Reviews for Clay Aiken, in the past, have been all over the place, from Billboard's "Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" is the best pop album of 2003" to the New York Daily New's "Not since the heyday of Styx's Dennis DeYoung has pop been tormented by such an adenoidal voice. It's a tinny, nasal whine of a thing". What do I say to the New York Daily News?? Bwahahahaha! Aiken's voice tinny? Whatever the freak planet do they live on?
All the fans wanted from reviews was honesty, not over-the-top praise or criticism based on preconceived perceptions of Clay. It looks as if we finally got that review. The review that is based on the voice and the production, not on the critics prejudices.
This is by Bill Lamb from About.top40.com on Clay's single, 'Without You':
If you are unfamiliar with the song "Without You," you have not been listening to pop radio for the past 35 years. The song, written by Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans, first appeared as a Badfinger album cut on No Dice released in 1970. Idiosyncratic pop singer Harry Nilsson released a version of the song in 1971 featuring the signature piano intro that would be the standard for future recordings of "Without You." The song became a #1 hit for Nilsson and the biggest pop hit of his career. Mariah Carey took the song back into the pop charts in 1994 with a surprisingly plastic sounding interpretation.
Clay Aiken has chosen the instantly familiar tune as the lead-in for his first proper studio album in 3 years. I count myself as one of the skeptics when I first heard this would be the opening single, but "Without You" is a good choice and will tremendously please his many devoted fans while quite possibly gaining a few new converts.
The pure beauty in Aiken's voice is abundantly showcased here, and the arrangement gives a contemporary twist on the song. The mix is pleasantly propulsive and percussive which will sound great on pop radio. Mainstream pop radio should give this track a chance. It's popularity may surprise more than a few radio programmers.
Simply said, Clay Aiken's "Without You" is a triumphant return. While it would be easy to think that Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey had wrung all the possibilities from this pop chestnut, there are some fine elements here and a bravura vocal performance.
Pros
The beauty and clarity of Clay Aiken's voice
Very nicely propulsive instrumental arrangement
The emotion is restored to this classic song
Cons
Please, enunciate - We can do without "Without 'ooo"
Then there's this review from shipwreckislandstudio, a website run by two guys in their 20's who like to talk about good music. Check them out!
I was privileged to listen to Clay's album today and I have to say he's got a winner on his hands. I was a bit put off by the idea of another covers album but he's pulled it off nicely. A classic track such as Bryan Adams "Everything I Do" which I felt couldn't be redone properly is completely retooled and sounds amazing. I'd say the best reinvented track has to be the Celine Dion song "Because You Love Me." I didn't care for the original version but Clay sped up the song and added his own flavor to it making it his own. Now when I first heard about this disc the one song that stood out to me was the Bad English song "When I See You Smile." I read some pretty harsh comments from some fans that in a nutshell said that Clay couldn't pull off this classic track. While it's not quite was redone as other songs, Clay's vocals fit perfectly and with a violin backing really allows the song to breath a bit more. To me Clay pulled this track off with no issues at all.
Honestly, I'm shocked over how good this disc turned out. 17 days to go until it's release but I'll have an album review up before it's release. Everyone is in for a real treat with this release. - Tony
So, the reviews begin. I'm not naive enough to think that Clay will get these kind of reviews forever, but these reviews are at least honest, especially the one from shipwreckedislandstudios.com. And honesty is all we ask when reviewers review albums, not sticking their own agenda in where it doesn't belong.
Related Tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, About.com, Shipwreck Island Studios.com, Billboard
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