Artists of the past love their 15 minutes of fame, and as long as they can stretch them out further, they will. Just look at Santana.
So, one would think Carole King's new album, "Love Makes the World" is nothing more than an attempt to satiate the human desire to stay on top. But is it really?
King, who will turn 60 this February, appears on her album cover with bouncy hair and a little more cleavage than I would expect from a potential member of the AARP.
Needless to say, I checked to make sure that I had picked up the right CD. Yep.
The forty-something-looking picture was indeed Carole King.
Giddy about my purchase, I rushed home to listen to the wondrous melodies in store. The opening notes of the first track sparked the realization that the cover-art cleavage was an omen of things to come. In other words, her hair isn't the only thing that has changed.
Basically, while the world was involved in a transition from one millennium to the next, Carole King was switching genres. She has blended together some soul, some rock and some hip-hop, and the most appropriate word for the outcome is eclectic.
Her voice remains as strong and pure as it was 20 years ago. It resonates throughout the album, invoking a sense of passion in a collection of love songs which otherwise could feel quite trite.
Track one, "Love Makes the World," opens the album with an alarming and fresh sound. It's not the best song, but it has a decent hook and a strong R&B essence. The lyrics are not profound statements of love's impact on the world.
"You Can Do Anything" lacks any audible presence of King's brilliant piano skills. At times, lyrics like, "... if I could only believe in myself I know I could find a way" feel cheesy, and the backup vocals add a cringe-worthy New Kids On the Block aspect to the song.
|
The real kicker on this album is the fourth track. "I Wasn't Gonna Fall in Love" really doesn't sound like its being delivered from the lips of an almost-60-year-old woman. The fact is, any half-mature female artist could record this song with as much success as King.
Perhaps what is the most disturbing aspect of this song is the fact that it is sung by a 60-year-old. It reminds me of the Molly Shannon Saturday Night Live skit where the retired woman auditions for The Rockettes and kicks around the stage screaming "I'm FIFTY! That's 5-0!"
In other words, this song is King's mid-life crisis; it is her hot red Ferrari.
"Oh No, Not My Baby" is a special highlight from this album. It is a re-recording of a song King and her husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote in 1964. This is a great showcase of her enormous talent, even after 37 years.
Missing the age of teased hair and tapered, acid washed jeans? For a little bit of '80s revival, try "Monday Without You" or "I Don't Know." That good ol' beat is back! "Footloose" anyone?
"Monday Without You" is fun. You'll play it on repeat mode and jump around screaming the lyrics (not that I did that).
Watch out, Aerosmith fans, your dearly beloved Stephen Tyler is in on this one. He's backing up Carole, if you can hear him.
Tyler offers up his usual screaming-his-guts-out sound bite about half way through the song when he belts out, "Can't think about Monday!" and then again at the end when the song is fading out.
King wrote the majority of songs in collaboration with other artists, but the last two songs, "Safe Again" and "This Time," are recent songs written solely by King. They accurately display her undying musical talent.
"Safe Again" is reminiscent of the piano-doused tunes that made King famous.
"This Time" is a soft finale for her album and is a satisfying reminder that King hasn't lost her touch. The backup vocals, unfortunately, are more redundant than supplementary and could easily be cut without consequence.
While the album can stand on its own merits, the tag name "Carole King" will do more for it in sales than its music will. It probably shouldn't be the first Carole King album you buy.
It is, however, obvious that "Love Makes the World" is more than an attempt at continued stardom. As King herself put it in the liner notes, it is a chance, "to explore styles and influences from rock to hip-hop to the intimate and personal, using instruments ranging from classical to contemporary."
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
