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05-25-2012, 04:34 PM,
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Miguel
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Posts: 11,925
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RE: "Listen Up!" - Reviews Thread
Windmills (Music) in the comment section on MJs:
Quote:(Compared to Kris Allen's album) There's more calculation in the production aspect of Haley's Listen Up where they're trying to make her jazzy 60s soul/70s disco stylings fit contemporary pop trends. But at the same time, it's not like I listened to Haley's album and thought "Oh, here they are trying to be Adele. Or Duffy. Or Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.)." It's still a Haley album with her phrasing and the sensual, sometimes angry swagger of the songs. There's a pretty consistent personality running through the whole album that matches the Haley I remember from AI. IMO that's especially impressive because it doesn't always happen on an Idol debut. I'm really, really digging the melodies she and her cowriters were able to come up with - they're sweet & flirty but they have some bite, Haley seems totally comfortable in her skin on these songs and her approach feels vivacious and fresh. Highlights: Liar, Wonderland, Now That You're Here, Hit The Ground Runnin
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05-25-2012, 08:27 PM,
(This post was last modified: 05-25-2012, 08:28 PM by Miguel.)
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Miguel
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Posts: 11,925
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RE: "Listen Up!" - Reviews Thread
Idol Head Ed:
Quote:A rare find and one year in the making
As always with Haley I tend to get very verbose so bear with me. Once in a while a CD comes along that turns our respective heads. Adele’s “21”, Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me” are two great examples. Those releases have launched the mega careers of both artists. This week another one of those CDs showed up. In a long and rarely successful line of Idol releases only a few have had great enough quality to stand. To date only 14 of the over 100 Idol releases have scored over 1,000,000 in sales. Only two of those Idols can really lay claim to reaching superstar status based on their signature CDs. Carrie with “Some Hearts” and Kelly with “Breakaway”. But neither achieved the turn your head stature that “21” and “Come Away With Me” did. Why? Because both set a different than the usual “genre”.
Adele has rewritten the top 40 sound. Norah introduced top 40 to a new jazz. This week Haley Reinhart might have done the same with her throwback/retro style. Predictions of her first week sales don’t look so great but “Come Away With Me” debuted at #139. And any time a “new” sound arrives there is much skepticism and Haley has a very new sound to introduce to the Pop scene. It may come slow but it will come and yes I do think Haley can do for Pop what Adele and Norah did.
Her new CD is so full of great lyrical and melodic songs that it will be impossible to ignore. Admittedly fans of Haley, and I am one, would like anything thing she debuted with (Randy’s phonebook) but something particularly different with Haley is she has writing credits on every song but one on this debut. The sound of this CD is so radically different from anything on the radio today.
Here’s my track by track experience...
(See: http://idolheaded.com/blog/2012/05/liste...y-arrived/ )
...To me this is the best debut Idol release ever. Yes I am including “Some Hearts” Carrie’s 7X platinum CD. In fact when I reviewed that CD (you can check Carrienews.com one of my links here, for the article. I did that review for another site before I had Idolheaded.com ) I made what seemed to be a minor prediction at the time. I said that if “Before he Cheats” got top 40 play as well as Country it would be the biggest hit on the CD. It did, and it did.
So here I am to make a similar prediction about Haley’s CD. If it gets any significant airplay, this CD will not only rise into the top all time Idols sales, it will spark a new generation of music. It will truly become a sub genre. Haley can take the music world the way Adele has. This is for me the best ever from an Idol rookie. One of the things that really makes this album so special is it is so uniquely Haley. It is a genuine part of her. How difficult is that to accomplish? There are literally millions of great, and I mean great musicians just in the US. (Check out www.yournewtunes.com just for a smidgen of it) but few ever make it big or are ever able to separate themselves from the pack of everyone else. Whether or nor Haley succeeds, she has certainly at least done that. There is no one in today’s music that has a sound like Haley vocally or musically.
... My overall rating for this CD is an A++.
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05-25-2012, 10:46 PM,
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gillyking
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Posts: 148
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RE: "Listen Up!" - Reviews Thread
The individual track comments are outstanding too!
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