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  Above
all, the soundtrack CD for the new film version of Pride and Prejudice
has fantastic production. The recordings are very polished and feature
lush and stylized arrangements. There is a very nice variety of
musical styles represented here, which is a wonderful thing to hear,
but in that sense the whole is clearly greater than the sum of its
parts, as some of the parts are weak on their own. In particular,
there are a couple of negative threads relating to vocal performances
that seem to run through this whole collection, which bring it down
a notch or two from otherwise being something really special. In
particular, many of the vocal performances suffer from the American
Idol propensity to over-emote and try to squeeze every drop of inflection
out of each note, and there is also an obvious derivative nature
to the singer's vocal performances on many of the tracks.
"Nothing
Wrong", sung by Stephanie Smith, starts the album off in high
energy, and though it has some modern production flourishes, it
really churns with a retro 70's feel which evokes images of the
Brady Bunch (or, if you prefer, The Partridge Family). Vocally and
musically, this is somewhere between Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz.
The track has some cool rhythm breaks here and there, but it could
have used a solid hook to give it some resonance as a song. But
purely to set the mood of the collection, it's a good choice as
the leadoff hitter.
The
next song, "Be With You" by Carmen Rasmusen, begins what
becomes an unfortunate trend throughout the album, over-emoting,
as she adds a small whine into every vocal syllable and inflection,
as if to announce at every turn, "This is a very emotional
vocal performance!". Carmen is obviously a talented singer
with a nice sounding voice, but I wish she wouldn't try to beat
you over the head emotionally with every note. This is otherwise
a decent dance-pop number, reminding me of some of Shania Twain's
songs, featuring some frenetic beats and the now cliched Vocoder
effect on the background vocals.
"All
the Way" by Trey Warner (of Rated Hero) is an interesting,
though derivative heavy pop song, sounding like the Offspring meets
Smashmouth, with a singer who is a cross between Moe Berg (Pursuit
of Happiness) and Weird Al. Yes, Weird Al. This song has a decent
hook, and I like how the drum backbeats build as the song progresses.
"Dream
on Dream" by Jeff Foster is a pretty acoustic guitar ballad
with some nice cello droning, but Jeff's vocals are over-emoted
and spoken under his breath, another common sign these days of the
"serious male vocal singer", a la John Mayer.
"My
Baby" is a cute doo-wop ditty sung by the film's composer Ben
Carson. Doo-wop-ditty-ditty-dum-ditty-do?
"Bling
Bling Daddy" by Scott Reinwand is a funky hip-hop interlude.
"Not
Enough of You" has Ben Carson trying to sing a Sinatra-esque
anthem. There is a sweet brassy arrangement, complete with muted
trumpets, but Ben's vocals are a bit weak, and shouldn't be cause
for concern for Michael Buble.
"Gathering"
by Ben Carson and Scott Reinwand is a cool, atmospheric number which
morphs in and out of different feels, including rap and some Chili
Peppers style funk rock riffing.
"Condition
of Desperation" by Randy Porter can best be described as Ben
Folds Five for Fighting. Nothing personal against Randy, who is
just one of many with this same problem nowadays, but if I hear
one more voice that sounds like Dave Mathews/Five for Fighting/Coldplay,
etc., I'm locking myself in my room and listening to nothing but
instrumental jazz until people start finding their own vocal style
again (and I don't really like instrumental jazz!). Or better yet,
until people just start using their own voice instead of altering
it with inflections that make it sound like something fake and derivative.
An otherwise dramatic song with some strong melody and chord changes.
One of my favorite songs of the album in terms of the writing, but
gosh, the vocal style really irks me. The thing is, I can tell that
Randy's got a great voice of his own in there somewhere, and I'd
love to hear that instead of yet another Five for Fighting clone.
Too much acting, vocally speaking, and not enough singing.
"Cowboy
Rompin'" by Utah band Brilliant Stereo Mob begins with some
nice jangly guitars, and
I was really liking this until it kicked in and turned out to essentially
be a rip-off of that "Woo-hoo" Blur song from a few years
ago. And unless singer Tim Pearson happens to be from Britain, I'm
blasting him for a very fake-sounding British accent. Another big
pet peeve of mine - the fake British accent. Ack!
