. This will certainly up sales in that part of the world.

This album mainly of ballad covers is a great depiction of Susan Boyle’s dream, that had spanned so many years, yet has finally been realized. It proves that all she needs is a piano and some strings to change the world with her amazing voice. “I Dreamed A Dream” is sitting atop the Billboard 200 and I can’t say I’m complaining. It gets a “B” from the Ordinary Joe Music Blog.