I'm not as active on Ciao as I used to be due to the slow time it takes for pages to load caused no ...
I'm not as active on Ciao as I used to be due to the slow time it takes for pages to load caused no doubt by the multitude of irritating adverts on every page. But thanks to all who have recently highly rated my reviews - I always try to return rate.
Member since:03.01.2008
Reviews:89
Members who trust:127
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Introduction
For those of you who don't know, Leon Jackson was the X factor winner in 2007 following on from Leona the year before. Before this year's series I had a £10 bet that the winner would be someone called Leo, but seems he never showed up. 'Right Now' was released on October 20, 2008 and went straight in at number 4 on the UK Album Chart. Leon is the first X Factor winner not to have their debut album top the charts in its first week of release.
I can understand to some extent Leon's popularity, I'm sure many think he's just… 'amazing'. He's a handsome enough chap, in a puppy dog kind of way, with its puppy dog eyes staring through the bars of a cage before its about to be put down. I know another chap with that same look, he works on the till at my local Tesco's, only he has a slightly more charisma than Leon.
Leon won the X Factor show that Rhydian should have won, even though Rhydian had more X Factor in his wacky blonde quiff than Leon will ever muster up in his life time. Unfortunately Rhydian's operatic performance was disregarded by the voting public and Britain's pop charts suffered a new low with one of the most depressing Christmas number ones since Cliff's "Misty Toe and Whine".
The Tracks
Anyway… back to my evening with Leon… this was my experience last week as I listened to the album at my auntie's house - she bought the CD as a gift for her youngest daughter (so she says). All the songs on the album are love songs in one form or another and about half of them are cover versions.
The opening track "Don't Call This Love" is a slow ballad with orchestral backing and a pleasant enough melody, one of the few original songs on the CD written by Chris Braide and Carl Falk. It was the first single to be released from the album and reached number three in the meaningless British singles charts, being outdone by that one hit wonder babe Geraldine McQueen with the "The Winner's Song". If I recall correctly this was the song Leon sang whilst fidgeting erratically on a recent X Factor show. He was trying to get himself noticed - the guy simply has zero
stage presence.
"Creative" is an attempt at some rumba-rhythm - it's kind of like Ricky Martin without the charisma or singing on slow speed or on drugs or maybe I should take some drugs before I listen to any more of this… OK. I admit, my left foot was tapping half way through. The song is one of two on the album written by Peter Gordeno who has previously worked with Seal. He also wrote the 4th track "All in Good Time".
The next track is "Stargazing" - more like I'm gazing into a bucket about to be sick. I've just realised anyone can sing like Leon. Just go into the bathroom (lock the door). Stick your head into the toilet bowl and start singing 'My Way' in a deep voice. This song was actually written specifically for Leon by Michael Buble's Pianist, Alan Chang.. I don't care, the lyrics are puerile. Anyone who writes lines like this - "Life feels more than amazing, in your eyes, it feels like I've been stargazing" - should be confined to a padded cell.
The next three songs are probably the best produced on the album. I do like swing and I can appreciate the back up instrumentation on these tracks. "All In Good Time" is a swing number with big band backing, a nice jazz section and piano accompaniment. "Right Now" turns up the tempo and is another track in Ricky Martin mode or something Harry Connick Junior could have done better. There's plenty of brass and sax interludes - not bad actually. "You Don't Know Me" is an old Ray Charles number also sung by Bublé. It's a slow romantic ballad with some pleasant tinkling upon the ivories. I think Leon Jackson is attempting to do an impression of Frank Sinatra - actually it's not a bad impression - no… forgive me, I must have had too much to drink. It's blasphemy to even put those two names in the same sentence. Sorry if I offended any 'wise guys' from Sicily. 'Old Blue Eyes' must be turning in his grave. But hang on… I'm just going to have another listen… Yep, the production team got it spot on here - it's the best track on the album. Leon's voice has never sounded so good.
We're on track seven now. "Ordinary Days" is a more modern pop melody but it really does drag... on. After a brief interlude his voice is getting on my nerves again. It was quite bearable to start off with. Listening to just one or two songs on the X Factor show isn't that bad either but trawling through 13 of these in a row might be unlucky for some and probably suicidal for many. Leon Russell's "A Song For You" is another slow ballad in which Leon's personality continues not to shine through. 'Baby, can't you see through me' go the lyrics. Yes, I can see right through you to a place where it is written in stone "I am an outstanding mediocrity".
