Re: General Glee Discussion Thread--Part 4

Buenos 12/9/2013, 8:45 pm

^ Nah, just wanted to point out I'd happily would like Lea's
music even tough I am not a fan of hers and therefore a bit biased. In this case, based on personal preference, I simply dislike the song and also find it very generic. Hence, it has nothing to do wit bias but just general taste.

To quote a famous saying "there is no such thing as good taste or bad taste, but just your taste."

With all the biases, preferences out there there is no consensus on general taste, which is OK. Smile

of course I"m teasing...

Ranwing 12/9/2013, 9:41 pm

I'm not going to pretend to be unbiased, but I found the song... disappointing. Lea has such a stunning vocal instrument and with all the electronic manipulation of her voice, it just comes across as too manufactured to me. Lea doesn't need all these tricks to make her voice shine and I'm rather sad to see her go in a generic pop direction instead of more an Adele style, where her voice can really shine.

Will it be a success? I don't know, because I would have a hard time separating it from all the other female pop singers currently on the charts.

MoviesAreLife 12/9/2013, 10:20 pm

Ranwing wrote:I'm not going to pretend to be unbiased, but I found the song... disappointing. Lea has such a stunning vocal instrument and with all the electronic manipulation of her voice, it just comes across as too manufactured to me. Lea doesn't need all these tricks to make her voice shine and I'm rather sad to see her go in a generic pop direction instead of more an Adele style, where her voice can really shine.

Will it be a success? I don't know, because I would have a hard time separating it from all the other female pop singers currently on the charts.

The song was just "meh" to me. I like her and wish her the best, but I don't like the generic pop sound on her or the repetitive lyrics. She has a very special voice and deserves better. That being said, I didn't find it offensive like Naya's song, so that's a plus I guess.

Naya's voice strikes me as this Adele/Amy Winehouse/Lorde sound. Lea reminds me of this power ballad singer like Celine Dion.

Ranwing 12/9/2013, 10:34 pm

There's pop music and then there's pop music. Adele is classified as popular music. So is Pink. So is Miley Cyrus and Britany Spears. Two of them are intelligent song writers who make use of their strong, distinctive voices, and two of them are generic products churned out because they sell to a less discerning audience.

I'm not the audience that Lea is aiming at, but this song is not focused on her already sizable fanbase. Whether they are fans of Lea from her Broadway days or just from Glee, this audience has heard Lea do some of her best numbers and have high expectations of what her solo album would entail. For it to be basic pop with a lot of heavy beat and electronic overlays that mask what her voice is capable of runs the risk of turning off that audience. And a woman Lea's age isn't going to appeal much to the younger set. I think that in her bid to try to grasp onto a larger mainstream audience, she's sacrificing the very thing that makes her as a performer so distinctive. She's apparently running away from her Broadway background as fast as she can when it's actually her greatest asset.

Buenos 12/9/2013, 11:25 pm

I highly doubt that can be discerned for all the songs in her album from a 1.26 sneak peak.... coool

Now I'm kidding because you're talking about just this song but somehow I think Lea Michele at 27 isn't too old for mainstream success.

fantastica 12/9/2013, 11:37 pm

it sounds mainstream enough. she sounds like celine dion a bit.

brisallie 12/9/2013, 11:40 pm

Although I already said my impressions toward the song, but by other side I think is too soon to predict if the album will be successful or not. I'm sure it will be among her fans, but when it comes to general audience, I think is better to wait and see.

mindschemez 12/10/2013, 1:14 am

Don't know how to link to the full song (it's on tumblr). I really couldn't predict what Lea's sound would've been. I mean, I know her background and influences, but i thought bubblegum would've been a valid guess even. This song is a surprise and treat! A great one, I LOVE it! wub

ColferInspired 12/10/2013, 2:21 am

I don't know how I feel about it. saispa

I don't hate it, but I usually I have to listen to the whole thing to judge.

It will be interesting to see how it will do.

ColferInspired 12/10/2013, 3:04 am

I just listened to all of Cannonball and I like it. neutre

It is definitely better than Naya's Sorry.

Lottie2303 12/10/2013, 5:28 am

Buenos wrote:To quote a famous saying "there is no such thing as good taste or bad taste, but just your taste."

