Just to give you an idea about what I'm up against, here would be my criticisms of the album.

When I put it on I had to check the label copy to see if it was actually mixed and mastered, which it was, but it sure didn't sound like it at points--maybe some of the mixes are still rough. The vocals just sounds really badly mixed. Sometimes under-, sometimes over-, but almost always badly processed. This would be one of those things I couldn't fix personally, as mixing vocals has always been a weak spot of mine, but my ear's good enough to tell me that there needs to be some more processing on there.

The first track is good and dancey-poppy, with a bit of a salsa feel, but the backing just doesn't hit it enough. It's comparable to "Seniorita," sorta, but then, of course, it just doesn't do it as well. The beat's too constant, and the whole thing is nowhere near hyper-poppy enough. I could totally hit this shit (some guitar and loud noises would really help) but it might not be what they're looking for. But it should be.

The second track starts out OK as a piano-ballad kind of thing. But then it hits the tagline, which is "L.A. Blue!", which is so fucking bad I can barely stand to type it. It's so overused, so bad, so done. I want to sit him down and say, think about this! You must live in a specific area of LA--why not use that instead? Why not think about the street you live on or the one you drive down to get to her house--what do you see there? How does that resolve? If you're leaving, what's around in the vehicle you're leaving in? Specifics!

Anyway, I guess it's sort of a boring subject, but you get the idea...too many ballads overall, which seems to be symptomatic of pop, but that's not to say that the non-ballads couldn't kill.
posted by Mike B. at 11:15 AM 0 comments