MICHELLE GREEN - THE VOICES OF MEby Daniel Antherstein
Sophomores in High School(at least where I'm from) usually don't have it that hard. Michelle Green comes into the music industry as one of the youngest artists to ever hit the scene. Is she too young or does her youthful voice increase the power of the music overall? I guess that question is answered with The Voices of Me.
Michelle Green's debut feature is a blend of Indie Pop, Jazz & Folk and is similar to that of (Real-Life band) Florence + The Machine. The album also taught me something about her, she wants to have fun but be taken seriously at the same time and there's nothing wrong with that.
The album opens with the track "Inspiration" which is a folk song overall, I liked it but it felt like it was a prelude to upcoming treasures. Michelle shows that she can become serious with "Unchained Melody", a cover that brought back memories of Patrick Swayze classic "Ghost". I think this song is pivotal to Michelle Green in general because it showcases the fact that she can be serious even if it's earlier in her career and that's something that older musicians have trouble proving.
Green shows a more "emo(for lack of a better word)" approach for her second single and third track, "Dark Days". Just because it's "emo" doesn't make it bad but it doesn't make it good either. Green seems like a happy girl in general so this track is out of place as the dark sounds of it contrast with her laid back tone. She was comfortable to be singing about the sadness of individuals but maybe too comfortable. Her first single, "Fifteen" comes up as the fourth track and it's a song about a serious subject that comes off quite fun actually. It seemed as if it was meant to be serious but the Ukulele and Drums made such a pleasant sound combined with her voice that I was quite happy towards the end of it.
Again Michelle Green moves out of her cheery element with "Not Your Typical". It's OK to be serious but that obnoxious anger is out of place for a pop album in my opinion with the rare exception and this is not one of them. She wants to set herself away from the Generic Stars of the current times and just being herself seems to be enough and this song had her out of her element. The real tour de force of the album and that which sets her apart from the Pop Industry in general is "Red Symphony". The symphonic sound akin to a Chopin masterpiece with Green's vocals taking me by storm gave me the utter feeling that this girl needed to make more songs like this. This should have been a single for the sheer joyous rush I feel whenever I listen to it, if I were to make a review about one song on this album and I chose this one, it would receive a 9 or hell even a 10. I felt as if I was listening to a Symphonic masterpiece melded together with Progressive conceptual vocals.
The bad part about having that song at the center of your album is that it kills the song afterwards, the Indie Pop "Butterflies in my Heart" was a departure from previous tracks and made me feels as though the rest of the albums were going to deal with things more childish(not that childish is bad). I was proven wrong though as "Rain" goes back to the dark depths of sound and gives me an overall bad feeling. I was risen to a sort of happy height only to be dropped down by this song which doesn't have the catchiest sounds at all. Green's vocals are top-notch but they can't save this song. "The Piano Song" goes back to how good life can be with only Green and her Piano. Maybe this is where she should be for I felt that she seemed quite comfortable with this song. It was one of the best tracks of the album and gave me a great feeling afterwards.
"Where Are We" is a crazy, fast track that describes how she feels about moving through the industry. The fast, fun pace of the song gives me a brief sense of Euphoria as it turns out to be the Guilty Pleasure of my album. "Wildcard" is the following track and it's rather bland overall, takes down the quality of the album by far. "Love Music, Not You" is another fun filled track about a fantastical moment in which Green begins to date music rather than her suitor, it's fun and it's meaningful plus I could picture a little music video for it in my head. The album comes to a close with the mediocre hymn "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You". It's a bad cover and I think Green is better when she's making her own music.
In the end Green's debut album is a See-Saw affair between Depression and Fun. I chose fun and classical sounds and found myself happy and wanting more. On the depressing side I found myself underwhelmed and wishing to eject the CD.
Tracks to Spin!:
Red Symphony - One of the best songs I've heard all year and a great departure from the previous sad-sack hymns.
Unchained Melody - The Swayze inside of me wanted it and I received it.
Where Are We - Fun song that had me wishing I didn't like it(but surprise I did)
The Piano Song - Classical Style song that made me feel the heeby-jeebies from Head to Toe.
PIP-BOY CERTIFIED CHOICE!
7.0/10 Edited by user 07 November 2010 12:15:03(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
