My pick, to kick off our single-album artists rotation, is my favorite American Idol, Kris Allen. Kris Allen? Really? I know what you're thinking, but I want you to keep an open mind this week. Much of Kris' (in my opinion) much deserved limelight was sucked up by all the controversy surrounding the finale. Did America vote for Kris because Adam Lambert was gay? I'm sure some people did, but others saw what I saw, and simply preferred the Kris sound to Adam's overindulgence (yes, he had an amazing voice, but he was a little too much for my liking).
In the end, Kris' ability to make a song his own, his consistency throughout every round, his guitar and keyboard skills, smooth voice, accessibility and super likeable personality is what won him the title, not Adam's sexual preference. At least it's what had me on the phone all night hitting redial. What can I say, I was really into it.
For as much as I loved American Idol back then it's become such a piece of crap that I'm going to remember Kris Allen as the last true American Idol. After all, he was the last one voted in before the original judges table (even if it was plus one Kara DioGuardi).
Even this long after the competition, Kris's stuff still gets dwarfed by Adam Lambert's big shadow. Although in the age of Gaga I see why Adam might be intriguing radio play, I don't think it should take away from what I consider some pretty solid work by the true winner of the show. It's like the Cardinals when they make the playoffs. The national media just can't help but play favorites.
This week, I want you to listen to Kris' self-titled debut. It came out on my birthday last year and has since spun two singles ("Live Like We're Dying" and "The Truth"). So it's not the best album you've ever heard, I'm certainly not going to promise that - but in my mind, it's pretty solid, especially when compared to what else is on the radio these days.
Enjoy! Or at least give 'er a listen.
Hey, love your post. Are you on twitter?
ReplyDeleteyep @lauranette
ReplyDeleteI have been meaning to listen to Kris Allen’s debut album for awhile, so I was pretty excited when I saw this was Laura’s artist. Allison Iraheta was my favorite of that season of Idol, but once we was booted it was a no brainer to vote for Kris as I agree Adam was a bit over the top. I was actually going to propose an American Idol round as one of our theme weeks, so I hope you have one more you get into.
ReplyDelete“Live Like We Were Dying” was one of two tracks I was familiar with prior to the week through the Ford commercials. This is the style he belongs in and I am glad to hear he is staying true to it. Daughtry was probably my favorite Idol contestant, however, he has been recording stuff similar to Kris’ album and has not lived up to the rocker he could be. ‘Before We Come Undone’ is another strong effort and shows off some range you didn’t hear from him on the show. Some of the early ballads fall flat for me and the ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ copycat riff doesn’t quite do it for me on ‘Written All Over My Face’. The lyrics on ‘Bring it Back’ may be the cheesiest we have had since N’Sync week. ‘Red Guitar’ was the next highlight on the album, but I wish he had a bit more experimentation with his instruments. After 3 or 4 of the same ballad with different lyrics, anything may become a highlight. The acoustic intro on ‘Is It Over’ was a nice touch, but the rest of the track fell flat. ‘Let it Rain’ was the first track since ‘Before We Come Undone’ where you could feel a real passion in what he was singing about. When he wants to he can put a real solid track together, but you often see the idol albums rushed out of the gate before everyone forgets your name and the quality typically suffers. They should name this the David Cook rule. ‘Alright With Me’ was the other track used in the commercials. It is an ok track, but I can’t help but refer to it as a ‘Little Diddy’ is probably not what he is going for. ‘Heartless’ kind of bugged me during the show as The Fray performed this version and Kris made it out to be original. This is kind of like anyone who rocks out to Eleanor Rigby on there as this has been done over and over again by now.
Overall there were some highlights scattered throughout. Again, I think this was a little rushed and an even better album is likely once he gets to make it his way.
Thomas, I've got another Idol from years past in mind if we do decide to try an "Idol" themed week, which I think would be fair since we all watch it or at least have watched one + seasons of it. (David says he doesn't know who he would pick, but poo on him!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just a note on your comments, I didn't know The Fray's version of "Heartless" came first. While it's obvious that he ... let's say "borrowed" the vocal arrangement, the music in the versions he sang live were better. This version on the album sucked so much that he didn't even sing it on tour! Instead, he covered a Matchbox 20 song "Bright Lights" and knocked it out of the park. In fact, it remains my favorite performance of his. Copy and paste this link for a vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4qSMFgSJSw
I wasn't a huge fan of "Live Like we're Dying" when it first came out. It did grow on me as time went on, though, and it pissed me off a little that it didn't receive a fraction of the airplay "Whaddya Want From Me?" did. I think things were a little different over on Y98 at least.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, I was pumped for the album. Anything that was more Kris Allen. I bought the Kris Allen iTunes pass, which meant that when his album dropped at midnight as it turned my birthday last year, I got a notice that a download was waiting for me. I had already sampled Adam's new album.
