What Evil Hath Bleu Wrought?
Written: May 28 '04 (Updated May 28 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: One good song, two (count 'em TWO) decent songs...
Cons: Overproduced, inconsistent, indistinct...
The Bottom Line: Sick and tired of all the same sound-alike pop artists, I decided to try Bleu on for size. Too bad Redhead situates him directly in line with the same yahoos.
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| lambchops's Full Review: Redhead * by Bleu |
A mere recommendation isn’t necessarily enough of an incentive to make me listen to an album. I’m cheap and if I’m even moderately uncomfortable with a purchase, I will avoid it at all costs. That is unless of course it shows up in my mailbox. This is exactly what happened with Boston pop singer-songwriter Bleu’s album Redhead.
Redhead is a polished piece of mainstream pop. But in saying that I’m not trying to downgrade the entertainment factor of the album. It is fun and it is easy on the ears, but at the same time it lacks a certain amount of quirkiness and/or intensity that I tend to like in my favorite pop singer-songwriters. Bleu is a straight ahead sort of fellow. What you see---errrr, hear---is what you get.
Bleu made a splash with his 2000 indie solo debut Headroom. While not resoundingly well received, it did earn him some respect in the local scene. But it was with his second album, Redhead, and its subsequent major label distribution that has brought him the most recognition to date. But I ignored it all, instead choosing to make up my own mind about the album and disregarded any and all positive or negative criticism. Indeed, I went into Redhead with an open mind and left somewhat unimpressed.
Blasphemy! I know, I know.
By most accounts Bleu brings something to the usually bland state of modern pop. Unfortunately, despite enjoying Redhead on the surface I can’t say I am impressed at all with the glossy sheen put on his music nor do I think he’s an innovator of any kind. Not that there’s anything wrong with making appealing pop, but truth be told he just blends into the background as far as I’m concerned.
As much as I’m disappointed by Redhead, I don’t want to sound completely negative. Bleu should have an audience with fans of modern MTV garden variety adult contemporary pop. Darn it all. There I go sounding negative again. Another thing I’m a bit miffed about is the number of collaborators. McAuley (Bleu’s surname) went from an independent solo artist to a man supported by well over THIRTY (yes, you read that right) collaborators/musicians/engineers/producers. I’ve complained about this over production and over collaboration problem in the past with other solo singer-songwriters (Dot Allison to be precise) and find myself once again questioning the validity of an album that required so many hands to make it acceptable fare.
I suppose had the actual music been outstanding, I would have been able to overlook the gargantuan supporting cast and crew of Redhead. Unfortunately, the twelve songs are merely pleasant and often forgettable. There are all too few exceptions to this rule—the only two being Could Be Worse and You Know, I Know, You Know. Could Be Worse makes its appearance at the mid-point of the album with a chipper and rousing guitar/drum combo not to mention an infectious melody. In fact, he reminds me very specifically of talented contemporary Ben Folds.
In fact much of Redhead is very indistinct—it wouldn’t have mattered who sang the song because each tends to lack zest/personality/verve/life. If you wonder what I mean by that, please feel free to partake in Rufus Wainwright for an example of a guy who puts his heart and soul into every breath and every song of his richly evocative music. Another issue I have with Redhead is that it lacks consistency. Single and album opener Get Up is a fun song with plenty of ba-ba-ba-da’s and a fast pace, but outside of those elements I am not drawn to it and the least. Even worse? Well, it appears to have been crammed into the album for the specific purpose of attracting a mainstream audience. Much the same thing applies to second hilariously ironic song I Won’t Go Hollywood.
As Redhead lamely limps along, I find it increasingly difficult to enjoy. From the forcibly sweet That’s When I Crash with the la-la la-la-la-la-la’s interspersed with Bleu’s boyish voice and a tedious mid-tempo melody. Things don’t get better with the excruciatingly annoying percussion and repetitive guitars of We’ll Do It All Again. Searchin’ For the Satellites is painful for an entirely other reason—McAuley’s whines in much the same fashion as an even more annoying Tim LeLaughter who genuinely irritated the hell out of me on 1995’s I Am an Elastic Firecracker. And then there are the stupid electric guitars. I suppose that the “plugged in” aesthetic is supposed to set Bleu apart (which it does, just not in the way intended).
I’ll admit to liking Watchin’ You Sleep a little bit. It’s acoustic and has a nice feel, but the muffled instrumentation and drowned vocals make it seem overproduced (another major complaint I have about Redhead). But the reprieve is short-lived because of an interruption by melodramatic and falsely emotional vaguely country-rock Somethin’ Gotta Give. Another brief reprieve comes with You Know, I Know, You Know, a swaggering and intelligent song. It’s a kind of blue-eyed soul that is all too rarely properly seen today. It is fun and retro and creative—heck, if the rest of Redhead had been built on this song instead of mainstream schlock I would have been impressed. Unfortunately it is not, and after this point, there is little positive I can say about Redhead (aside from the fact that it ends soon).
Trust Me is another one of those forgettable, indistinct forays into modern MTV-ready pop territory. I want to like it, but again with the na-na-na’s I am irritated and forced to skip. Indeed, another major complaint I have about Redhead is that it is overly cute. Cute is something I like in babies and kittens, but not in music. Album ender 3’s a Charm isn’t all bad—heck, I like the mellow electronica touches. But with that said it is ill-fitted with the rest of the album. The song that kicks up at the end of the track number is rather forgettable. Hit stop after 3’s a Charm finishes up.
In any case, I can’t help but think that maybe Bleu needs to really truly strike out on his own. Redhead was a community effort; I want to see him on his own and only then could I properly determine his merit as a singer-songwriter. I too many complaints about this album to recommend it to anybody at all—it’s melodramatic, overproduced, inconsistent, and indistinct on the whole. And aside from a few moments with Could Be Worse and You Know, I Know, You Know and to a lesser degree 3’s a Charm I can’t say I liked much of anything.
Sorry Bleu, you make me blue.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Get Up
02. I Won’t Go Hollywood
03. That’s When I Crash
04. We’ll Do It All Again
05. Searchin’ for the Satellites
06. Could Be Worse
07. Watchin’ You Sleep
08. Somethin’s Gotta Give
09. Somebody Else
10. You Know, I Know, You Know
11. Trust Me
12. 3’s a Charm
(hidden) Dance Dance Baby Doll Dance
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lambchops
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 - Top 50 |
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Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
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