So, here's my opinion on the album now that I've had time to sit down with it.
The album's poorly paced in my opinion. The album is very bright - there's nothing wrong with that, but the album goes from begining to end without straying far from this very stylized and bright sound that's been created. The songs tend to bleed into one another, since they don't differ in intensity, or feel, or style, so the album just moves along in this very straight line and doesn't fluxuate or breathe under its own weight.
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Nolita Fairytale - One of the stronger tracks on the album, and after now being able to compare it the rest of the album I can see why Irv and Vanessa used it as the lead single. This is the only track on the album which doesn't use strings either, the string work throughout the album is awesome, but it would've been nice to see other forms of instrumentation used on some tracks besides strings. This is also the most percussive song she's ever written, and it's well written, so it stands out.
Hands On Me - I really think Put Your Hands On Me would've been a more attention grabbing title, and Vanessa's sexy, even if she isn't walking around in belly shirts, she shouldn't be afraid to exhibit some part of her sexuality. We're all sexual beings, and there's plenty of people that wouldn't mind putting their hands on Vanessa. Haha. Sorry.
This track was the biggest surprise for me production wise, completely different from what I was expecting. I was anticipating a ballad, and woaaah, instead we get smacked down with a catchy uptempo song. This definately needs to be the next single, Irv and Vanessa would be mad not use it as a follow up to Nolita Fairytale.
A friend of mine is also convinced that the begining samples 50 Cent's "I Got Money In The Bank" song, but for some reason I doubt that since Irv's got beef 50. lol
Spring Street - Alright, in my opinion this is the worst track on the album. The na na's are nasally and sung in a monotone manner. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't so goddamn prominent throughout the whole song. The song has strong moments (the lyrics are also very good), especially the bridge, but then it just goes back into that boring drawl of "na na na" and I feel that it ruins the song. But other people seem to really enjoy this track, so to each their own. It just better not be a single, because no matter how much song of you like, this is NOT good radio material no matter how you look at it, there are better tracks on this album that can be used as singles.
My Best - This is my favorite song on the album! And I seem to be the only one that insantly took the song upon first listen. This song is the only song that really departs from the other tracks, the production and her approach to writing the song is a change of pace for her, and I think it's the only song where she delves into this other side of her.
It's got a very Regina Spektor-ish vibe to the song, but surpasses any of Regina's work in my opinion (Regina's too goddamn artsy fartsy for my tastes). I love how she hums the melody, it's extremely cute and endearing. My only complaint is that the song is so short! And when it finally builds up and she sings, "It's like a promise kept, it's like you never left" which is an extremely strong and catchy moment in the song, it's over before you realize it. The verses are a little long, and the chorus is too short.
But I guess that's what I like about it in the end, it's a little unconventional in it's format.
Come Undone - I love the begining of this song, I absolutely love organ and the filtered effect she uses on it is great I think. When I first heard the song, I thought this was going to be a dark and brooding track, but the organ is a bit of a false start, you'd think the song would continue in that direction but then it does a 180 and goes back into this very bright and light sound present throughout the album, which is frusterating.
The song however is very good, even if it is bright, however I don't think it's single material. She only starts singing 1 minute into the song, and she only continues to sing for 2 minutes, and then closes the song with an outro that lasts a minute and a half. And it's only because the song features very little singing that I don't think it'd make a good single, even though it's very catchy.
The One - So, here we go. This song is amazing, the intro is awesome, and the production is great. BUT. Stevie Nick's is not an asset for Vanessa during this song, Stevie is a distraction. Their voices do not harmonize well at all. Stevie has a tendancy to sound like a billie goat when she sings, and her register is a lot lower than Vanessa's, they have very different voices that do not blend and work together well at all.
And it's a shame, because this really is a great song, but Stevie does more harm than good I feel.
Heroes & Thieves - The title track is awesome, what more can you say. This song has a very folky vibe to it, for some reason I could totally see River Dance performed to this song, hahaha. I absolutely love the bridge in this song, it's the songs strongest moment I think. Vanessa has a bit of trouble performing this song live, but I think she pulls it off here (with the help of some studio work, lol). This song has a great message, it's like a coming of age piece, great great song.
This Time - Alright, I don't like This Time, even when she debuted it for the first time I still didn't like it. Linda Perry was great when she first hit the scene as a producer working with people such as Pink and Christina Aguilera, but now this is stuff we've all heard before. This song is traditional standard Linda Perry ballad affair, and nothing more. It's uninspired, conventional and boring. It's also got some pretty cliche lyrics. "And when it hurts - I cry", oh please, whatever. These lyrics piss me off.
Fools Like Me - Okay, this is an awesomely dark and poignant song live. WHAT IS UP WITH THE STUDIO VERSION. lol The whistling during the begining completely threw me off, it sounds like the music for those stupid Vehix.com commercials, you know, like the one with the dog and the whistling. It's stupid.
I like the little electronic nuances they throw in, and this is a fun song, but jesus, it completely alters the tone of the song, this is the one song that had the potential to be a dark track, but nooo, we got more of this bright happy sound, again.
Home - Beautiful song, everyone loves this song, you'd have to be an idiot to not like it, the outro is beautiful, there's really not much I can say about this song that no one else already hasn't.
More Than This - I like More Than This, I love the harpsichord at the end and such. But I really don't think this is the song of Vanessa's career, that's very much an overstatement but it is her strongest album closer thus far.
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I was disapointed that there wasn't a piano only track, this album is heavily heavily produced, and a piano only track would have given the album a short moment to breathe and relax under all it's production. That's another problem with this album, this is album is so heavily produced that it suffocates the songs under all its heavy production. No matter how epic a song is in scale, the production still constricts it.
Overall this is a strong album, and I really like it, but I just wish it was a more balanced album, it's very in your face throughout the entire listen. It's like, when your listening to it you can see Vanessa popping up on your shoulder being all, "LOOK AT HOW AMAZING THE PRODUCTION IS. LISTEN. SEE. I'M BACK BITCHES. GIVE THEM MORE STRINGS - MOOORE STRIIINGS" And then she'll start cackling, because apparently she cackles according to The Post. lol
