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Unbroken Reviews Are Starting to Surface
Last Post 18 Jul 2010 02:30 PM by groucho. 125 Replies. |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 01 Jan 2010 09:58 AM |
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And boy do I hate to begin with this one. I'll put whatever I find in this thread.
http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/infom...nopaging=1
Katharine McPhee's 'Unbroken' is out of sync
Thu 31 Dec 2009
Katharine McPhee's sophomore CD, "Unbroken" (Verve), is the aural equivalent of the " American Idol " runner-
up's trying on a series of ill-fitting outfits. Though she's glammed-up for her videos and CD cover, McPhee
mistakenly tries the laid-back style of Colbie Caillat for "Had It All" and attempts an oddly faithful cover of
Melanie's "Brand New Key." Her voice is good, but it feels misplaced on the pop twist to "How," which could
easily be a country hit for someone else. Only on "Faultline" do her material and voice seem to sync up, and
that's where McPhee finds her footing.
KATHARINE McPHEE
"Unbroken"
GRADE C
BOTTOM LINE Bland pop that sounds kinda broken
Now is it my turn to review the review? I know it isn't reasonable to expect every reviewer in the world to gush like
demented, er, I mean devoted fan, but I did expect better than this. Just a few nits to pick: videoS, plural? What
is he referring to, every promotional video she's done so far discussing the record? As far as I know there has
only been one official music video released and that was Had It All. And I don't know that I'd say HIA was done
in a "laid back" style. If he wants to hear laid back, he should listen to something like Say Goodbye, which is
low-key throughout except for a couple of lines in the middle. And considering that most people didn't even
know that BNK was a cover because it's from 1971, I'm not sure how it qualifies as "oddly faithful." And I really
think he mixed up his songs referring to How as having country potential, a judgement which has occasionally
been rendered about Had It All. Which almost makes me wonder if he listened to the album or just skimmed a
couple of random reviews, picked out a sentence from each, and added his name at the bottom. But he did get
one thing right. .She does have a good voice.
Sorry if that sounds like sour grapes but I think she deserves better than this. |
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"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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goodiesman
Katharine Addict
Posts:1702
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| 01 Jan 2010 10:43 AM |
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They have family members listen and asks their opinions.Just my opinion but I believe it happens.
MJ has done a 360 so you know us Kat fans are on the money with Katharine's Unbroken. |
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| Goodiesman |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 01 Jan 2010 10:59 AM |
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http://mjsbigblog.com/katharine-mcp...now-up.htm
Okay, since you mentioned it. Maybe the Had-It-All hair (except for in the siren-in-black-dress shots) is a little reminiscent of Florence Henderson, the Soundcheck hair is more Monroe-like. I don't care what they say about the hair and the tights that really show you why they call them tights, they seem to like the music and that's what's important. PS, did anyone catch JLo New Year's Eve? Now there's the definition of "tight."
Thank heavens a lot of people in this day and age actually go online and listen for themselves rather than being totally influenced by reading reviews. At least that way they're making their own decisions and not letting someone else tell them whether something is good or not. And once word gets around about this look, there may be people visiting just to look and staying to listen. |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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swansonben
Katharine Expert
Posts:136
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| 01 Jan 2010 11:15 AM |
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yeah that review sucks, the album is great. |
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CEM-STEVE
Katharine Fanatic
Posts:320
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| 01 Jan 2010 11:28 AM |
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Walmart's sticker review of Unbroken states: Unbroken ia an impressive showcase for Katharine McPhee's powerful vocals and heartfelt songwriting Featuring: "Had it All" "Say Goodbye" "Lifetime". Heard the whole album twice and can't decide
which song is better. They are all outstanding! My review for the 'Unbroken" is 4 out of 4 stars!!! |
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pac_coast
Katharine Expert
Posts:212
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| 01 Jan 2010 11:37 AM |
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Never have referred to a review before purchasing any of my cds. I have always first listened on You tube or the excerpt provided by i-tunes. I've always felt,based on experience with the written media, that often there are other agendas and/or bias affecting the written word.
I believe that success of Kat's cd will be most affected by promotion, promotion, and more promotion |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 01 Jan 2010 03:17 PM |
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Steve, please contact Regina about this before every fan within 8000 miles writes you about it. Glad you're enjoying the album though.