I wasn't overwhelmingly happy, but satisfied with what I got. "Before We Come Undone" was a strong second track, and the album was off to a good start. "Can't Stay Away" actually has a lot of similarities to early NSYNC lyrics-wise, but the melody is not unlike artists on super-rotation on Z107.7. Several other tracks fall into the same category - possibly rushed attempts at Kris' singer-songwriter pop style that should at the least easily fit in on pop radio rotations, but for some reason didn't/don't get played.
"The Truth" seems genuine to me. I think you have to consider when listening to the debut of any Idol winner that every move they make out of the gate is very controlled, so that being said, once again all things considered, solid effort in my book.
Highlights for me included "Red Guitar," which was also partially used in a commercial (I'm not sure what the commercial was for), "Let It Rain" and my personal favorite on the entire album, "Alright With Me." So far it seems like Thomas and I are mostly on point - possibly for the first time. We differ on one major point.
What Thomas called an "OK track," I find my favorite highlight on the entire album, "Alright With Me." I really don't like the intro - the first 12 seconds really had to grow on me - but the song really works by the time he goes into the first verse. It's playful, and acoustic guitar-heavy, which is signature Kris. And the chorus just kind of sums up his personality, and how he treated the whole Idol experience. What I loved about Kris most was his happy go lucky personality and modesty, and for me, this song lets that shine through.
I usually don't listen past that song, and now I see why. There isn't anything that stands out, or at least not in a good way. The live, acoustic versions of "Heartless" he was doing all over talk shows after his big win were so much more genuine, and this one is just really overproduced. And as Thomas noted, too similar to The Fray's version.
You'll notice that "No Boundaries" was not included in the track list. It was so badly received (versions by Adam and Kris both, although Kris' version was by far better, or as good as it could have gotten with that song) that they didn't even try to sell it. I find that hilarious. I still bought the single, because I was a sad obsessed little girl. The end and thanks for listening.
“Live like we’re dying” is a pretty good start off to the album. While I am not usually a fan of mainstream pop, I think that this song suits Kris’s style and it has a nice flow to it overall. “Before We Come Undone” is another ok track. While it doesn’t necessarily have anything about it that stands out, it is pretty catchy and has a sort of upbeat tempo to it that makes me somewhat lured into it. “The Truth” starts off on a more sad/melancholy intro. I actually like this track and all of its big production on the chorus. With all of that production value though, it seems to take away from Kris the artist. I could easily see this being an acoustic track, and being able to feel more of the raw emotion of just Kris’s voice without all the orchestration going on in the background. “Red Guitar” has an almost U2 sound to it. This is probably the best track on the album thus far for me. It seems to be doing everything right, and Kris’s voice is a real standout on the track. Seems like every other song on the album is good, as I find nothing overly appealing on “Is it Over.” Then when I hear “Let it Rain” I find it to be just as good as any of the other bands like The Fray or One Republic are putting out. He definitely has the talent for being around a long time, as long as he stays true to himself. “Alright with me” was very fun, and it is definitely different from anything else I have heard on the album to this point. “I Need to Know” is a very pretty track, and I really like the fact that is just Kris and the piano. You can feel the pain in his voice as he sings the song. I am a sucker for a ballad every once in a while, and this is nicely done. Overall this album was much better than I thought it would be. I think it will be better once Kris sets off on his own and really puts out music that he believes in. There are a few tracks on here that you can tell he has a personal feeling toward and those are the tracks that are the standouts.
ReplyDeleteMy brief devotion to American Idol, ended in Season 8. I honestly only started watching it because it was very relevant to my radio job. Kris did stand out as a talented musician, not just as a singer, because of his proficiency on the guitar and piano. If not for the chance American Idol had afforded him, I truly wondered if Kris could’ve otherwise got a record deal in this day and age. Hopefully, this listen will give me some answers.
