New Music Reviews - 6/14/2011 - Bono & The Edge, Andy Grammer, and Keke Wyatt

Andy Grammer Andy Grammer - Grammer is an L.A. born mainstream pop singer/songwriter releasing his debut album.  His video for the first single off the album, "Keep Your Head Up," has already garnered some buzz after being listed on iTunes as one of their videos of the week.  Grammer just finished as the opener for the latest Plain White T's tour and will be opening for Natasha Bedingfield on her upcoming tour.  He also performed at this year's SXSW. 

The album opens with his get-stuck-in-your-heard, upbeat single "Keep Your Head Up" that will be the big hit off the album.  It has a jangly melody that begins with some intro keyboard work then adds some catchy if simple beats before the hook of the song sweeps you along.  "Slow" is a really enjoyable song with captivating vocal harmonies that is about not holding back when you find something that is right.

"You Should Know Better" is a quick paced ballad that has an arrangement that reminds me some popular 80's pop songs.  "The Pocket" is a quirkier song with faster paced lyrics that incorporates drums, guitars, piano and horns for a more robust sound during the chorus. 

Andy Grammer is a fun summer debut that has does its best to put a smile on your face through melodic pop tunes.  His vocals have an Adam Levine quality to it with a higher singing tenor that could easily be mistaken for a girl's voice on a couple of the tracks.  The tone of the music though is more inline with a Daniel Powter album with a good amount of piano-driven songs and, in fact, the first single sounding like a sound like it could have come directly from Powter's mouth.

Grammer gives us a good showcase of the top-40 pop music he can create although it is somewhat derivative of the more popular acts I mentioned above. However, he manages to exhibit a consistency with the music over the entire album meaning that if you like the one single the rest of the music on the disc will also be to your liking.  It's an album that is a fun way to pass the time like getting a snow cone on a summer day but, just like that snow cone, it does enough to satisfy your sweet tooth while falling short of being a complete meal.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Keep Your Head Up" [sample it below] and "Slow"






Bono & The Edge Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark soundtrack - The two main creative forces behind U2 team-up with Tony Award winning (and recently fired) director Julie Taymor to lend their talents to the most expensive musical in Broadway's history.  I haven't seen the musical so this album review is based on the music alone.  This disc has 14-tracks although that only partially covers the 20 song titles listed for the show according to Playbill's website.

Considering who wrote the music, you would think the heavier rock songs would be predominantly better but they unfortunately fall flat on many levels ("Bouncing Off The Walls"--although I'm guessing the choreography and staging during the song is pretty amazing if nobody's harness comes loose).  It's actually the slower rock songs that make for the more palatable tracks and exhibit a greater amount of heart ("Picture This" and "Rise Above 1 & 2"), although the ballads do come off sounding very generic.  Reeve Carney fills the Peter Parker role and his voice matches well with the rock-heavy music.

Sadly, it's the melodies and arrangements that are a real let downs with the majority of the tracks sounding like U2 ripping off songs from the musical Chess.  That and the fact that several of the songs sung by the Green Goblin character ("Pull The Trigger" and "A Freak Like Me Needs Company") are just absolutely ridiculous really hurts what enjoyment can be found on this soundtrack.

Score: 4/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Rise Above 1" [sample it below]

Keke Wyatt Unbelievable! - 10 years after she released her Soul Sista disc that went Gold in the U.S., R&B singer Wyatt releases an album with 11 new tracks.  The first thing that you notice on the album is the Wyatt's vocals are as lush as they were about a decade ago when she first came to prominence singing on Avant's remake of "My First Love."  There are a couple of very enjoyable songs on this disc like the original "Unbelievable" and the cover of the Cherrelle & Alexander O'Neal classic "Saturday Love" but the arrangements of the other tracks are a little too similar over the entire album making the songs blend together on repeated listens.  There's nothing inherently wrong with the disc but Wyatt and the producers don't do enough with the music accompanying her great voice to have the tracks leave a lasting impression.

Score: 5.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Unbelievable"