Date: Apr 13, 1991
Weeks: 1
This is a polite little dance/pop song from the early 90s, and it's harmless enough. It's got a little bounce that you can dance to, sufficient variety to stay entertaining, and inoffensive orchestration.
I try not to rail too hard against the use of the drum kit in pop music, because honestly I think that combined with sufficient overall sound and clever editing, its sins can be overlooked. Synthesizers are harder to make work, and must be judged on a song-by-song basis. Both these elements work fine in this song. I think it's because it's a dance song, so overall it's expected to be the same throughout a lot of it, and the art is in how variety is injected. And the rest of the music works pretty well. The guitar, the synthesized bass and everything else creates a fairly full sound, with occasional breaks for impact. It never loses its intensity, and it manages to end just before its repetition might get grating.
The vocals might be the hardest part to enjoy. The singer is a weird combination of falsetto and breathy. He sounds like he's whispering most of the time, and I think that's an weird choice. It sounds like he's holding back, either because he's trying not to overpower the music or because he's not very good at singing louder. I don't like the style at all, myself. But I suppose it's not bad enough to ruin the music overall.
The lyrics are about someone starting to think about their friend in a romantic way. "I miss you baby, and I've got those feelings again." It's a decent topic for a song, but these lyrics aren't especially impressive. For one thing, what does "again" mean in that line? Has this happened before? Didn't you sort it out then? Also, the second verse confounds me. He's just confessed his feelings and then it sounds like he's also confessing that he cheated? "She was my one temptation." That sounds like he's confessing to cheating, but how did he manage to cheat in the space between the first chorus and the second verse?
My verdict: Like it. It's got its drawbacks, sure, but it's a light bit of fun dance music and it has its charm.
Showing posts with label 1991. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1991. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Song #754: "The Promise Of A New Day" by Paula Abdul
Date: Sept 14, 1991
Weeks: 1
I mentioned before that Paula Abdul's album Forever Your Girl was a great album filled with winning songs. But her second album, Spellbound, was a huge letdown. I don't know if there was a major change in production staff or writing staff, or if the success of the first album caused Abdul to think she needed to make music that was more "important." But for whatever reason, songs from her second album just don't feel as natural as songs from her first. I'll have more to say about "Rush Rush" (#751) at a later date. But "Blowing Kisses In The Wind" feels like it was forced to be a slower song than it should have been, as if that would amplify its importance. "Will You Marry Me?" seems like it was carefully calculated to be a royalty-earning perennial for wedding DJs. And "Vibeology" feels like it was performed by an artist trying to do a pale imitation of Paula Abdul's first album.
All of that is the long way of emphasizing the point that at the time, I really liked "The Promise Of A New Day." It was hands down the best single from the second album of an artist whose first album I really liked. Even so, it's heavily, heavily flawed.
I mentioned before that Paula Abdul's voice is whiny, and she's really stretching herself beyond her talents here. I appreciate the passion that is communicated when she stretches herself too far, but it still grates on the ears more than a little. She's not quite the singer this song needs for some of the upper range vocals. She spends a lot of this song singing duet with herself anyway. I'd love to hear her duet with Janet Jackson instead. That would be a great fit for both of them.
The next obvious problem you'll notice is that there's not a lot of material here. The song doesn't have very many lyrics. You'll get "Pro- Promise. Promise of a new day" stuck in your head just from hearing the song one time. And I listen to these songs several times while writing these reviews. I'm going to have this in my head for a week. Backing lyrics aside, the song repeats everything it has over and over, just to fill out the running time. After 3 minutes, the song feels like it has reached a natural conclusion, but then it repeats every lyric in the song just to extend itself out to another minute. This song wears out its welcome very quickly.
The music has a little bit more variety than the lyrics. I actually like a lot about the music. Somehow all that fake synthesizer, drum-kit sound works together to create a whole sound that works. I think it's the upbeat sound and high energy that makes it work. I really like a lot of the transitions. The song constantly feels like it's transitioning to something bigger and more energetic. But ultimately the music has the same problem as the lyrics, going on well after the song has reached a natural end.
My verdict: Don't like it. This song is catchy, to be sure, and it might be perfectly enjoyable background music. But pop music needs to work when you actually give it your attention, too, and this song just doesn't.