ReplyDeleteAs corny as, “Live Like Your Dying” is, it’s a great pop song. The message is a positive one that carries more meaning the older I get. After watching Kris on Idol, I definitely wouldn’t have picked him to do a song like “Before We Come Undone”; it’s very generic adult-contemporary rock like Maroon 5 and Lifehouse. I know this guy has a personality, I’ve seen it on live television, but it’s really stifled on tracks like “Before” and I think a lot of this is due to the constraints of the record label basically telling him what to sing and not having very much artistic freedom. “Can’t Stay Away” flashes a little bit of that charm that endeared Kris to millions, it’s funky and I can picture Kris having a great time performing it live. Kris doesn’t have the range to really blow you away; he is very good singer but is blown out of the water by contemporaries like Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and Rob Thomas. I bring this up because it’s the factor that really makes me wonder if he’s this great American Idol or just a lucky guy. I was a really big Michael Johns fan, and instantaneously felt that he was destined to be a star, he had the look, the stage presence and the great rock/soul voice. He was booted of way too early because he foolishly picked a song not suited to his deep voice. Johns has more talent than Kris, but Kris has the likeable “everyman” persona that goes a long way in this society that loves an underdog. I just previewed Michael Johns’ album, Hold Back My Heart and it reinforces how great I thought he was. With all that said, I haven’t had the urge to skip any of the songs on this album as they have been pleasant and enjoyable. “I Need to Know” is the true standout for me; I believe Kris is singing this from his heart on this one with no bullshit, just 88 keys and emotion. I think there is a promising artist with Kris, it all depends on his ability to get from underneath the Idol umbrella and make music that plays to his strengths and likability.
Having watched American Idol off and on since the very beginning of the show, the year Kris Allen won was the 2nd consecutive year that I watched every episode (and probably the last year that will happen). Throughout that season, we saw Kris progress from an unknown into one of the better interpreters of other people's songs that we'd seen. I always thougt that Adam Lambert had the better voice, but Kris Allen was definitely much more likable. He smiled through every single performance, which showed to me just how much he loves performing. It was refreshing to see that in a competition that's often dominated by people whose entire goal is just to become famous.
ReplyDeleteKris Allen's debut album is pretty much what you'd expect from an American Idol winner. Other than Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, none of the winners have really been able to break away from the yoke that AI has them on, and have pretty much failed to show any of the personality that won the contest for them. On this album, there are flashes of Kris' winning personality, but there really too few and far between. Due to a couple of tracks and seeing him perform on the show, however, I think that he's capable of much more in the future.
The album starts off, as they all do, with the first single (other than the absolutely terrible "No Boundaries"). "Live Like We're Dying" is a really likable track, and honestly I think it does the best job out of the entire album of showing just who Kris really is. The message is a very good one, and Kris really seems to have a good time singing it, which is always a plus. "Before We Come Undone" really sounds like it was written by The Fray, but I still kinda enjoy it for what it is. Getting to know Kris on the show really helps to bump up my opinion of some of the second rate songs, I think. "The Truth" is basically just a bucket of goo, in my opinion, and is something that Kris should stay away from in the future. "Bring it Back" is exactly what a Kris Allen ballad should sound like, though. Once again the song sounds exactly like The Fray, but I really love the piano line throughout the track, and Kris delivers his second best vocal performance of the album (I haven't gotten to the best, yet). The next 3 tracks do very little to stand out to me, but "Alright With Me" jumps out a bit. For one thing, I've probably heard this song a million times in Laura's car. This is a fun acoustic guitar song, and is one of the few that is perfectly suited to the artist that Kris should become. Like Justin, "I Need to Know" is my favorite song on the album. I had never heard this song before this week, and was really amazed at Kris' vocal performance. I didn't know that he could be capable of such heartbreaking sincerity in his singing, but this one made me a believer. The simple piano and string arrangement behind him is perfectly minimal, and it really allows him to build things up to a stirring conclusion. The version of "Heartless" that is included on this album is just a shadow of the performance that he gave on the show, which goes along with David Archuleta's performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" as my favorite moments in American Idol history. This one is way too overproduced, and takes all of the tense energy that existed on the live version. In all, this is simply an ok album, with a few major standouts. It's these songs that I'll rest my hat on, though, and I really expect Kris to come out with something much better, if only he is given a little artistic freedom.
Kris Allen 'Kris Allen' Rating: 57%