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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LosAngelesDawn
Katharine Acquaintance
Posts:2
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| 01 Jan 2010 06:46 PM |
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Some reviewers write more to try to show how much they know and how they can dissect an album and be oh so smart and refer to other artists, other songs.... This review sounds like one of those to me. There are also those out there who still try to knock anyone from Idol or a reality show. They still try in spite of all the Idol successes and others like Susan Boyle. That just proves their ignorance.
I agree that nowadays consumers pay little attention to reviews and are much more likely to purchase if they see and hear the artist on TV, or if they hear about a new album some other way, go online and check Amazon or iTunes for snippets, or even YouTube. |
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CEM-STEVE
Katharine Fanatic
Posts:320
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| 01 Jan 2010 07:20 PM |
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Groucho, Regina is now fully aware of the early Walmart CD release and has all the pertinent info and willl get back to us
on Monday 1-04-2010. By the way, I ordered 2 more CDs through Amazon and will get the special edition CD/DVD on
Tuesday from Target. Take care. |
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goodiesman
Katharine Addict
Posts:1702
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| 01 Jan 2010 09:07 PM |
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Thanks Steve for a great job. |
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| Goodiesman |
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goodiesman
Katharine Addict
Posts:1702
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| 01 Jan 2010 09:11 PM |
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Welcome To KMF Los Angeles Dawn.
Agree wth what you say. |
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| Goodiesman |
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swansonben
Katharine Expert
Posts:136
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| 01 Jan 2010 11:02 PM |
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to the people that knock her for being on a reality show. that doesnt matter if she was on a show or not, she still has to work hard to have a career, nothing was handed to her. |
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Nmore54
Katharine Addict
Posts:1031
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| 02 Jan 2010 12:19 AM |
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Looking forward to that special edition CD/DVD from Target. Going to get it Tuesday too while waiting for my Amazon order to arrive. That will make 4 for me. I love this CD! I agree with those that have said most people don't pay attention to the reviews, and anyway, I can't help but believe there will be some really good ones as well. |
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keefir1
Katharine Addict
Posts:1519
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| 02 Jan 2010 08:40 AM |
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Yes,LADawn.....welcome to KMF and also agree with your insights re:reviews.
Hello......talent is what's important,not where an artist is discovered!
It was quite obvious to me that a huge number of people were anticipating Kat's release and,like us, they would not be influenced by any pseudo/know-it-all critic! |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 03 Jan 2010 06:56 PM |
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http://blog.masslive.com/playback/2...k_off.html
Pretty decent review from someone who likes totally different songs from most of what I've read in fandom. "Sturdy" seems an odd descriptive word to me, but since he's mostly happy with the album, I'll take it.
Katharine McPhee, Ke$ha kick off 2010 with sturdy new albums
January 03, 2010, 6:00AM
 KatherineMcPhee.com
Katharine McPhee “Unbroken” (Verve). 3 stars.
Ke$ha, “Animal” (Kemosabe/RCA). 4 Stars
The Doughboys, “Act Your Rage” (Ram). 3.5 stars.
Klaus Voorman and Friends, “A Sideman’s Journey” (Universal Music). 4 stars.
The Rolling Stones, “Love You Live” (UMG) 4 stars.
“Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…” (VSC/MVD) 5 stars.
Katharine McPhee “Unbroken” (Verve). 3 stars.
Maybe all she had to do was go blonde.
Ever since she was runner-up on the fifth season of “American Idol,” and probably for a long time before that, the camera-friendly Katharine McPhee has had no problem getting attention.
Turning that attention into a serious recording career has been another story.
Her major label debut from 2007 was pretty much a yawner, despite a No. 2 single, and despite a marketing campaign that heavily emphasized her looks. But with a new label – the jazz bastion Verve Records – and the aforementioned switch from brunette to blonde, the singer sounds like she’s got a whole lot more going for her the second time around.
“Unbroken,” which is very well produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Jason Mraz) occasionally succumbs to the denseness of its predecessor but those moments mark the exception rather than the rule on this relatively restrained 13-song outing.
McPhee co-wrote six of the selections, including the album’s two best songs, “Keep Drivin’,” a richly atmospheric diamond that sounds like nothing on her first album, and if anything resembles some of Don Henley’s work; and the title track “Unbroken,” which was co-authored with the brilliant but nearly forgotten Paula Cole. In it, McPhee sounds quite reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, complete with a mesmerizing, octave switching lead vocal.
