Second Guess The Critic: Reloaded, Round 2

[Brenden]

Critic picks:

Brenden: Tom Waits - Closing Time (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Closing-Time-Tom-Waits/dp/B000002GYR/sr=1-4/qid=1170354500/ref=sr_1_4/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Bloop: Third Day - Third Day (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Third-Day/dp/B0000004QQ/sr=1-6/qid=1170354586/ref=sr_1_6/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Murlough23: Cindy Morgan - Real Life (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Real-Life-Cindy-Morgan/dp/B0000028QQ/sr=1-6/qid=1170354659/ref=sr_1_6/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
NinjaRob17: Stavesacre - Friction (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Friction-Stavesacre/dp/B000003ZFF/sr=1-5/qid=1170354757/ref=sr_1_5/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Plvarona: Sarah McLachlan - Touch (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Sarah-McLachlan/dp/B000002VGJ/sr=1-11/qid=1170354804/ref=sr_1_11/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music
Josh: Rod Stewart - The Rod Stewart Album (clips) http://www.amazon.com/Rod-Stewart-Album/dp/B00000612N/sr=1-9/qid=1170354905/ref=sr_1_9/102-4949027-4599319?ie=UTF8&s=music

This round will end on 2/09, next Friday at 10PM Eastern time.

[murlough23]

Bloop: 3
Brenden: 3
Josh: 4
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: 4

[Brenden]

Bloop: 3
Everyone else: Hell if I know.

BTW, it's customary to close out the previous round's thread by adding a link to the thread for the next round. Not that it's particularly difficult to find said thread, but you know, it makes it easier.

Noted.

[Josh]

Brenden: 3
Bloop: 3
Murlough: 4
Rob: 4
Phil: 3

[bloop]

Bloop:  Hell if I know
Brendan:  3
Murlough:  3
Rob:  3
Plvarona:  3
Josh:  4

[plvarona]

Brenden: 3
Bloop: 3
Murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: Yeah, right!
Josh: 4

[Brenden]

Bloop: 3
Murlough: 4
Rob: 4
Josh: 5
Plvarona: 3

[eatahouse]

Brenden: 4
Bloop: 3
Murlough23: 4
NinjaRob17: 3
Plvarona: 4
Josh: 5

[ajyouthguy]

Bloop:  2
Brendan:  3
Murlough:  4
Rob:  4
Plvarona:  4
Josh:  4

[RedcoatJones]

Brenden: 4
Bloop: 3
Murlough: 2
NinjaRob: 3
Plvarona: 3
Josh: 5

[bdg13disciple]

Bloop:  1
Brendan:  4
Murlough:  4
Rob:  4
Plvarona:  3
Josh:  4

peace...  love... bdg...

[worldofcm]

Brenden: 3
Bloop: 3
Murlough: 2
Rob: 4
Phil: 3
Josh: 4

[Josh]

Guess it's time to reveal our ratings, huh?

Some of you guessed that I'd give Rod the Mod 5 stars. That's smart thinking-- after all, it's no secret that I absolutely love Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment-- his second and third albums-- and would give five stars to either of those records in a heartbeat.

Others went with 3 stars, which is also smart thinking. After all, Rod the Mod isn't exactly known for consistency, and has in fact not released a single good album in, oh, about three decades now.

But those of you who picked 4 are the smartest of all. The Rod Stewart Album is a fine debut, and it's got a lot of classic songs on it, but it's definitely a notch or two below his two masterworks. I'd give it a solid B+, which translates to 4 stars.

Next round: John Reuben-- Word of Mouth

[murlough23]

Cindy Morgan gets 3 stars from me. It's no secret that I'm a fan of pretty much all of her albums, but this was honestly my first listen to her debut album in full. I knew going in that it was very much an attempt to make a dance-pop diva, circa late 80's, out of her - basically the successor to Amy Grant's Heart in Motion. And she's got that sound down pat (the problem being that this was the early 90's). However, as much as the rubbery production and lack of anything organic can start to grate on me, it's not a style of music that I absolutely hate. A few of these songs are solid dance tracks, and good early examples of Cindy's vocal talent. That leaves lyrics as the main problem. Other than the voice and a few well-placed ballads ("Let It Be Love", "Love Can Break Your Fall", and the album closer which sounds like it was dropped in from a much later Cindy album, "How Could I Ask for More"), I'd be hard-pressed to differentiate between this and other "Hot AC" fare from that era. I'd have loved this as a Mickey Mouse Club-watching teenager, but now... eh. It's an average start that ultimately led to greater things as Cindy gained more creative control of her sound.