Song number 9 is called "Fingerprints" - a slow beat with piano notes and voice dominating and get ready for some cheesy lyrics:
"I gotta go soon as the sun says hello, Goodbye the moon, So baby all I wanna do is leave my fingerprints on you".
Yeah… and wash your hands first. Don't like his voice on this, it's like the sound of a ball bearing rolling around in an empty iron trash can. The next track "Could Do Better" is slightly more up tempo with some neatly layered movie-score type strings in the background. An improvement on the previous and one of the better produced tracks. But again the total lack of fervour in the vocals makes it another ordinary song.
Track 11 is a cover of "Misty Blue" - a song that was originally made popular by jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald in 1967. It starts off nicely with some pleasant twangy electric guitar and then Leon starts singing - sounding like he's standing in a back alleyway with a steel bucket in his head. I skip this halfway through to the next song: a folksy Scottish ballad. It's a rest bite from all that swing and jazz and an attempt at sophistication. It is a cover version of a Dougie MacLean Scottish ballad from the late 1970s. "Caledonia" is what the Roman's used to call the Northern part of Britain and is sometimes a romantic or poetic name for Scotland. Leads off with simple acoustic guitar and maintains a mid-tempo rhythm with some gentle sting accompaniment later on. Lyrically the song is about as exciting as damp haggis:
"Lost the friends that I needed losing And others on the way And I've kissed the ladies and left them crying Stolen dreams oh there's no denying And I've travelled hard with my coat tails flying Somewhere in the wind".
Sounds like an updated version of:
"Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry, When the boys came out to play Georgie Porgie ran away."
…I wish I could run away now, but there's still one more 'bonus track'… yes, you've guessed it, it's that dreaded number one song from last year. Like the ghost of Christmas past it's come back to haunt. "When You Believe" as a song is actually not that bad, but God how awfully it's sung. There's a nice melody in there somewhere… if only Rhydian had been singing it. Perhaps it's not surprising that this is another rehashed cover version. The song was originally an Academy Award-winning composition penned by Stephen Schwartz for the animated feature The Prince of Egypt. Schwartz rewrote it for Leon. The song ended 2007 as the year's 4th biggest-selling single in the UK and remained at number one for three weeks. However, it only remained in the top 40 for 7 weeks, despite being the fastest selling single of 2007. By the end of February it had disappeared from the top 100. A prime example of manufactured pop at its most efficient.
Conclusion
Despite the neat orchestration on some of the tracks and some wizardry in the production studio, this is a very ordinary and unadventurous debut album. "You Don't Know Me" is the one track were they've managed to work some magic. The lyrics throughout are drab or maybe it's just the way Leon sings: his voice fails to breath any life into them. There's simply no emotion, no passion there - he sings like an Android that needs oiling. By the end... in fact well before the end, his voice just grates. It has the same effect on me as the sound of someone drilling a hole into a concrete wall with a blunt drill bit. It's not a sound you want to hear for a long time. Seriously though, Leon's vocals lack power and range. Michael Bublé he isn't nor will he ever be.
And if you are one of those who seriously compare him to Matt Monroe, Bobby Darin, Perry Como and the like... get real and give your head a shake. This guy's no nouveau Rat Packer, he's just a shelf stacker. Wearing a black suit and tie and looking all sultry just won't do it. Even the stature of lesser mortals such as Rick Astley will always tower above him. OK he can just about sing, his voice certainly sounds better on the album than it does live, but he's only as good as me on a Friday night after three pints of Guinness, clicking my fingers whilst holding a SingStar Party mike. OK he's young, he's only 19, but the point is... you've got to be good to sing swing, you have to really warble those notes and Leon falls way short of the grade... even if they stick his head down a toilet bowl in an echo chamber, he'll never be a top notch crooner. If you want proof watch Leon sing live on YouTube, then watch Harry Connick Junior and see if you can spot the difference.
But alas, it's not poor Leon's fault, it's Simon Cowell's, he who puts stars in their eyes. The strangely shaped evil one, the Scrooge of the British pop charts, like a big fat black crow whose shadow has come to roost once more over Christmas present. He who has brought ruin to the sacred Christmas number one… for ever more.
And if you are a Leon fan reading this, please don't take this review too personally or too seriously. It's not worth it. It's just a bit of fun and after all, in a few years from now, none of us will remember who he is.
Dec 13th, 2008
(Dec 15th, 2008)
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