So there’s the answer. All McPhee had to do was find the right songs and reign in the production so her voice – which is often a thing of wonder – could shine in all its sweet splendor.
Other songs like the acoustic guitar backed “Last Letter,” and the lead single “Had it All,” are occasionally less subtle but still fulfilling, and she only goes over the top on occasion here, as during “How.” McPhee also has fun along the way, particularly on an album-closing, bonus track cover of Melanie’s 1971 hit “Brand New Key.”
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 04 Jan 2010 04:14 PM |
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http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_r..._unbroken/
Boston Globe Album Review
January 4, 2010
Despite being only 25 years old, Katharine McPhee has gone through three musical incarnations. The runner-up on season five of “American Idol’’ was a big-voiced belter. Post “Idol,’’ she morphed into a dance-floor pop tart whose identity was lost amid calculated songs and star producers. With her first record for Verve Forecast, the newly blond McPhee transforms into a straight-up pop singer with an ache in her voice and a newfound focus. “Unbroken’’ is a conventional set, at times too much so, with a stripped-down musical backdrop of acoustic guitars and piano. McPhee has smartly reined in her vocal approach to find the nuances of the lyrics without trying to raise the roof. The songs, a healthy six of which she co-wrote, deal with longing, emptiness, and pained love. The disc is at its best when it avoids formulaic exercises like “Had It All,’’ which the cliche-loving Kara DioGuardi copenned. When McPhee lets the lyrics breathe, she shines; on the title track, the requisite big ballad, she finds its center and gives it a soul. The cover of “Brand New Key’’ is a mistake since McPhee misses the song’s loopy whimsicality. Otherwise, McPhee version 3.0 works.
CAN'T HELP IT, I LIKE TO REVIEW THE REVIEWS. I LIKE THE STRIPPED DOWN PRODUCTION, BETTER THAN SOME OF THE OVER-PRODUCTION ON THE FIRST ALBUM. IT'S NOT LIKE EVERY TRACK IS LIKE THAT. INTERESTING THAT A LOT OF REVIEWERS SEEM TO REALLY APPRECIATE THE BALLADS AND OTHER SONGS THAT I WOULD NOT THINK OF AS RADIO SINGLES. ALSO I THINK SHE WAS QUITE APPROPRIATELY LOOPY AND WHIMSICAL IN HER INTERPRETATION OF BNK. MAYBE THIS GUY SHOULD WATCH THE SOUNDCHECK PERFORMANCE AND SEE HER DANCING WITH A PAIR OF ROLLERSKATES. STILL, I APPRECIATE THE OVERALL POSITIVE TONE OF THE REVIEW.
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 04 Jan 2010 06:11 PM |
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http://www.expressnightout.com/cont...n-idol.php
Another Fallen 'Idol': Katharine McPhee, 'Unbroken'
IT HAS TO be tough to be just another pleasant voice in the ever-growing pool of former "American Idol" contestants.
It's even tougher when you're Katharine McPhee and in 2006 you were the runner-up in the "AI" season with (arguably) the greatest number of successful alums: besides winner Taylor Hicks, the show's fifth season also produced Elliot Yamin, AMA winner Chris Daughtry and Taylor Swift tourmate Kellie Pickler.
McPhee did well enough on "Idol" to get her to the second-place slot, but her self-titled 2007 debut album never delivered the contemporary-pop hits that she seemed so capable of producing. She was dropped from RCA Records after its disappointing sales and moved to Verve Forecast for her new sophomore effort, "Unbroken."
The real problem that McPhee faces with "Unbroken" is that she doesn't sound unbroken at all — nearly the whole album is devoted to tiresome I'm-so-damaged-from-my-breakup songs.
In fact, she sounds straight busted.
McPhee's material makes a pretty stark contrast to the hit singles from the more successful female "Idol" alums. Part of what makes Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" and Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" so compelling is their sense of empowerment: those two don't seem to let a guy get the best of them, while McPhee seems content to wallow in her misery.
It's no surprise that the themes on "Unbroken" are nothing new: there's her inability to move on ("Ten million pieces of my heart to put back together" from "How"), the regret over breaking up with someone ("I didn't know what I had till you were gone" from "Had It All") and perhaps one of the worst cliches of them all — taking a page from the "You're So Vain" songbook — a song ("Last Letter") about using a breakup to write a song.