"Self
Portrait" is Stephanie Smith singing some bouncy acoustic pop.
This is a nice song with some insightful lyrics about self-esteem,
but the chorus isn't as memorable as the verse, which makes it difficult
for the song to really soar deep into your subconscious, where it
clearly wants to be. I like that Stephanie aims high with this song,
but it doesn't quite reach it's intended destination. And contrary
to Stephanie's words, which speak of how she wants to shape her
own unique personality, I'm hearing a pretty heavy influence from
her bigger sisters in the LDS music world, Julia Davis Allen and
Julie de Azevedo.
"Solid
Comma Girl" is another track by Brilliant Stereo Mob. Thankfully,
Sir Tim Pearson pulls back the fake British accent a bit on this
track. This has a nice Death Cab for Cutie meets Modern English
kind of vibe with Hammond organ and more jangly guitars. The song
goes from a trickle to a gush as distorted guitars come pouring
in and flooding the soundscape.
Jeff
Foster's scruffy John Mayer vocals are present again on "Life"
by Coolhand, but otherwise this is a very enjoyable upbeat folk-rock
shuffle. Screws would need to be inserted into each little piggie
and then into the floor to keep your toes from tapping during this
song. The refrain of "Life just keeps on comin'" may be
rhetorical, but definitely in the best sense of the "Row, Row,
Row Your Boat" kind of catchy songs that state the obvious
in a fun way. A clear standout of this collection.
"Can't
Stand the Way You See Me" by Ben Carson and Scott Reinwald
is very much in the style of Badfinger. That is to say, it's quite
obviously and probably even intentionally a Beatles rip-off in both
sound and style.
"My
Giant" by Stephanie Smith is more evidence of a wonderful talent
with some intriguing words, but again the song just doesn't stick
too well in terms of the melody and hook.
The
album closes with a reprise of "Nothing Wrong", which
has the same arrangement as the opening track but instead features
vocals by Jamen Brooks, yet another breathy Mayer-clone. Jamen does
have some nice low-end edge and thickness to his voice that could
be really cool if he actually sang instead of merely "exhaled
notes". I do like this version better than Stephanie Smith's,
though, but only because the contrast of the deep male voice plays
better off of the group of female singers in the background.
Interspersed
throughout the CD are various instrumental interludes used in the
film, which show off the diversity and orchestration talents of
the film's composer Ben Carson (Ben also wrote several of the songs,
including "Nothing Wrong" and "All the Way").
My favorites among them are the Gershwin-esque "Bookstore Suite";
"Jane's Attraction", a saucy flamenco piece with some
jazzy bass jams; "Ringley Leaves", which blends mournful
piano and slide guitar in a way that screams (well, very quietly
screams) Pink Floyd; and "Match Point", which blends celeste
and pizzicatto strings into a bouncy "Mr. Sandman" type
of melody.
I'm
giving this collection only two stars, but quantifying that by saying
that much of the low grade reflects on the aforementioned vocal
aspects that repeatedly press on the nerves of my particular musical
pet peeves. If things like over-emoted vocals, derivative vocal
styles and fake British accents don't bother you, then you'll probably
want to add a star or two, and you very well may enjoy this collection
a lot more than I was able to.
There is quite a lot to like in this collection, musically speaking,
and some very evident vocal talent, but I would have liked to hear
more honest singing performances, even if that meant less polish.
The derivative nature of artists these days is really homogenizing
a lot of the music coming out. I don't mean to come off like a musical
Henry Higgins, but it's as though I can listen to some of these
singers and hear all of their influences… or sometimes just
their one main influence… loud and clear. They're singing like
everyone else but themselves. It's either the high, breathy, pseudo-yodel
turns of female singers, a la Sarah MacLachlan, or the gritty breath-singing
and nasal twang of guys like Dave Mathews and John Mayer. So, who's
to blame for that… the artists or those producing them? Probably
both, but this is at least partly due to the feeding frenzy of producers
and record companies who are looking for more golden eggs in the
shape of Sarah Maclachlan and John Mayer. And sadly, what we're
left with is a crop of singers who all sound like each other, and
a group of up-and-coming artists who sound more like tribute acts
than something truly original.
------------------------
Eric
Endres
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