My Amazon Reviews: Drake Jensen “Retro”

Full Speed Ahead In Reverse
5 Out Of 5 Stars

Everyone's favorite out Canadian Cowboy, Drake Jensen, has set the control of his Wayback Machine for his new "Retro" album. Doing a covers album is always a risky venture as you're just as likely to step on a sacred cow than give a song proper respect. Drake walks that balance really well here, making his retro-world a place where Cyndi Lauper cuddles up to George Strait as easily as Pam Tillis plays footsie with Billy Idol. The thread that ties it all together is Drake's honey sweet voice, which, at times does resemble Strait's. It's not a completely country album, but you'll be surprised at just how much Lauper's "I Drove All Night" sounds with just a hint of Texas. Ditto for Idol's "Eyes Without A Face."

That's part of the fun of "Retro." There are a couple of die-hard country standards here, including the late Dan Seals' heart-breaker, "Everything That Glitters is Not Gold" and Strait's "Amarillo By Morning." He's also unafraid about some gender switching covering Tillis and Reba McEntire ("You Lie"). He also steps up to the plate to do a duet (originally by Seals and Marie Osmond) with Tia McGraff for "Meet Me In Montana." There are other artists here that you may be familiar with, some maybe not, But the result is pure; "Retro" may be a collection of oldies, but Drake Jensen makes them sound just like you'd want them to.

I can also recommend Drake's other studio albums linked below. "Stand By Your Man" is a good kicker single.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Katy Perry "Teenage Dream"

I wish they all could be California Gurls  
3 Out of 5 Stars

Katy Perry pulls off a serious surprise on "Teenage Dream": she goes from low quality candyfloss to fine spun sugar cotton. Not only is this album song for song a better deal than "Me and The Boys," the album is a pure-pop tease of silly sexiness, adolescent yearnings, girl-power can-do and a modern-pop hookfest. Granted, this is an album geared towards having as many hits and radio spins as possible, but sometimes a purely well crafted guilty pleasure can brighten a dull day.

Katy Perry recognizes this truism and pushes it as hard as she can. Besides, there is no way to avoid the fact that both the title track and "California Gurls" are ear-worms of the highest caliber. She'd already learned her way around a good hook as songwriter before becoming a star, on "Teenage Dream" she increases the confidence and the firepower. While not the greatest of singers (and autotune rears its head a bit too many times), she uses enthusiasm and dramatic flair to bring the songs home.

She's also unafraid of doing purely dumb songs, which never hurts a flirty image. "Peacock" is her answer to "My Humps" or even the X-rated niece to the long ago "Mickey" by Toni Basil. "ET" is the miss in that division, as there are too many forced metaphors to make the joke work as novelty. It's also hard to balance this kind of contorted silliness with the 'serious' songs ("Circle The Drain" and "Pearl"). Bragging that you want to see a guy's pea-cock-cock-cock undercuts the intended message of the strong willed woman urging her girlfriend to dump the abusive creep in "Pearl." Well done confections like "Firework" and even the melodramatic "Not Like The Movies" (which sounds like it means to be Katy's version of Pink's "Glitter In the Air") are endearing without sounding schizophrenic in the context of the whole album.

Yet who am I to say. While I enjoy the choco-pop-ice cream that is "Teenage Dream," the teen girls dreaming of stardom and empowerment will likely think "Pearl" is dead on, and that is where Perry gets her juice. The bulk of the songs are top-notch (don't believe me? Find the Glee rendition of "Teenage Dream" and tell me it's not a glorious bit of songcraft). Much like Cyndi Lauper before her, Katy Perry is making the best of her individuality, her sense of fun and her genuine talents.