If McPhee wasn't going to set herself apart from other chick singers' lyrical content (as tired as heartbreak songs are, they are infinitely marketable and easily relatable for most listeners), she could at least have chosen a style to make herself sound unique. Instead, most of the tunes on "Unbroken" are the kind of overpowering, overinstrumented songs that blast out any hint of subtlety in her voice. There can be such power and emotion in the spaces between notes, but there's so much going on in these songs that the focus is usually anywhere but McPhee's voice.
The compositions that do ease up, though, give a glimmer of the passion that pushed McPhee so far in the "Idol" competition. The simplicity of "Anybody's Heart" and the piano-backed torchiness of "Say Goodbye" add a certain power to McPhee's voice and persona that she never quite achieves on the more ornately orchestrated tunes. It's enough to make one wish for a full album of piano ballads, just to strip away some of the frills that detract from the sweetness in her vocals.
And, of course, the one real downside to an album full of sad love songs is that McPhee never really sounds like she's having any fun.
She does break free, though, on the album's last track, which is a cover of Melanie's "Brand New Key"; even with a more modern arrangement, her vocals remain true to the innocence and playfulness of the original. Of course, most of her listeners are probably too young to know what quad skates are — much less understand what you'd need a key for — but the literal meaning is irrelevant with the obvious liveliness she pours into the song.
It's just a shame McPhee waited until the last cut of the album (a bonus track, no less) to let loose.
Written by Express contributor Catherine Lewis
Photo by Ellen Von Unwerth
I DID HAVE A FEW COMMENTS ON THIS REVIEW, MAYBE EVENTUALLY THEY WILL SHOW UP IN THE COMMENT SECTION AFTER THEY'VE BEEN CHECKED OUT. |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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Katfan07
Katharine Acquaintance
Posts:28
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luv4llntkm
Katharine Addict
Posts:1322
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| 06 Jan 2010 02:42 PM |
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Another interview..very informative..Partial excerpt posted below.
http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar...cPhee.html
"If you had to sum up the message of the album, what would it be?
I’m not sure there’s a theme. I really just set out to make songs that I thought people would really be able to connect with, and to have lyrics that went a little bit farther and deeper than just your average pop song. I wanted to have stories that would be relatable from what I’ve been through in the last few years. There was a lot of heartbreak about past relationships, and heartbreak from just being in the record business and hitting unbelievable highs and unbelievable lows. So I touched on a lot of that in my writing." |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 06 Jan 2010 03:20 PM |
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Live links for some of these reviews
http://media.www.highlandernews.org...1836.shtml
http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar...cPhee.html
Tons of these are starting to show up in my email. It's hard to keep track of them all but I'll try to sift through
everything. some of them are repetitious but I think we're getting most of the good ones. I am also printing the
not-so-kind ones, although I reserve the right to rebut.
I JUST REALIZED A LOT OF THESE SHOW UP IN THE NEWSFEED TAB AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE.
IT'S JUST EASIER TO FIND THEM HERE FOR MOST PEOPLE.
Plus, for some reason my page is spread out to twice its normal width in this thread. I don't see any huge
pictures taking up space or anything. ?? |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 06 Jan 2010 11:34 PM |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 06 Jan 2010 11:36 PM |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 07 Jan 2010 12:09 AM |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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goodiesman
Katharine Addict
Posts:1702
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| 07 Jan 2010 10:42 AM |
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Thanks groucho |
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| Goodiesman |
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CEM-STEVE
Katharine Fanatic
Posts:320
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| 07 Jan 2010 11:07 AM |
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Just sawv Kat on Fox News and Friends from NYC and she looked and sounded fantastic.
