The album
Once More, released in 2001 by Philippine female singer Manilyn, contains mostly passionate, easy listening love songs, a style of music quite popular in the Philippines, but posing little challenge to either artist or listener. However, Manilyn (born Manilyn Reynes) possesses a fine voice and has much interpretive ability, and makes the songs sound better than they should. She often sings in a high register, but where many other singers fall short in this area, she navigates with poise and confidence. She also sounds strong in the middle register, as heard on "Minsan Minsan" ("Sometimes"), a remake of a Philippine love song first performed by Claire dela Fuente. A number of Philippine-composed songs on
Once More tend to sound derivative, for example, the passionate "Saka Mo Sabihin" ("Tell It Later"). Manilyn sings in a confident high register on the tender "My World Keeps Getting Smaller," composed by American songwriters Hank Greenfield and
Neil Sedaka. One of the better Philippine-composed love songs is "Kulang Pa Ba" ("It's Not Enough"), on which Manilyn exhibits a delicate strength. However, this is the album's last track, by which time a listener may have become too bored to appreciate its intricacies. This artist displays a talent for performing upbeat material on "You to Me Are Everything," the album's only song in this style. Overall, the album needs better material, but Manilyn exhibits much confidence on
Once More. ~ David Gonzales