Weeks: 1
I mentioned before that Paula Abdul's album Forever Your Girl was a great album filled with winning songs. But her second album, Spellbound, was a huge letdown. I don't know if there was a major change in production staff or writing staff, or if the success of the first album caused Abdul to think she needed to make music that was more "important." But for whatever reason, songs from her second album just don't feel as natural as songs from her first. I'll have more to say about "Rush Rush" (#751) at a later date. But "Blowing Kisses In The Wind" feels like it was forced to be a slower song than it should have been, as if that would amplify its importance. "Will You Marry Me?" seems like it was carefully calculated to be a royalty-earning perennial for wedding DJs. And "Vibeology" feels like it was performed by an artist trying to do a pale imitation of Paula Abdul's first album.
All of that is the long way of emphasizing the point that at the time, I really liked "The Promise Of A New Day." It was hands down the best single from the second album of an artist whose first album I really liked. Even so, it's heavily, heavily flawed.
I mentioned before that Paula Abdul's voice is whiny, and she's really stretching herself beyond her talents here. I appreciate the passion that is communicated when she stretches herself too far, but it still grates on the ears more than a little. She's not quite the singer this song needs for some of the upper range vocals. She spends a lot of this song singing duet with herself anyway. I'd love to hear her duet with Janet Jackson instead. That would be a great fit for both of them.
The next obvious problem you'll notice is that there's not a lot of material here. The song doesn't have very many lyrics. You'll get "Pro- Promise. Promise of a new day" stuck in your head just from hearing the song one time. And I listen to these songs several times while writing these reviews. I'm going to have this in my head for a week. Backing lyrics aside, the song repeats everything it has over and over, just to fill out the running time. After 3 minutes, the song feels like it has reached a natural conclusion, but then it repeats every lyric in the song just to extend itself out to another minute. This song wears out its welcome very quickly.
The music has a little bit more variety than the lyrics. I actually like a lot about the music. Somehow all that fake synthesizer, drum-kit sound works together to create a whole sound that works. I think it's the upbeat sound and high energy that makes it work. I really like a lot of the transitions. The song constantly feels like it's transitioning to something bigger and more energetic. But ultimately the music has the same problem as the lyrics, going on well after the song has reached a natural end.
My verdict: Don't like it. This song is catchy, to be sure, and it might be perfectly enjoyable background music. But pop music needs to work when you actually give it your attention, too, and this song just doesn't.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Song #748: "I Like The Way (The Kissing Game) by Hi-Five
Date: May 18, 1991
Weeks: 1
If nothing else, researching the background of this song taught me about the term "new jack swing," which describes the genre of music that this song falls squarely into the middle of. Wikipedia cites some acts that I like and respect, but when this genre goes bad, the result is this odd dichotomy of heartfelt, sincere lead vocals over the most mechanical, calculated, and overproduced music you've ever heard.
There are a lot of problems with the music in this song. The ultra-fake drum-machine backing track creates almost no interest. The bass line is boring and barely present. The synthesized sax solo is quiet and bland. The whole thing sounds like the default background music that comes with a programmable keyboard.
And the bland backing track might not be so bad if the vocals were better. But the lead singer, Tony Thompson, just isn't interesting. He's whiny and high-pitched. He sounds like he's a 14-year-old whose voice is still changing. In fact, he was 16 at the time this charted. I can't help but wonder if he was a talented kid singer, but before anyone could capture that raw talent his voice started to change and they caught him at some awkward in-between age. Too young to have the vocal skill that comes with maturity, too old to have that exciting raw talent quality that defines other child singers.
The lyrics are generic and bland. Inoffensive but boring. He's in love, it makes him feel good, he knows the love is going to last forever, blah blah blah. There's neither much to complain about nor much to praise. I do object to the chorus, though. "I like the way you kiss me when we're playing the kissing game." Why "the kissing game"? If you're in love, why can't you just kiss? Does there have to be a game? Are you in Junior High and need the excuse of a game to kiss? Oh, I think I just realized why this song was chosen for someone who has the voice of a middle-schooler. This is really poorly written. It's like someone was mandated to write a song with the name "The Kissing Game," worked it in as well as they could, and then after recording someone at the record label realized it was wiser to go with "I Like The Way," because it was a better hook.
