Tarkan
Tarkan
1994/1998: Polygram 559 055-2
I bought this album (and, later, the CD single of “Şimarik”) in October 1998 after seeing the title song’s video and thinking “wow, HE’s cute!” Such a shallow reason, I know, but it was a good decision: whether Tarkan’s much of a musician or artist is beyond my call, but what’s certain for me is that now I have an impressive example of lusty Turkish singing in my collection, and it rewards me for that purchase whenever I listen to it on headphones.
Played merely on speakers it’s not as impressive…maybe it’s the language, maybe it’s his voice, but somehow this album works well only when you feel the voice coming from your own mouth or whispered in your ears (and I hasten to add that I wouldn’t at all mind having Tarkan whisper it in my own personal ears). The production quality of the album overall is decent if uninspiring—heavy reliance on the thumping dance-oriented material of its day, although there are nice moments of acoustic simplicity and clarity—and there’s plenty of schmaltz on the ballad numbers to keep me away. Still, he does have a good voice, quite a nice voice actually, which is easy to forget when dealing with either his Turkish-pretty-boy looks or the weak material.
Comments © 2006 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.