bland.... i'm so dissappointed. Seriously, i think linda perry's style is just bland pop...Don't get me wrong, because linda perry has produced some great songs, but she just doesn't do much for me. Personally, no one wants to hear bland pop music that sounds like childrens' songs, because the rhythms, harmony and melody are not at all exciting nor sophisticated.. "This time" is just boring... I'm very dissapointed. Nessa is basically spitting out reduced versions of "who's to say"'s.
There's no edge to vanessa's music anymore and if this is the type of stuff vanessa is going to put out for her next record, it's just going to slip underneath all the great pop records out there and no one will hear about it. Even though A Thousand Miles wasn't very sophisticated (not a lot of songs are these days), it definitely had some groundbreaking elements: the killer piano riff, killer chord progression hook, killer syncopated string instrumentals, and a very ingeniously rhythmic driven melody that matched the lyrics very well....(you might be surprised that i say "rhythmic driven" but just take a listen again.. and you'll discover that very special element in the song)
Going the route of simplifying your music for the masses is not the way to go... I mean it's true that music can be "too sophisticated" for a pop audience to understand or relate to... but you're not going to go anywhere if you don't make yourself stand out... conformity will never do you any good... the best it can do is get you a one hit wonder.