Susan Boyle - Someone To Watch Over Me

I must admit, Susan Boyle is indeed a sensation of our times. When she burst into the scene with her exceptional performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" by Les Misérables on Britain's Got Talent in 2009 I must say I was blown away. Her powerful voice was disarming to say the least. It drowned her plain ordinary look and turned her into an overnight superstar.

Though I enjoyed her first two albums; "I Dreamed a Dream" and "The Gift", her latest album "Someone to Watch Over Me" is the best of them all. The album is simply a class act. It is one of the few albums that I can just sit back and listen to without skipping a single song. The producer, Steve Mac managed to bring out the power of Boyle's voice without being drowned by accompaniments as in the previous albums. The youthful timbre of her voice is impressive.

The album is has ten wonderful tracks which include classics such as "You have to be there" by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, "Unchained Melody" by Hy Zaret and Alex North, "Enjoy the silence" by Martin Gore and several others. The rendition of "You have to be there" brings a bit of bombast to the album and I really enjoy the track.

In the album Boyle's voice goes from soft to a soaring high in the same breath. She brings out a fresh interpretation to the songs that are indeed breath taking. The songs transcend age and can be enjoyed by almost anyone. She describes situations in her own life in some of the songs to which each one of us can relate to.

The album is generally about life, love and prevailing over obstacles. The loved the song, "Autumn Leaves". It brings out the sadness one experiences when they lose a loved one and gives the reassurance that they those that you love never really leave you.

Boyle's versatility and musical prowess is evident on every song in the album. She has succeeded engaging her audience emotionally in every song. This powerful connection will enable each and every one to find a little bit of themselves in her songs.

The album is one of those you listen to when you want to relax and reflect on life. It is indeed a must have for those who enjoy bluesy, soft music backed by powerful vocals. The song "This Will be the Year", clearly captures the life story of Susan as she proclaims that she is a woman who will always prevail over adversity as she did on that fine night on Britain's Got talent.

I would be the first to admit that "Someone To Watch Over Me" should have been a bit longer. It actually left me yearning for more though I was a bit skeptical about it at first. Boyle has grown in leaps and bounds since 2009 and is surely going places. She has definitely come of age in the industry. "Someone To Watch Over Me" has set her up for further success and I surely hope that we get to see more of her in the coming years.

OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud

The good outweighs the bad on 'Dreaming', March 28, 2008
It's not very often that a band from my home state of Colorado hits it big, but that's precisely what OneRepublic has done. With the help of Timbaland, the band scored one of the biggest hits of this decade to date with the remix of "Apologize", which spent 25 weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100, is one of only three songs to date to surpass three million in U.S. digital downloads, and spent 14 weeks at #1 on the United World Chart to name a few of its accomplishments. Needless to say I had to check out the band's debut album, especially considering how addicted I was to "Apologize." The album is one of those "singles" albums in my opinion, where about 5 of the songs are great and sound like big hits, but a lot of the album is filler.

Unsurprisingly to me, I did not find another song I liked as much as the Apologize remix, which is a bonus track on the album. Although I dislike that the remix is credited to Timbaland featuring OneRepublic (it should be vice versa), I have to admit there's something about the remix that sends the song into that upper echelon of mega hit that only happens rarely, and the original version of the song just can't compete. The song is much more than just a hit though, as everything about the remix is the total package of lyrics, beat, hooks, and vocal performance that seamlessly meshes to make it one of those universally likable songs. Enough about that song though, the rest of the album has some other tracks that are worth talking about, starting with second single "Stop and Stare." The song seems to be about evaluating your life and questioning why it is the way it is. The song has a big chorus and is one of the most re-playable tracks on the album. "Mercy" is a more rock tinged affair that first gained the band notice when they put it on their MySpace. It is somewhat reminiscent of a song U2 would do, and is well written and produced. My favorite track besides "Apologize" would have to be "Say (All I Need)" a song that crescendos from a gorgeous soft rock ballad into a soaring melodically layered piece of music. Most definitely a hit, but more importantly a superb song, and I have to also note that lead singer Ryan Tedder gives an exceptional vocal as well on it. The album isn't all good news though, as about exactly half of the tracks are filler that go in one ear and right out the other. Songs such as "Prodigal", "Tyrant", and "Won't Stop" to name a few just leave no real impression on me.

What saves "Dreaming Out Loud" from being disappointing is that the good half of the album overshadows the unmemorable portion. It's been a while since I've heard tracks as overall well put together such as "Apologize", "Stop and Stare", and "Say (All I Need)." Other highlights are "All We Are" and Coldplay esque ballad "Come Home." The band also seems to be talented lyrically as well, and Ryan Tedder might be quite the up and coming producer/songwriter already having huge production/writing hits for other artist such as Natasha Beddingfield's "Love Like This" and the mega worldwide smash "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a promising debut that is satisfying but leaves plenty of room for future growth. 4/5 Stars

My Top 5:
1. Apologize (Remix)
2. Say (All I Need)
3. Mercy
4. Stop and Stare
5. All We Are