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I've had reservations about this album for some time, given the clips that have been hanging around online. Daft pop, which is an odd choice of song to give such a talented musical theatre performer. I know, I know - make it sell. Obviously they wanted something as commercial as possible, but still... Anyways, now it's here, and I still have reservations. Though perhaps not quite as many.
Track one is Gonna Make You A Star, by David Essex, which is the weirdest choice ever for first single. It's a seventies pop song. A deeply cheesy seventies pop song. I hope it does well for him in the charts, as he deserves it, but at the end of the day, it's still a deeply cheesy seventies pop song. To give it it's due it's now also an extremely catchy, deeply cheesy seventies pop song. Hear it once, keep singing it for days. It's not great, and aside from the obvious relevance of some of the lyrics, I'm still not sure why they chose it. But it isn't bad, by any means. It should be, but it isn't. Is cheesy, though, if fun with it.
Track two is Paint It Black. Lee famously made this song his own during Any Dream Will Do, with a pair of awesome performances of it, firstly in week six, and then during the final. He stunned everybody with it, with the power and intensity of his delivery. We were all hoping that he would include the song on an album if he put one out. Problem is, now that he has, it bears no similarity to that wonderful version he did before. It's sped up slightly, to poppy dimensions instead of its original hard rock sound. The emotion is largely gone, and it's had odd electric treatments added to Lee's voice in places. Why? I'm really not sure that it adds anything to anything. It's not a bad version of the song, and it does still sound good, but it's not half as good as it could have been. This one feels like a wasted opportunity. A full length version of the emo-fest heartache from ADWD would have been amazing. Instead we get something that doesn't sound very different to most of the stuff in the charts at the moment. And therein lies the problem shared by much of the album.
Track three is You And Me, slightly downbeat, with a bit of an Indie sound to it. Lee gets to put a rough edge on his voice here, and it sounds good. It's a good song. Wouldn't sound out of place on Virgin Radio, though it's unlikely to get any airplay on a station like that. Suits Lee's voice, but again, it's nothing very standoutish. It's good, but there's a definite sense that he should have been given something better. Something with more originality. More zap.
Track four is Why Can't We Make Things Work, a wildly infectious pop song that gets stuck in the brain disturbingly easily. Lots of bounce, lots of jiggle. It's impossible to dislike it, though again there's nothing particularly special about it - except for Lee's voice, of course. It's good fun, and sounds like a possible future single. It deserves to do well, but again, I can't help wishing for something special.
Next up is Stronger, and this is more like it. This is a terrific song. There are key changes to show off Lee's voice well, the song has drama, a terrific melody, and the lyrics are good too. This is really, really good, and I hope that it gets a single release. It deserves it, and imho it deserves it a lot more than Gonna Make You A Star. It also sees a welcome return to Lee's faint lisp. He never has it when he speaks, but it used to be there when he sang. I thought they'd cured him of it on Any Dream Will Do, but clearly not. This makes me oddly happy. Terrific song, anyway.
Track six is called All That You Know. Very catchy riff, and again it's nicely dramatic. Far more rocky than a lot of the rest of the album, and definitely one to sing along to. Definitely one of the standout tracks, though not quite as standouty as Stronger.
Track seven is How Can I Be Sure, and this one is satisfyingly odd. Shades of musical theatre, and with a pleasingly retro sound throughout. It suits Lee's voice down to the ground. Very melodic, and again, a good one to sing along to. It's very old fashioned, but that's a good thing. It makes it different, which is something that some of these tracks are seriously lacking.
The Best Is Yet To Come comes next. Back to pop, and with some fairly rubbish lyrics. There's not a lot to make this one stand out - far from it. It'd quickly and easily get lost in the crowd in a chart rundown. It's not bad, but it's not very interesting. Lee's voice pretty much makes anything sound good, but after three interesting songs in a row, I'm back to thinking that he could do better. Which is a shame.
