Eurythmic's Full Review: Mandy Moore by Mandy Moore
The teenpop genre is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I can recognize the fact that it has little to no musical value and that it's disposable by design, yet I'm strangely drawn to and fascinated by it.
Upon hearing Mandy Moore's leadoff single, In My Pocket on the radio, I came to the conclusion that Miss Moore was definitely going to be one to watch this Summer. It's hard to say how much control she has over her own sound, but I thought the incorporation of Middle Eastern motifs was brilliant. Of course, anybody who's listened to any pop and rock music in the last 35 years can tell you it's been done a million times before - but all the same, it could have been a great way to better define an identity for a singer in a crowded genre.
In My Pocket is everything you want in a pop single. It's absolutely danceable. It's hooky, without being redundant. The production is smart, clean, and fresh. The lyrics are even fairly clever at times - uncommon, these days! It's got a huge, dramatic sound, without coming off as a bit trashy, a la Britney Spears.
Oh yeah, and Mandy Moore's voice isn't half bad. Truthfully, the song is very well performed.
And if the entire album were as good as the first track, here we'd have easily the best pure pop album in years. But here's the thing.
It doesn't.
Not only does the rest of the album not measure up, but it feels completely different. There are other quality moments, sure. But I can just picture this album's producers, after wrapping In My Pocket up, saying "Well, we've got the single. Let's hurry up and put this thing out." And that's too bad, because this was Mandy Moore's chance to really vault ahead of the competition.
Maybe my standards were just a bit too high. Compare Mandy Moore to your list of favorite pop albums, and it probably wouldn't crack the top ten. It just isn't good enough to transcend the teenpop genre - which is sad, because the current teenpop explosion is already beginning to show signs of dying out.
But set against her peers, I think Mandy Moore does quite well. I like this album more than either Christina Aguilera or Baby One More Time (I haven't heard a single from Britney's sophomore effort that I liked enough to justify picking the album up, and I haven't heard a Jessica Simpson single that I liked, period).
Running down the rest of the tracks on Mandy Moore, briefly:
You Remind Me: A total tease. The song's introduction is terrific, and for a moment I took it as a sign that the whole album would be as good as the leadoff track. Unfortunately, this song's melody is ripped off from Janet Jackson - a pretty subpar songwriter to be stealing from.
Saturate Me: This is actually a pretty good ballad. It reminds me somehow of something that a latter-day Madonna could have recorded, but the hook is pure teenpop. This might be a good choice for a single. Maybe they'll even pair it with one of those girl-next-door-in-a-fuzzy-sweater videos.
One Sided Love: Pretty good midtempo dance song. Probably not melodic enough to be a good single, but definitely a solid album track.
17: A nice melodic ballad. A little dull lyrically.
Cry: Midtempo ballad. Another pretty, but indistinguished song.
It Only Took A Minute: Enough with the ballads, already! Nice production on this one, but it's not too different melodically from the two previous tracks.
Turn The Clock Around: Brings the feel and tempo up a bit, but overall not a terribly clever song. Nice vocal hook, though.
Yo-Yo: This, or Split Chick, would be my pick for the second single. Same formula as Turn The Clock Around, but on this track everything is done better. Clever production and a catchy melody make this track a winner. I also like the yo-yo metaphor, even if it's probably already been done.
From Loving You: The best ballad on Mandy Moore. It would stand out more easily if not for the album's dull middle third.
Split Chick: From a production standpoint, this track most closely matches the brilliance of In My Pocket. Again, this song shows some serious Madonna influence, coupled with a few lessons from the Bangles' school of songwriting - good stuff!
When I Talk To You functions as a bit of a coda. It really doesn't fit with the rest of the album. A very sparsely produced ballad, I would say that this was planned to be Mandy Moore's chance to shine as a vocalist. She rises to the occasion, and may in fact be the best ballad singer of the current teen queens. Britney's voice earns her an immediate disqualification, and Christina's constant vocal acrobatics tend to grate a bit. Mandy Moore's voice has a really nice tonal quality that makes this song easy on the ears.
If you don't like In My Pocket or teenpop music in general, it would be hard for me to recommend Mandy Moore. But if you were impressed by the single or enjoy the music of Britney, Christina, et cetera, I'd say pick this album up. It's still teenpop, but it's really good teenpop.
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