Yup, hence my statement I personally dislike the song but didn't attack others. I also just stated my opinion. coool

The single is already selling really well on I-Tunes. Also Cannonball is a song that can and will be played easily on the radio. Lea will be successful. Personally, I think she is selling herself short because the autotune totally undermines her distinctive voice and I don't believe she will be writing any music history. But it will be a commercial success and I get the impression that is Lea's main goal anyway. It is still a shame, with her voice, she could have been among the great singers of our generation. That won’t happen with Cannonball.

Glorfindel 12/10/2013, 6:20 am

^Agreed.

MoviesAreLife wrote:
Ranwing wrote:I'm not going to pretend to be unbiased, but I found the song... disappointing. Lea has such a stunning vocal instrument and with all the electronic manipulation of her voice, it just comes across as too manufactured to me. Lea doesn't need all these tricks to make her voice shine and I'm rather sad to see her go in a generic pop direction instead of more an Adele style, where her voice can really shine.

Will it be a success? I don't know, because I would have a hard time separating it from all the other female pop singers currently on the charts.

The song was just "meh" to me. I like her and wish her the best, but I don't like the generic pop sound on her or the repetitive lyrics. She has a very special voice and deserves better. That being said, I didn't find it offensive like Naya's song, so that's a plus I guess.

Naya's voice strikes me as this Adele/Amy Winehouse/Lorde sound. Lea reminds me of this power ballad singer like Celine Dion.

Basically, yes.

It's a nice pop song, but it's generic and overproduced, plus Lea's voice is capable of doing so much more, so it's a bit of a shame the song is so mediocre in composition.
They're trying to go for the mainstream accessible song, instead of using all Lea's best qualities (and she has plenty) that would have made her stand out but unfortunately also would have put her more in a niche.

It's a gamble either way I think, as imo Lea does not have the general appeal/appearance nor (musical) background, nor even the fanbase of a pop star, so going for the current pop 40 style might not sustain her a long term career. But OTOH doing a more Broadway or classic pop style album (a la Streisand) might have pleased her fanbase more and highlighted her background, plus make her more desirable for future Broadway productions, but it would not have put her up front in the pop charts, and that seems to be what Lea is going for in her career (pop music and movies instead of musical theatre).

To end with a positive note:
I am pleasantly surprised that most of the OTT voice theatricalities of Rachel are gone from this recording, although not all of them. So I guess this is the real Lea singing.

Buenos 12/10/2013, 6:42 am

Lottie wrote:But it will be a commercial success and I get the impression that is Lea's main goal anyway. It is still a shame, with her voice, she could have been among the great singers of our generation. That won’t happen with Cannonball.

C'mmon Lottie, she still has time. Last time I looked Lea at 27 didn't have one foot in the grave yet.
First song released in an album is hardly her epitaph.

tanita_mors 12/10/2013, 6:52 am

i still haven't listened to lea's song and i'm not really interested to be honest. i never was into the casts musical aspirations anyway.

but the fact is, if you want to break into the music bizz, pop/r'n'b is they way to go these days. if she wants to be a mainstream success anyway. if she was satisfied with being a niche artist she would have done a style of music more suited to her voice.

anyway, best of luck to her and naya and everyone else who is trying to make it.

Ranwing 12/10/2013, 6:53 am

I'm not going to pull out my crystal ball and try to predict if her album will be a success or not. There are plenty of artistically important and critically acclaimed albums that do poorly commercially and plenty of absolute crap that sells like gangbusters. Only time will tell which side of the line Lea's album will fall on.

That doesn't change my opinion that I find her artistic choices on what direction to take for her album disappointing. I'd heard that she was focusing on a mainstream pop sound and I'm rather sad to see that apparently this is the case. To put it bluntly, she is a better singer than 99% of the pop performers out there and I think that this song is beneath her talent. Instead of really focusing on her voice, we get the overlays that are normally used to mask weaker singers and try to make them sound more interesting than they actually are. As Marie said, it's overproduced and the sad thing is that rather than really making Lea sound distinctive from everyone else currently on the radio, now she sounds just like them.

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