Her voice was strong and powerful, the drummer girl was set all the way back in the stage with a
plexiglass wall and the band sounded terrific. Kat seemed to have fun today at the Fox News studio! |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 07 Jan 2010 02:15 PM |
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I just put a video in the Media folder because I missed this one. I didn't realize it before but she's almost got a girl band. At least half the band, no? |
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 08 Jan 2010 05:15 PM |
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http://www.parcbench.com/2010/01/08...um-review/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.parcbench.com/2010/01/08...um-review/
Written by Greg VictorcloseAuthor: Greg Victor Name: Greg Victor
Email: Greg@parcbench.com
Site:
About: Greg Victor (Parcbench Culture Editor) is a historian, pop culture critic, and theatrical dramaturg and has stage managed theatrical productions on Broadway and on tour, including Billy Joel's "Movin' Out", Monty Python's "Spamalot" and more.http://www.parcbench.com/author/victor5678/">See Authors Posts (68) on January 8, 2010
*** (out of 4 stars)
Label: Verve Forecast
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Sometimes, being patient pays off. With her new album “Unbroken,” Katharine McPhee brings us a more mature sound. But she still has fun with it – after all, she’s a blonde now. It’s worth the wait, even if the bonus track (“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”) isn’t the kind of a bonus you want to hear in January. Still, with one of the first albums released in 2010, Katharine McPhee starts off the new decade promisingly.
After wondering what direction she should take with her second album, Katharine McPhee stakes her claim in the land of adult-contemporary. Wise decision. This format ensures her a longevity that will outlast a career in strictly pop or rock. That’s good news. Katharine McPhee has a voice that I want to hear develop for years to come. She also is developing as a writer, with co-writing credit on six songs here.
The album “Unbroken,” released this week, puts as much emphasis on the songs as it does on the notes. It’s clear that this singer is moving beyond the expectations of her “American Idol” Season Five beginnings. Her producer is John Alagia, known for his work with John Mayer and the Dave Matthews Band. There is already one hit single here (“Had It All”), and there will no doubt be a few more to come.
How best to describe this album? It’s way better than her first album, but that alone is not saying much. The album is a little heavy on the production level, but that’s only because she has such a strong voice and more of it would always be better. The diva-in-training is gone; she is flirtier, and more willing to delve into her feelings. It’s as if Mariah Carey got a hold of Taylor Swift’s diary. It is a collection of songs about jumping into relationships and then taking time to think about it all after the fact. The conclusion seems to be that the pain and complications that come with relationships can also strengthen them. Worth checking out? Definitely.
Download these:
“Had It All” – This song pays a bit of a tribute to her “American Idol” nights. You can’t help but hear “So You’ve Had a Bad Day” weaving its subliminal way through this catchy number co-written by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.
“How” – This song drives the inner logic of the album. It’s the one that tells you the most about where Katharine is (taking cautious control of her life), and where she’s headed (an uncertain future, but one that she is responsible for).
“Faultline” – By far my favorite track on the album. This seemingly soft song snakes around, ready to strike at any moment. She sings it like no one else could, and that’s what it’s all about. Plus, the intro chords give off an air of mystery that are equally compelling.
“Unbroken” – In this title track, McPhee lets go a little bit, and lets the lyric breathe in a refreshing way. The easier she takes it, the more soulful it becomes.
Skip these:
“Last Letter” – Subpar material. So bad it sounds like a left-over from her first album. And it’s a little pitchy. How’d that happen?
“Brand New Key” – Although she can hit the required notes of the classic made famous in 1972 by Melanie, she doesn’t seem to have a clue as to the required sexuality required to pull this song off. This is one of the two songs in rock history that shouldn’t sound formulaic, but unfortunately this version does. (The other song is, of course, “Mercedes Benz” made famous by Janis Joplin.)
ALL IN ALL, I'LL TAKE THIS REVIEW. BUT ALTHOUGH LAST LETTER WAS NOT MY FAVORITE I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THAT BAD. SHE MAY OCCASIONALLY GET INTO SHOUT MODE ON A NOTE, BUT I DO NOT THINK SHE'S OFF PITCH. AND AS TO NOT MUSTERING THE "REQUIRED SEXUALITY" FOR BNK, KATHARINE'S STOCK IN TRADE IS THAT SHE REALLY DOESN'T QUITE REALIZE HOW SEXY SHE ACTUALLY IS, SO SHE CAN PLAY A SONG FOR ITS WHIMSY AND SILLINESS AND STILL BE SEXY.
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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luv4llntkm
Katharine Addict
Posts:1322
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groucho
Katharine Addict
Posts:5899
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| 10 Jan 2010 10:15 PM |
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Just in case this link ever goes wonky, I want to make sure this is readable. It's interesting.