Track nine is When I Need You The Most, and it's very much in the same vein. It has some nice swoopy bits to show off Lee's voice, but it's nothing very special. Basic pop, fairly clichéd lyrics. Not bad - none of the songs on this album are bad, and I'm maybe being a little unfair on it - it's just that it isn't great. And it should be. You don't give mediocre songs to a guy with a fabulous voice. Or you shouldn't do, anyway.
Track ten is Make It With You. This is rather nice. A sweet, quite infectious melody, quite slow and deep, which really seems to suit Lee's voice. The lyrics aren't brilliant, but then I am by nature allergic to any song that uses "girl" more than once, or indeed at all. Who calls their lover "girl", anyway?! If anybody did, I should think they'd get slapped. I'm not much into slow songs, so this one doesn't really grab me all that much, but it stands out as a bit different from the more ordinary poppy stuff on the album, and that's good.
Finally there's track eleven, which is Any Dream Will Do. Again. It was his chart hit back in... June? So its inclusion isn't a surprise, and hopefully it'll mean more money for Children In Need. It's not like we've never heard it before, though. And it galls a bit, as it, along with Close Any Door, are the only songs that we're allowed to hear Lee sing from Joseph. Rather than release a new cast album, Really Useful have chosen to re-release the Jason Donovan version, with this same recording included as an extra. Wow. Thanks, but no thanks. I never did like Jason Donovan's voice, and I'm not about to start liking it now.
So there we have it. Not a bad album by a long shot - just not a great one. There's some really good stuff on there, and for me the best track is definitely Stronger. It's fabulous. I just wish that there was more like that, and more like All That You Know and How Can I Be Sure, and a few less of the unimaginative pop numbers. And I really wish they hadn't done what they've done to Paint It Black. Still, if you like Lee, there's no reason why you wouldn't like this album. I hope it does well. And I hope that the next single is Stronger. That'd be cool.
Apologies if I'm sounding too negative. This is a good album. It's just that it should be a great album, and it falls short of that. Not enough of the songs are at all special. Still, it's his first one, and I guess it pays to aim for something as commercial as possible this time. I'm still marking it as a "could do better", though, because it could. Mind you, it still ought to wipe the floor with most pop acts. Even if the songs aren't the best in the world, the voice singing them easily beats a whole lot of its contemporaries. And that, at the very least, should count for something. I certainly like to think that it will, anyway.
Track one is Gonna Make You A Star, by David Essex, which is the weirdest choice ever for first single. It's a seventies pop song. A deeply cheesy seventies pop song. I hope it does well for him in the charts, as he deserves it, but at the end of the day, it's still a deeply cheesy seventies pop song. To give it it's due it's now also an extremely catchy, deeply cheesy seventies pop song. Hear it once, keep singing it for days. It's not great, and aside from the obvious relevance of some of the lyrics, I'm still not sure why they chose it. But it isn't bad, by any means. It should be, but it isn't. Is cheesy, though, if fun with it.
Track two is Paint It Black. Lee famously made this song his own during Any Dream Will Do, with a pair of awesome performances of it, firstly in week six, and then during the final. He stunned everybody with it, with the power and intensity of his delivery. We were all hoping that he would include the song on an album if he put one out. Problem is, now that he has, it bears no similarity to that wonderful version he did before. It's sped up slightly, to poppy dimensions instead of its original hard rock sound. The emotion is largely gone, and it's had odd electric treatments added to Lee's voice in places. Why? I'm really not sure that it adds anything to anything. It's not a bad version of the song, and it does still sound good, but it's not half as good as it could have been. This one feels like a wasted opportunity. A full length version of the emo-fest heartache from ADWD would have been amazing. Instead we get something that doesn't sound very different to most of the stuff in the charts at the moment. And therein lies the problem shared by much of the album.
Track three is You And Me, slightly downbeat, with a bit of an Indie sound to it. Lee gets to put a rough edge on his voice here, and it sounds good. It's a good song. Wouldn't sound out of place on Virgin Radio, though it's unlikely to get any airplay on a station like that. Suits Lee's voice, but again, it's nothing very standoutish. It's good, but there's a definite sense that he should have been given something better. Something with more originality. More zap.
