Jessel wrote:Whoops I know I'm quite late to the party. Well, a month after it was released I finally gave the album a listen. So how's everyone doing? I bet some have moved on but I hope most of you are still here. I'm pretty much pre-occupied with work, life, and other interests but I haven't forgotten this board although it's sad that message boards are slowly dying out these days due to social media like Facebook, Twitter, et. al but there we go...
What's It Gonna Take is my favorite track - it could be because it was the first new Sarah song I heard in years and partly due to the fact that it was written for a musical (King Kong). There came a point in my life when I no longer find it easy to "connect" with new music (even by artists I used to adore) on a personal/spiritual level so I did the most sensible thing: switch genres. Musical theatre is something I'm comfortable with and not only did I feel the excitement whenever something new is in works but it also opened my mind to possibilities. I'm no longer that annoying, insufferable old fart of a music critic I used to be and nowadays I can pretty much tolerate and enjoy anything I hear with the exception of that ultimate craptastic cheesefest Gangnam Style lol.
Flesh & Blood and
Monsters easily hooked me and needless to say, they're arguably the most edgy ones in my opinion. I'm betting those songs are Surfacing outtakes.
On the other hand, I felt like Sarah is in danger of sounding too country-ish in
Broken Heart and
Song For My Father. Not a bad thing I hasten to add; it's just not my scene.
As for
The Sound That Love Makes ... gawd, that's got to be Sarah's cheesiest song to date. It's corny, chick-flicky, and fangirly - something that belongs in one of those Katherine Heigl and Amanda Seyfried movies but I admit I can't stop listening to it because it's fun and we all know that Sarah and the words "fun tune" have no business being in the same sentence haha. It's a breath of fresh air really.
Overall, I think its such a nice adult contemporary/pop album and as to whether Sarah changed for the better or worse is just a matter of perspective methinks. I know some are still hoping for the second coming of FTE but Sarah has moved on and she "matured" with her audience. She's no longer that brooding, angst-ridden 20-something chanteuse who penned some of the most brilliant 5-minute miracles I ever heard in my entire life; and let's face it, so are we. When I discovered her back then (circa '97/'98) the months that followed it were, in retrospect, the happiest days in my life since I discovered a plethora of music (inlcuding her contemporaries like Paula Cole & Shawn Colvin) that resonates with me on so many different levels but I'm no longer that person. I no longer have the same problems nor the same mindset - I'm a middle-aged person who is no longer operating on the same wavelength with teenagers/younger people. Seriously, the mere thought of me feeling misunderstood and being self-obsessed at my age would give me nothing but indigestion lol.
Okay, rant over.
Keep ranting, Jessel! I was ambivalent about it at first, but it is growing on me slowly.
Maybe she's just that "brooding, angst-ridden 40-something chanteuse" now, but she does still have that ability to reach right inside your head and turn a switch, at least with songs like Surrender and Certainty and Song for My Father.
Either that, or I'm just misinterpreting the subliminal messages I get. But for a middle-aged man to become suddenly interested in music of a younger generation like this one has shows she has, like all good writers, a certain power of persuasion that is irresistible. If one is willing to listen. Like with her earlier albums, I'm finding that the more I listen (not just hear) the more I take from the music, and the more I appreciate it and want to listen again.
At first I resisted it, thinking I "should" like it because, as a fan, I was "supposed" to. But I thought some of the sounds just had to much of a pop music sound. But the ones that don't, like the two I mentioned and Turn the Lights Down Low as well, are getting to me now. What's it Gonna Take I only heard last year briefly, but I did like the sound and feel of it. She does seem able to direct a song with a sharp focus when asked to. Whether it will stand on it's own like "I Will Remember You" only time will tell. Monsters has that "edginess" so reminiscent of many songs from the FTE era, and maybe Brink of Destruction does, too.
The other thing I discovered is that Sarah expresses herself best in live shows. Somehow the intense passion I hear in these old recordings is there, but more subdued in the albums. So I will find out in a week if that is true with Shine On. I'm hoping very much for some solos, which is where she is most brilliant.
Like you, I switched genres, becoming more interested in her style of music a couple of years ago. It does give one a different perspective. I was a jazz nut for years, but no artist moved me as deeply as Sarah's music does.
The bottom line is I'm sold on this album, but not on all the songs. And, The Sound That Love Makes is corny, you're right, but is nevertheless adorable. A bit of comic relief.
).