Blonde has more fun
By TYLER GRAY
Last Updated: 4:28 AM, January 10, 2010
Posted: 12:34 AM, January 10, 2010
It’s taken her two records, but 2006 “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee thinks she’s finally figured out who she wants to be.
“Unbroken,” McPhee’s second album since losing to Taylor Hicks in the fifth season, asks listeners to bear with her just a bit longer as she navigates life, love, art and — in at least one unfortunate case — a disagreement with her record producer. It’s also a 13-track lesson for the new crop of “Idol” contestants.
Her advice: “Know who you are as an artist,” the 25-year-old says. “I just really went on the show because I wanted to be an actress. I thought it would be a vehicle to make a name for myself.”
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McPhee and her newly blond hairdo, which Simon Cowell hates.
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She did, selling almost 400,000 records, but then she parted ways with RCA, got picked up by Universal subsidiary Verve Forecast and promptly fell into a sophomore slump. “I had this incredible label and this incredible support, but I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do,” she says.
Rather than shrinking into a career of cover tunes at county car shows, she took a year and a half to record her next album. She left her LA hometown when paparazzi infested her longtime hangouts and headed for Nashville, where she took up with a circle of songwriter types, on the advice of Universal CEO Doug Morris.
McPhee wound up writing about 35 tunes herself (only six made the final cut), digging through years-old journals and piecing together her darkest, most personal subject matter to date. “It was definitely a journey, this record,” she says.
On the second song, “Had It All,” co-written by “Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi, she sings about leaving behind “blue skies, sunshine and butterflies” and asks, “Why did I believe that little voice that led me down the path to this bad choice?”
Six tracks later on “Say Goodbye,” she’s over it. “I don’t think I want to go back to where I used to be, like it was before.” On “How,” she decries the “too many pieces of my heart to put back together.” By the end of the CD, she’s “Unbroken” (the title track co-written by Paula Cole).
But the most revealing, personal cut is wedged in the middle. “Last Letter” is a kiss-off to a former suitor she met at the same timeshe met her would-be husband. “He was kind of a jerk,” she says.
So far, so good. “Idol” followers love juicy helpings of heartbreak and happy endings, and as a bonus, McPhee has emerged from the process with a new look, shedding her auburn locks for a bleach-blond bob that’s already been roundly dissed by nemesis Simon Cowell.
But it’s the regretful production by John Alagia (Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews, Liz Phair) that might challenge those that came to McPhee via “Idol.” He lets her voice warble at times and stray off key. On “Last Letter,” an effects-drenched studio band makes her dry vocal sound like a field recording.
“Me and the producer had some disagreements, so it ended up a bit funky,” she says. “I think on every record, there’s always something you want to go back and fix. That was the one song I’d go back and fix.”
Could this be the sound of a polished “Idol” product sounding . . . human? She always was one of Cowell’s black sheep.
“I don’t think she was a credible recording artist,” Cowell told “Extra” in 2009.
“Simon’s such a nice person, so I really care about what he has to say,” she tells The Post.
Is sarcasm in her repertoire, now, too? “Yeah,” she says.
AS SOMEONE POINTED OUT IN THE COMMENTS, WHICH DID NOT CARRY OVER IN THE COPY PROCESS, LAST LETTER WAS NOT PRODUCED BY JOHN ALAGIA ALTHOUGH I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO DID IT. AND I THINK IT'S FUNNY THAT SHE'S TALKING BACK TO SIMON, AND THIS IS THE MOST SHE'S SAID ABOUT "MR. BROADWAY" SINCE SHE RIPPED HIM UP PRETTY WITTILY IN A PEOPLE MAG. INTERVIEW YEARS AGO. IN CASE ANYONE MISSED THAT, SHE'S NOW DONE IT ON A RECORD. GO KAT GO.
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katpedia.com - watch and listen to Idol, pre-Idol, and post-Idol McPhee performances all in one convenient location
"And everything around her is a silver pool of light... She makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm" |
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bcollan
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Posts:3180
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| 12 Jan 2010 03:49 PM |
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These tepid reviews have me puzzled. Am I losing it, or weren't the reviews last time better on a clearly inferior album? It seems that these "reviewers" have lost touch with the soul of real music in this day and age of digitally enhanced perfection and techno overtracks. Unbroken to me stands up to the real music of Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Sarah McLaughlin and Paula Cole...to name just a few. |
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"She sings so magnificantly, it's just amazing" David Foster
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