Track four is Why Can't We Make Things Work, a wildly infectious pop song that gets stuck in the brain disturbingly easily. Lots of bounce, lots of jiggle. It's impossible to dislike it, though again there's nothing particularly special about it - except for Lee's voice, of course. It's good fun, and sounds like a possible future single. It deserves to do well, but again, I can't help wishing for something special.
Next up is Stronger, and this is more like it. This is a terrific song. There are key changes to show off Lee's voice well, the song has drama, a terrific melody, and the lyrics are good too. This is really, really good, and I hope that it gets a single release. It deserves it, and imho it deserves it a lot more than Gonna Make You A Star. It also sees a welcome return to Lee's faint lisp. He never has it when he speaks, but it used to be there when he sang. I thought they'd cured him of it on Any Dream Will Do, but clearly not. This makes me oddly happy. Terrific song, anyway.
Track six is called All That You Know. Very catchy riff, and again it's nicely dramatic. Far more rocky than a lot of the rest of the album, and definitely one to sing along to. Definitely one of the standout tracks, though not quite as standouty as Stronger.
Track seven is How Can I Be Sure, and this one is satisfyingly odd. Shades of musical theatre, and with a pleasingly retro sound throughout. It suits Lee's voice down to the ground. Very melodic, and again, a good one to sing along to. It's very old fashioned, but that's a good thing. It makes it different, which is something that some of these tracks are seriously lacking.
The Best Is Yet To Come comes next. Back to pop, and with some fairly rubbish lyrics. There's not a lot to make this one stand out - far from it. It'd quickly and easily get lost in the crowd in a chart rundown. It's not bad, but it's not very interesting. Lee's voice pretty much makes anything sound good, but after three interesting songs in a row, I'm back to thinking that he could do better. Which is a shame.
Track nine is When I Need You The Most, and it's very much in the same vein. It has some nice swoopy bits to show off Lee's voice, but it's nothing very special. Basic pop, fairly clichéd lyrics. Not bad - none of the songs on this album are bad, and I'm maybe being a little unfair on it - it's just that it isn't great. And it should be. You don't give mediocre songs to a guy with a fabulous voice. Or you shouldn't do, anyway.
Track ten is Make It With You. This is rather nice. A sweet, quite infectious melody, quite slow and deep, which really seems to suit Lee's voice. The lyrics aren't brilliant, but then I am by nature allergic to any song that uses "girl" more than once, or indeed at all. Who calls their lover "girl", anyway?! If anybody did, I should think they'd get slapped. I'm not much into slow songs, so this one doesn't really grab me all that much, but it stands out as a bit different from the more ordinary poppy stuff on the album, and that's good.
Finally there's track eleven, which is Any Dream Will Do. Again. It was his chart hit back in... June? So its inclusion isn't a surprise, and hopefully it'll mean more money for Children In Need. It's not like we've never heard it before, though. And it galls a bit, as it, along with Close Any Door, are the only songs that we're allowed to hear Lee sing from Joseph. Rather than release a new cast album, Really Useful have chosen to re-release the Jason Donovan version, with this same recording included as an extra. Wow. Thanks, but no thanks. I never did like Jason Donovan's voice, and I'm not about to start liking it now.
So there we have it. Not a bad album by a long shot - just not a great one. There's some really good stuff on there, and for me the best track is definitely Stronger. It's fabulous. I just wish that there was more like that, and more like All That You Know and How Can I Be Sure, and a few less of the unimaginative pop numbers. And I really wish they hadn't done what they've done to Paint It Black. Still, if you like Lee, there's no reason why you wouldn't like this album. I hope it does well. And I hope that the next single is Stronger. That'd be cool.
Apologies if I'm sounding too negative. This is a good album. It's just that it should be a great album, and it falls short of that. Not enough of the songs are at all special. Still, it's his first one, and I guess it pays to aim for something as commercial as possible this time. I'm still marking it as a "could do better", though, because it could. Mind you, it still ought to wipe the floor with most pop acts. Even if the songs aren't the best in the world, the voice singing them easily beats a whole lot of its contemporaries. And that, at the very least, should count for something. I certainly like to think that it will, anyway.
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