NP: "Indestructible", Matisyahu

[bloop]

Third Day debut never rose above background music for me.  I'd consider it competent enough, so no F, but it's a little too vanilla to earn above 2 stars, or a D, from me (somewhere around a 4.0-4.5 in my numerical system). 

Pervasive youth groupiness doesn't help matters.

[murlough23]

Third Day debut never rose above background music for me.  I'd consider it competent enough, so no F, but it's a little too vanilla to earn above 2 stars, or a D, from me (somewhere around a 4.0-4.5 in my numerical system).

Dang. As much disdain as I have for Third Day in 2007, I'd still give that album an A-, or five stars. Except for a few songs that run together in the back half (which is where the weakest lyrics show up), there's nothing I can complain about on that album at all. I mean, Rich Mullins even appears on the final song, what more could you want? (Rhetorical question. Don't answer that.)

NP: "Good People", Jack Johnson

[bloop]

Hmm.  I've noticed that I don't share people's complete adoration for Rich Mullins.  I like him OK, but that's just about it.  I need to really sit down and listen to a full album of his sometime, though.

[murlough23]

Hmm.  I've noticed that I don't share people's complete adoration for Rich Mullins.  I like him OK, but that's just about it.  I need to really sit down and listen to a full album of his sometime, though.

I don't think he was the most awesome guy in the world or anything - some of his songs, and even a full album or two, bored me. But there's no denying that he played a mean hammer dulcimer.

NP: "Rich Young Ruler", Derek Webb

[NinjaRob17]

Thought this round was supposed to end tomorrow...
Oh well, no guessing for me then.
I'm giving Stavesacre a 4.

Next round is Fall Out Boy's Infinity On High.

[murlough23]

Oh yeah, my pick for the next round is Not Too Late by Norah Jones.

NP: "Bitter Tea", The Fiery Furnaces

[bloop]

Mine will be Five Score and Seven Years Ago, Relient K.

[Brenden]

Yeah, I believe my original post said it ended Friday. Oh well.

I had a hard time rating Tom Waits's debut. I love the album, myself, it's a different kind of Waits, but I know he's outdone the album many times over. I'd end up giving the album a B-, because a song or two lose my interest, that translates to 4 stars.

[plvarona]

I guess everybody's just waiting for me now.

Album Reviewed: Touch - Sarah McLachlan

Pros: The instrumentation really stands out to me on this album.  It is considerably different than what McLachlan would later become known for, as it is much more on the ethereal side, resembling that of Enya or Loreena McKennitt.  This album even has some occasional electronic keyboards, which was fairly commonplace at the time of its release (late '80's.)  Most of the songs are written well enough to keep my interest throughout the CD.  Even though there are a few obvious-'80's moments, I still find the CD to be fairly listenable today.  In terms of individual tracks, the percussion-heavy "Steaming" still stands out as one of my favorite McLachlan songs, and "Vox" is very likeable even with the heavy use of post-chorus electronic keyboards.

Cons: This is easily one of McLachlan's weakest efforts vocally, as it was obvious she was still a work-in-progress in that area at the time this CD came out.  The title track and "Out of the Shadows" start off nicely, but don't seem to go anywhere.  As much as I liked "Vox", I thought having two versions of it on the CD was unneccessary.

The Bottom Line: Even though this debut effort from Sarah McLachlan has its share of flaws, good instrumentation and solid songwriting make this a fairly likeable one.

Rating: "B", which translates to a solid 4 stars.

On Deck For Next Week: Dustin Kensrue's Please Come Home.  FYI, he has the entire CD on his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dustinkensrue

[Brenden]

Next round has begun.

http://www.thephorum.net/index.php?topic=3465.0