2 Stars
Become part of one of the country’s most successful girl groups? Check. Gain a slot of one of the country’s most watched reality TV shows? Check. Become the nation’s sweetheart and style icon? Check.
In her quest for world domination, we all knew it wouldn’t be too long before Cheryl Cole decided to break into the music industry on her own after breaking records and winning numerous awards as one fifth of Girls Aloud. But are her singing skills worth fighting for? Not exactly.
Cole sings with none of the sincerity or emotional depth of the likes of Taylor Swift (yes, different genres, but same principles apply); her songs are riddled with clichés about love and…well, not a lot else. (To be fair, the same could be said for Swift, although she comes out more favourably in my opinion, but enough about her. )
But perhaps I underestimate the musical prowess of Ms Cole - this is not my preferred style of music at all, but even I had to admit that some of her songs were irritatingly catchy - Stand Up particularly stands out (Or should that be up?) - down to annoyingly repetitive lyrics - the choruses consist of the same line repeated about a hundred times over, albeit with the words in a different order. Remember: memorability isn’t necessarily a sign of quality. Take, for instance, the Las Ketchup song. A decade later, and people still don’t have a clue what they were singing about.
Comparisons between Cole’s work and that of her fellow band mate, Nadine Coyle, who failed to storm the charts as predicted with her debut single, Insatiable, are inevitable. In terms of singing and music, there’s a lot of difference between them, but Coyle loses out in the publicity and exposure department. To be honest, Cheryl could probably release a CD of herself reading from the phone directory and still be number one.
However, for this reviewer, her songs aren’t yet deserving of the chart success and accolades she has received and are mediocre at best, although she excels as a performer and certainly knows how to put on a show.
Taylor Swift isn't that great a singer too -songs or voicewise. Btw, this album is old! This came out ages ago! Surely you would be better off reviewing her new album if you could get hold of it?
ReplyDeleteEveryone is entitled to have and share their own opinion.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate reviewing a product that came out a while ago may not be useful to some people, but it's not always possible for me to review things as they come out, and as this is my blog, I will write about what I choose.
Anyway, if you're like me, you'll read reviews regardless of when things actually came out just because it's interesting to hear other people's opinions. :)