Willa Ford - A Britney Clone?
Written: Jul 18 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: catchy songs
Cons: nothing fresh
The Bottom Line: She's just another teen pop artist.
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| SirMontego's Full Review: Willa Was Here by Willa Ford |
Ok, so like, Willa Ford used to go out with Nick Carter (of the Backstreet Boys), she’s 20, has cool nose ring, and is totally awesome!
One cannot help to compare Willa with the reigning female teen pop sensations Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. In a world where image plays an equally important role as the actual music, Willa just seems to fit in. Her blonde-flowing hair, 5’ 7” stance, pop filled teenage songs, and slightly rebellious image fit in with the typical popular music image.
Born Amanda Lee Williford on January 22, 1981, she has succeeded in doing the unique task of making a full name out of her last name. Unfortunately most will remember her as “that girl who went out with Nick”—which is why there are so many “I hate Willa Ford” sites. Funny, her first album only came out yesterday.
Willa’s first album “Willa was here” has seemed to hit shelves without so much as a peep from tennie booper fans. I have yet to hear a single comment about her on the radio, much less a single song. She appears though to be following the Mandy Moore path of little radio play and high exposer on MTV’s TRL (Total Request Live)--“I Wanna Be Bad” hit #6. Some of the low radio play can be attributed to those against Willa. Petitions such as the one found at http://www.petitiononline.com/britt276/petition.html portray her as a poor role model and untalented musician. They say they’re not jealous about her going out with Nick, but it doesn’t sound that way.
What everyone really wants to know is whether her music can rise above all the pseudo-negative publicity and appeal to the masses—-err masses of teenagers. Taken at first blush, I couldn’t tell the difference between her songs, and the ones on Mandy Moore or Jessica Simpson’s new albums.
They are, admitting, quite catchy especially the radio friendly “I Wanna Be Bad”, “Ooh Ooh”, and “Joke’s on You”. Britney Spears even commented on Willa’s song “Tired” and described Ford as a talented artist trying to do her own thing. What makes her good is also what makes her dull. She doesn’t seem to be doing her own thing. She sounds just like the other artists in her genera. Put simply, she’s two years too late.
“I Wanna be Bad” just permeates with the aura of Britney’s “Opps I Did It Again”. The catchy complicated musical sound mixed with the lyrics of a girl on the verge of tarnishing her squeaky-cean image. “I wanna be bad / You make that look so good / I got things on my mind / I never thought I would / I, I wanna be bad (bad) / You make that feel so good / I'm loosing all my cools / I'm about to break the rules / I, I wanna be bad”
I’m not saying this is a bad album. I would highly recommend it to any Britney fan. The music is about as clean as Spears’, no swearing, no extremely overly uncomfortable sexual innuendoes, and a good mixture of fast and slow songs. Willa’s voice is nice and strong and the beats--though not fresh—area a joy to listen to.
It would come of no surprise to me if the radio and MTV began giving Willa significant airplay. But looking back, Jill Scott didn’t get much. Willa does though need to compete with the new albums of Alicia Keys and Brooke Allison. Whatever happens, we can all be sure that the influx of female teenage singers is not going to stop anytime soon.
--SirMontego, look for me on Battle.net
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Exercising
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SirMontego
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