My verdict: Don't like it. I was surprised to discover that I didn't remember this song at all, but I do vaguely recall another song by this band, "She's Playing Hard To Get." That song is marginally better, largely because Thompson had gained some of the maturity he lacks here.
Weeks: 1
If nothing else, researching the background of this song taught me about the term "new jack swing," which describes the genre of music that this song falls squarely into the middle of. Wikipedia cites some acts that I like and respect, but when this genre goes bad, the result is this odd dichotomy of heartfelt, sincere lead vocals over the most mechanical, calculated, and overproduced music you've ever heard.
There are a lot of problems with the music in this song. The ultra-fake drum-machine backing track creates almost no interest. The bass line is boring and barely present. The synthesized sax solo is quiet and bland. The whole thing sounds like the default background music that comes with a programmable keyboard.
And the bland backing track might not be so bad if the vocals were better. But the lead singer, Tony Thompson, just isn't interesting. He's whiny and high-pitched. He sounds like he's a 14-year-old whose voice is still changing. In fact, he was 16 at the time this charted. I can't help but wonder if he was a talented kid singer, but before anyone could capture that raw talent his voice started to change and they caught him at some awkward in-between age. Too young to have the vocal skill that comes with maturity, too old to have that exciting raw talent quality that defines other child singers.
The lyrics are generic and bland. Inoffensive but boring. He's in love, it makes him feel good, he knows the love is going to last forever, blah blah blah. There's neither much to complain about nor much to praise. I do object to the chorus, though. "I like the way you kiss me when we're playing the kissing game." Why "the kissing game"? If you're in love, why can't you just kiss? Does there have to be a game? Are you in Junior High and need the excuse of a game to kiss? Oh, I think I just realized why this song was chosen for someone who has the voice of a middle-schooler. This is really poorly written. It's like someone was mandated to write a song with the name "The Kissing Game," worked it in as well as they could, and then after recording someone at the record label realized it was wiser to go with "I Like The Way," because it was a better hook.
My verdict: Don't like it. I was surprised to discover that I didn't remember this song at all, but I do vaguely recall another song by this band, "She's Playing Hard To Get." That song is marginally better, largely because Thompson had gained some of the maturity he lacks here.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Song #761: "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn
Date: Nov 30, 1991
Weeks: 1
P.M. Dawn has a fairly unique sound. Gentle rap over laid-back synthesizer chords is not a kind of sound I've heard from many other artists. Not all their music is this relaxed, but this particular song feels like I should be listening to it while sitting in a lounge chair.
The backing music is relatively simple. It's a sample of a synthesized piano line from an earlier song ("True" by Spandau Ballet, from 1983), with a simple drum loop layered on top of it. Then they add some backing vocals and some rapping, and the result is a pleasant enough song. The song feels like it lacks structure. It doesn't have nearly enough division between verse and chorus, with the result that it feels kind of unstructured and loose and lacking a beginning and end.
The vocals may be a matter of taste. The singer, Prince Be, has a slight, nasally voice, and you're likely to either find it intriguingly unique or irritating. I generally like his voice myself, although I think his singing is better than his rapping.
The lyrics are generally nonsense, but there are some parts that feel particularly pointless. In particular, at the end of the first rap bridge, the singer brings up an ex who says he probably doesn't think about her very much any more. And he says she's probably right. So why did you bring her up in this song? The most likely explanation was that he needed to fill time until the chorus came around again.
My verdict: Like it. It's a decently relaxing song, and I think it's better than the song it samples from. P.M. Dawn has several better songs, though, such as this, this, and particularly this.
Weeks: 1
P.M. Dawn has a fairly unique sound. Gentle rap over laid-back synthesizer chords is not a kind of sound I've heard from many other artists. Not all their music is this relaxed, but this particular song feels like I should be listening to it while sitting in a lounge chair.
The backing music is relatively simple. It's a sample of a synthesized piano line from an earlier song ("True" by Spandau Ballet, from 1983), with a simple drum loop layered on top of it. Then they add some backing vocals and some rapping, and the result is a pleasant enough song. The song feels like it lacks structure. It doesn't have nearly enough division between verse and chorus, with the result that it feels kind of unstructured and loose and lacking a beginning and end.
