Jul 08
AndrewMusic Album, American Idol
Ace Young’s self-titled post-American Idol debut is eerily reminiscent of Justin Timberlake from the tenor of his vocals to the vibe of the album to the harmonious melodies stapled on to a Meatloaf-sized production. Young manages, in the same slick way Timberlake does, to evoke Michael Jackson from 1982 (Thriller) instead of Michael Jackson from 2001 (Invincible).
Much has been made of the lack of success of American Idol male alumni. Even wholly credible albums like the one from rocker Constantine Maroulis fail to make much of an impact on radio or sales. That’s because, with the exception of Daughtry, most of it is over-produced crap (see Lewis, Blake). But on Ace Young, the production probably saves Young some post-Idol grief. It’s a slick pop album with just enough hip hop cred to entice radio.
The Letter is Young’s Billy Jean (well, Billy Jean-lite). Evoking his best Nickelback impression, A Hard Hand to Hold, will get the pre-teen girls weeping in their soccer patch tee. And Dirty Mind would melt many a middle-aged man in the hands of Justin Timberlake. So what if Young delves is turgid Christian balladry with album closer The Gift? And who would complain that Fast Life sounds suspiciously like a George Michael single? Well…
The problem, if one needs to point this out, is that there is nothing uniquely Ace Young on this album. The first single Addicted is clearly radio-ready, but you wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from any boy band offering that’s already in the rotation. And ultimately, while Ace Young sounds good, it doesn’t make much of a lasting impression.
Jun 19
AndrewMusic American Idol, Kelly clarkson
I think Kelly Clarkson woke up recently and realized her “Behind the Music” script was going to suck. It is exactly like meeting someone on match.com, no matter how you spin the story, there will always be the stigma that you were incapable of meeting someone in real life. Kelly Clarkson’s real life was just never going to be “a career in music” so she went on American Idol and beat out Justin Guarini. She got to record with Clive Davis, made two hit records, and from that point on, tried to spin it as a Cinderella story.
Here’s the problem.
No matter that American Idol has legitimately produced some amazing vocalists, it will always been known for the singers who suck and still gain a measure of exposure and popularity by virtue of being on the show (I’m talking to you Kellie “American Idol Tour Paid for My Boobs” Pickler.) It’s mostly Idol’s own fault, by intermixing the worst talent among the best during auditions, and always encouraging a little seepage into the final 24 to keep the drama cranked. Clarkson is experiencing the fall out of that stigma with the release of album #3 My December (out next Tuesday.)
In no small way, it is amazing that Clarkson has managed to last this long as a legitimate powerhouse. It’s both a credit to her talent and small-town girl personality, and the fact that the Idol-machine itself was invested in foisting her upon the public. There is no question that she has the vocal chops in a way that few other Idols, Carrie Underwood excepted, have. And she was wise enough, or perhaps naive enough, to let Davis and his entourage of song writers and mixers create some very radio-friendly tunes. (Hey if it worked for Whitney Houston…)
Clarkson’s Cinderella story has started to unravel recently, and given the way we soak up scandal like confections, it’s little wonder we are desperately trying to figure out what the heck’s going on.
Among the highlights:
Clarkson refused to sing Never Again, the first single from My December, at the Idol Gives Back charity concert. Her reasoning was that the message of the song (“You hurt me, I hate you”) was all wrong for the event. Clarkson was quoted as saying the producers who wanted her to sing the song then “had no soul.”
Clarkson fired her manager, and on the heels of that otherwise unremarkable event, canceled her entire summer tour. The tour reportedly suffered from low ticket sales and was scrapped in favor of possibly playing at smaller venues in the near future.
And then there is the Elle cover story in which the undercurrent of disillusionment is padded with a lot of fluff about Clarkson trying on clothes and wearing and not wearing make-up. But what comes out of the Elle story is that Davis and his management team were concerned by the overall tenor of My December, to the point that they delayed the album release. Clarkson, in the interview, paints it as a control thing. She wanted creative control over the album, and they didn’t want to give it to her.
But there’s another thread that’s not lost despite being a very one-sided (flattering) portrayal of Clarkson, which is that Davis didn’t think her songs were radio-friendly. There’s the now-famous offer to pay her $10 million to swap out 5 songs that she wrote with five others that he hand-picked. And of course, Clarkson said no. Clarkson is quoted in the article as saying that the record label was against her writing songs, but want to bet, they were against her releasing an album that was going to tank for lack of mainstream hits?
Early reviews of the new album are not good. The gist of every review seems to be that both lyrically and in its tone, the album is all over the place.
Clarkson seems to be having a problem being part of the hit machine. And therein lies the problem. Artistic integrity is not a well-respected virtue for a pop star. Especially one who was first in the graduating class of Idol U. It’s noble that she might think she has enough established R-E-S-P-E-C-T at this point to just say no, but it belies the fact that she will always be the girl who won the first season of American Idol.
In a span of a week, she badmouthed her record label, acrimoniously fired her manager, lost a whole summer of touring and merchandising for her album, and all that before knowing whether anyone is even going to buy My December. Is this all just to drum up some much-needed hype for the new album or is there something really wrong with Kelly Clarkson? It’s probably an equal dose of both.
The immediate future will be telling. But the silver-lining may just be that she gave her “Behind the Music” episode a little more spitfire in the retelling.
Jan 02
AndrewTelevision American Idol, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks
It is officially 2007 and some unwise decisions have left me with a hangover from last year. Here’s my list:
American Idol, what were you thinking voting Taylor Hicks to the top spot?
First Hicks impressions:
Just how old are you? Too fat to be an American Idol. Do you sing anything contemporary?
Well, Hicks was at the top of the eligible age bracket. He lost weight during the show. The producers gave him a stylist when they realized he wasn’t being voted off. He still does not sing anything contemporary. His stage presence is frenetic and lopsided. He can sing, but has zero appeal as a performer.
Hicks was the easy pick over the well-to-do L.A. girl Katharine McPhee. Her voice was inconsistent from week to week, she practically wilted under the stage lights, and had nothing on Hicks for the Southern voting bloc. The fact that it came down to the two of them brings up another complaint…
Chris Daughtry seemed like the best candidate for the win, even up to the last second when he was voted off the show. He would have been the first pure rocker to take the show, and how hot was he. That’s not a question. So how come he got voted off before the final week?
You can blame Idol producers (I do) or you can blame the voting audience. This is not a call for conspiracy. But damn well the producers position certain contestants for succeeding week to week. They have a hand in song choice, arrangement, the order of each performance during the broadcast, and all of it affects the voting results. There is no doubt in my mind that Hicks and McPhee were in the top two for a reason. But damned if I can figure out what that reason might have been.
My favorite theory: there was no way either Hicks or McPhee were selling albums without a huge Idol endorsement. So Daughtry, whose career is going to be swell, got the boot so that American Idol and Arista could sell more Taylor Hicks (that is the name of the album, too.)
Next up, the January 30 release of Katharine McPhee’s RCA album Never Saw It Comin’. Two words for you.
Justin. Guarini.
RSS
