Tuesday, March 20, 2007

First Impressions of Elliott Yamin's CD -- I Love It!



If you've stopped by "Idol Thoughts" in the past week or so you've probably picked up on the fact that I'm a fan of Elliott Yamin. Ok, who are we kidding, I love the guy. I fell hard for him on American Idol, and MP3s of his performances of the show have been in constant rotation on my ipod since last year.

So when Taylor, Katharine, Chris, Paris, even Kellie signed record contracts, I waited for word on Elliott. And waited. And waited.

Well, let me tell you, all that waiting has paid off. This CD (released TODAY!) is fan-freakin'-tastic.

"Elliott Yamin" might well be the CD that Donny Hathaway would make if he was still alive and making music. Music that is both beautiful and layered, and that is meant for a rich, textured voice to sing. The songs are interesting musically, have instantly memorable melodies, and show off Elliott's voice to fantastic effect.

And that may be what I like about the CD the most --- it sounds like Elliott. No voice manipulation. No over-production. Just Elliott's rich, soulful voice. That voice that can effortlessly scale impossible runs, and that can convey passion you can truly believe.

Can you tell that I liked it?

Now, as I've already admitted, I'm Elliott-biased. But let me say this -- if you liked Elliott on American Idol, even a little bit, you will love this CD. So don't hesitate, buy it.

It doesn't end there, though. I truly believe this music has the potential to really catch on to an audience outside of those preordained Elliott fans. Bottom line, it's good. I think it has a real shot at Urban AC radio (in addition to pop) -- if Robin Thicke can top the Urban chart as a white boy, why not Elliott, who's got his own brand of blue-eyed soul? As far as I'm concerned, songs like "Wait for You," "Movin' On," "Take My Breath Away" definitely have crossover potential.

So basically, if you're wavering or you're not sure if you're an Elliott fan, it's worth the $12 risk. Buy it.

I've only listened to the CD once through, and I plan on doing a track-by-track review once I've had some more time to really dig into the music, but for now I'd have to say I'm really digging the gorgeous "Take My Breath Away" (where we get to hear a little taste of some of Elliott's smoky falsetto), the funky"Find a Way," the upbeat "Free," and the sexy, dripping-with-soul "Trainwreck."

But the song that really did it for me is "A Song For You." Of course I heard Elliott sing the song on the show, but nothing could compare to this stunning, stirring version -- just Elliott's voice and a piano. It is truly breathtaking, and worth the price of the album alone.

Stay tuned for my track-by-track review...

And if you haven't done so yet, support the boy, BUY ELLIOTT'S CD!!


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you like it?

Anonymous said...

I'm a big Taylor Hicks fan, who loves Elliot and his beautiful voice as well. Wish Elliott could join Taylor on his very successful sold-out tour at some venues. The Taylor fans would LOVE Elliott and Elliott fans would get to hear and see Taylor perform in glorious LIVE action. I believe it would give impetus to both of their CD sales. They're both great musicians and great people, and in my opinion, will be around long after some of the others who've 'gotten up and going' more quickly.

Anonymous said...

Uh, no, I don't want Elliott to join Taylor on tour. I love Taylor, but, can only tolerate Elliott's vibrato voice. And, Elliott is NOT a musician. What instrument does he play? I hope that both are around a long time, but, nix to the idea of Tay and E touring together. Taylor helped E out during the AI tour, by letting him join him after hours, and, using LiMBO for a concert he did in Richmond.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great Blog post. I love Elliott's Cd also. I'm glad that he got the chance and the time to make the CD just the way he wanted.

All of the things that he said back in June about how his CD would be, turned out to be exactly what we got. I love Elliott's voice, his songwriting and everything else about him.

He did a great job with his CD. You've also done a great job with this Blog.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

WOW, you are smitten!! As I recall there was a Survivor reality cutie named Elliott who also captured your affection. Any update on him, or is he long forgotten? Nevertheless, the post is really well done and I enjoyed it. Also, "A Song for You" has been one of my all-time favorites, so I may purchase the cd just for that.