The vocals may be a matter of taste. The singer, Prince Be, has a slight, nasally voice, and you're likely to either find it intriguingly unique or irritating. I generally like his voice myself, although I think his singing is better than his rapping.
The lyrics are generally nonsense, but there are some parts that feel particularly pointless. In particular, at the end of the first rap bridge, the singer brings up an ex who says he probably doesn't think about her very much any more. And he says she's probably right. So why did you bring her up in this song? The most likely explanation was that he needed to fill time until the chorus came around again.
My verdict: Like it. It's a decently relaxing song, and I think it's better than the song it samples from. P.M. Dawn has several better songs, though, such as this, this, and particularly this.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Song #752: "Unbelievable" by EMF
Date: July 20, 1991
Weeks: 1
This song is unmistakably 90s, and unintentionally hilarious, especially when you watch the video.
The 80s New Wave influence over the vocals creates hilarious contrast as the singer tries to take a whispery, light, British voice and sort of half-sing, half-rap. It kind of sounds like they're trying to rap but won't commit to it, lest they alienate anyone who doesn't like rap. I'd like to say that it took rock music a long time to incorporate rap music successfully, but Run-DMC was doing that in the 80s. So let's just say that this was a bit experimental.
The music is easily the best part of the song. The bass and guitar are quite good. I liked this song a lot when I was younger, and I still have affection for it, and I definitely think it's because of the guitar and bass lines. Unfortunately, there's a lot more going on here. The drum line, in particular, is almost certainly a drum machine, and it's very regrettably basic and uninteresting. Then there's a lot of background vocals and voice samples. Apparently the "oh!" sample and the "it's unbelievable" sample are from Andrew "Dice" Clay, who is himself a largely forgotten part of the early 90s.
As for the lyrics, they're pretty obnoxious. The singer thinks that the person he's talking to is a snob, and he's figured out that this person is being snobby just to feel like they are better than other people. "The things you say, your purple prose just gives you away." So the guy thinks the person he's talking to is pretending to be better than they are by talking fancy. Of course, the term "purple prose" is pretty fancy, too, so I detect a bit of hypocrisy in the lyrics here. And to think I always thought that "you're unbelievable" was supposed to be a compliment in this song, when in fact it's a criticism.
My verdict: Don't like it. I definitely have a nostalgic affection for this song, and I still think the guitar and bass line are enjoyable. But there's too much else going on here that's pretty bad, especially the lyrics. It is much more ironically enjoyable when you add Tom Jones.
Weeks: 1
This song is unmistakably 90s, and unintentionally hilarious, especially when you watch the video.
The 80s New Wave influence over the vocals creates hilarious contrast as the singer tries to take a whispery, light, British voice and sort of half-sing, half-rap. It kind of sounds like they're trying to rap but won't commit to it, lest they alienate anyone who doesn't like rap. I'd like to say that it took rock music a long time to incorporate rap music successfully, but Run-DMC was doing that in the 80s. So let's just say that this was a bit experimental.
The music is easily the best part of the song. The bass and guitar are quite good. I liked this song a lot when I was younger, and I still have affection for it, and I definitely think it's because of the guitar and bass lines. Unfortunately, there's a lot more going on here. The drum line, in particular, is almost certainly a drum machine, and it's very regrettably basic and uninteresting. Then there's a lot of background vocals and voice samples. Apparently the "oh!" sample and the "it's unbelievable" sample are from Andrew "Dice" Clay, who is himself a largely forgotten part of the early 90s.
As for the lyrics, they're pretty obnoxious. The singer thinks that the person he's talking to is a snob, and he's figured out that this person is being snobby just to feel like they are better than other people. "The things you say, your purple prose just gives you away." So the guy thinks the person he's talking to is pretending to be better than they are by talking fancy. Of course, the term "purple prose" is pretty fancy, too, so I detect a bit of hypocrisy in the lyrics here. And to think I always thought that "you're unbelievable" was supposed to be a compliment in this song, when in fact it's a criticism.
My verdict: Don't like it. I definitely have a nostalgic affection for this song, and I still think the guitar and bass line are enjoyable. But there's too much else going on here that's pretty bad, especially the lyrics. It is much more ironically enjoyable when you add Tom Jones.
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