My Amazon Reviews: Adele "19"

Portrait of The Artist as a Young Woman
4 Out Of 5 Stars

A natural born vocal talent, Adele debuted with a fully realized album that, despite being titled "19," is a much wiser and mature sounding album. From the first gently picked guitar that drizzles under the opening "Daydreamer" to the torchy closer "Hometwon Glory," Adele captivates you with a voice that carries a tradition of classic belters, including the likes of Dusty Springfield, to the modern Brit-Soul of Amy Winehouse.

But that is where comparisons end. There are few folks who can take songs and just outright own them, the way Adele handles Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love," or sell the songs she's written herself, like the tinkling of "First Love." Her voice is a soaring instrument unto itself, which means that the songs that work the best are the ones with the barebones arrangements. Yet given a full production number, she carries herself just fine, as she does on the international hit "Chasing Pavements." In fact, the only time things get wonky on "19" is when a more modern pop style is employed on "Tired." She's got enough charisma and chops to be able to dispense with the too busy sound of it.

Given that Adele matured into a serious force of nature when "21" appeared two years later, "19" was just the sampler. Still, as a debut album, "19" captures and folds you up in its warmth and sheer skill as a singer and songwriter. Classic pop doesn't come much finer than this.

     

My Amazon Reviews: OneRepublic "Waking Up"

Waking Up and Going Big
 3 Out Of 5 Stars


For their second album, OneRepublic mastermind Ryan Tedder must have woken up and decided if a lot of production was terrific, than over-production would be fabulous. As a songwriter to the stars (he counts Adele and Beyonce for resume points), he certainly knows his way around songwriting and hooks. But for a writer with so many soul and R'n'B artists on his Rolodex, when it comes to his own material, Tedder aims squarely at the rafters of the world's areanas, with a jealous eye towards the likes of Muse.

Take "All The Right Moves." The first song on the disc may be "Made For You," but that song ends with a children's choir that sings the "All The Right Moves" anthemic chorus just before the bombastic percussion for the song itself bursts in. Strings swell as Tedder arcs his voice for a final soaring falsetto on the chorus' catchy hook. same with "Secrets," where Tedder takes a page from his mentor Timbaland and mixes rap verses with a high flying chorus and more strings. Or the closer, "Lullaby." Every bit as sedate as the title suggests, it's also twice as earnest as it probably needs to be. "Waking Up" contains bombast, but it's a good kind of bombast.

Problem is, after awhile, you wish he'd just pull in the reins a little. The title track is such an obvious U2 clone that you wonder if Tedder stole it from an early draft of "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark." The militaristic drumming of "Marching On" is overkill, even if the left, left, left right left hook is unshakable. The hooks throughout "Waking Up" are the calling card; they show exactly why Tedder has become such a go-to guy for the stars. Even my favorite song here, "Everybody Loves Me," strikes the perfect balance of snappy beats and earworm. Maroon 5 or Justin Timberlake would probably kill to get their teeth into it.

Unfortunately, and why this album ultimately gets an average rating from me, I don't hear an identity on "Waking Up." If Ryan Tedder wants to jump ahead of the likes of The Fray and become the equal to Maroon 5's Adam Levine (or genre champ Chris Martin of Coldplay), he's going to have to prove he's got more in him than ace writing chops. OneRepublic has the ambition, Tedder obviously knows both the writing and production craft, now it's to be determined if he can become in individual above the skill sets.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Lady Gaga "Born This Way"

Drop Kitchen Sink Here
4 Out of 5 Stars

 Lady Gaga is a product of delicious, kitschy, wretched excess. She wallows in it like a bubble bath. She throws it into the air like so many bags of glitter and confetti. If there's something flashy, she lunges it for it before anyone else even sees a flicker. And more to the point, she makes absolutely no apologies for madly, passionately being in love with what she's creating and the ingredients she is building her home for Little Monsters from. This is what make Lady Gaga and her "Born This Way" so lovable.

Like Madonna, Elton John or even David Bowie before her, Gaga spares no excess when it comes to her music. Does she want to emulate Springsteen? Then not only will there be a sax solo, Clarence Clemmons himself is going to play it ("Hair," "Edge Of Glory"). Does she think Madonna's expression of Catholic guilt on "Like a Prayer" was a high point of 80's dance music? Then "Judas" and "Black Jesus" are where it's really at for the 2010's. That cover image of Gaga as a human motorcycle is no accident, either. To meet that expectation, she gives herself up to her "Heavy Metal Lover" and then mashes cute girly kitsch with a road-warrior meme on "Highway Unicorn." There's nothing Gaga won't try, nor any room for subtleties.

The bonus disc of the deluxe edition proves this point even more by including the "country road" version of the title track. (The other tracks are useless remixes). Gaga is as calculating and cunning as she is creative and wild. The song "Born This Way" references Madonna's "Express Yourself," "The Queen" (one of the deluxe edition's extra tracks) references Queen's "Killer Queen" while Brian May plays lead guitar on "You and I." "The Edge Of Glory" - along with the title song, my favorite on the album - takes its cues from all those 80's Bon Jovi and Springsteen anthems. The Mother Monster knows that this is her moment and she's using it to both pay tribute to all the influences that came before her as well as establish that she is every bit their creative equal. That's what makes "Born This Way" a terrific pop album and Lady Gaga herself such a fascinating artist.

 

My Amazon Reviews: Adele "21"

The Real Thing  
4 Out of 5 Stars

Adele rode in on the wave of white British Girls worshiping at the altar of Etta James and Dusty Springfield, and seems to be the one left standing after the initial landing. "21" finds Adele discovering her own personality (primarily through a busted relationship) and pours her soul into every space available. From the bridge-burning of the first hit "Rolling In The Deep" to the torch version of The Cure's "Lovesong," she has matured in two short years into a first class singer. She works out gospel in "Take It All" to a Tina Turner (ala Ike and Tina and the Ikettes) fire on "Rumor Has It."

The production ranges from the gentle and soft piano on "Turning Tables" to overblown - "Set Fire to The Rain" is way too compressed and comes off as screechy. It may be a case of too many cooks, as "21" boasts six different producers. I'd personally like to see Adele hole up with Rick Rubin (who gets one of the best performances out of "The One and Only") or Ryan Tedder, who also co-wrote a few of the songs, including "Rumor Has It." Overall, though, "21" has the air of a timeless record, just as easily digested now as it might be in a decade. If Adele can avoid falling into the trap of trying to be trendy, her approach to music making is going to serve up some classics.