Chrisette Michele - I Am
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Free Music Notes for I Am
Free Music Review: excellent songbird
Hit: 5 Stars
I purchased this cd upon seeing the 2 videos released "THE BEST OF ME" and "BE OK" on VH1. Her voice is incredible and her range for singing up-tempo grooves to slow jams was quite refreshing. The full package was extremely exciting to listen to and I have not taken this cd out of my changer in my car. I have to hear her daily. If you really enjoy listening to good music when the artist puts their own charm into songs and can definitely hold a note, then Chrissette Michelle "I Am" is worth the money. I love it when I can listen to a cd from first track to last without wanting to stop (except for the occasion to replay a track again before moving on to the next. I am glad I purchased this cd and am scouring the intenet to see if there are others cuts from her out I can download.Free Music Review: With the promise of greatness she floats into our world...
Hit: 3 Stars
Chrisette Michele has the potential to be one of the greatest voices to hit modern jazz. If she takes her debut `I Am' and builds off its strengths then her sophomore album should be flawless. She shows a wise ear with her selection of lyrical content, choosing songs that expose her maturity and class. She also has a nice array of beats at her disposal that help create the perfect canvas for her unique voice. While a good seventy percent of this album works, there are moments where Chrisette overreaches her bounds and falls a little short. This is a mistake that she most likely will reign in before her next album. She also falls victim to the idea that all African American artists have to dabble in Hip-Hop and thus veers from her jazzy foundations and offers up some Pop influenced Hip-Hop, which, while not terrible, just take away from the feel of the album.
Chrisette excels when she's keeping her baritone, breathy vocals in check and delivering a head on jazz ballad. Just take a look at tracks like `Golden'. Anyone who listens to this and thinks that Chrisette is overrated needs to have their ears cleaned out. Her voice is so crisp and striking. It's moments like this that are strung across this album getting me all excited in anticipation of her sophomore album. `Mr. Radio' is another track that accentuates her mature sound. Lyrically it's one of my favorite tracks here as well for it shows the immaturity of many of the `lovestruck' songs flooding the airwaves but shows Chrisette's mindset and understanding of the truth behind relationships.
When Chrisette steps onto the soul side of things she allows us to see the fun and fresh side of her without stepping out into a more conventional zone. That's why tracks like `Work it Out' and `Let's Rock' work marvelously while songs like `Good Girl' and `Be OK' take away from the album. `Work it Out' and `Let's Rock' feel like something you'd hear on a Joss Stone album, funky and bouncy and Chrisette falls beautifully into the mold. Her voice is not as strong as Joss' but she has potential to get there with a little fine tuning. `Good Girl' and `Be OK' try too hard to appeal to the Pop/Hip-Hop crowd and thus removes Chrisette from what makes artists like her so appealing to me. `In this For You' falls in the middle for me. It's not as ghetto as `Good Girl' but it's most definitely not soulful. It's more like Hip-Hop infused R&B. She works it out well, but I don't know if I would have included it on the album. It just doesn't fit.
`Best of Me' was the first song that I heard off this album and I immediately thought `Feist meets Corrine Bailey Rae'. It's a beautiful song that works well for her. `If I Had My Way' is another track that smolders marvelously. `Love is You' is a beautifully crafted track that caresses the eardrums with such grace and elegance. Chrisette sounds magnificent here.
`Like a Dream', the opening track, is probably one of my least favorite songs here; it may be my least favorite. When I spoke earlier about Chrisette overreaching at times, well this song was the inspiration for that statement. She sounds overly nasally and out of tune here. The closing track `Is This the Way Love Feels' is another one that doesn't sit well with me. The chorus just ruins the song to me. The way she carries out the words `reveal' and `feels' just keeps to me in the worst ways. This is a sad revelation because you should always open and close your album with the utmost strength. The opening song gets the listener excited for what they are about to hear, and the closing song should convince your listener to hit replay on the album. It Chrisette had opened with `Work it Out' and closed with `Love is You' she would have achieved that. Sure, `Is This the Way Love Feels' closes on a nice note, it's just a small margin of the song that works.
I reserved the best song for last, and that is none other than `Your Joy'. This song has made me cry every time I've listened to it. Written about her father, Chrisette sings beautifully about how much this man means to her. Any man with a daughter will turn to mush listening to this beautiful song. I can only hope that my daughter grows up to feel this same way. Chrisette sounds immaculate here, better than she does anywhere else on that album. You can truly tell that this song is very close to her heart; it means that much to her and thus it means that much to her audience.
In closing I'll reiterate that this girl has promise to be one of the greatest gifts to the music industry. She has some flaws that she needs to iron, but there is god-given talent here, no doubt about that. If I could make some suggestions it would be to first of all ditch the Hip-Hop and stick to the jazz/soul feel. Second I would practice restraint and not always try and hit the highest note. Chrisette's voice is suited for a deeper more seductive vocal range and she needs to embrace that. Also I would suggest working with material that really means something to her. Her finest moments on the album (`Your Joy' and `Golden') are elevated by her obvious attachment to the lyrics. If she works from those strengths then her sophomore album will be utterly flawless.
Free Music Review: breath of fresh air
Hit: 4 Stars
Oh man I must say that this is a really good CD. Her voice is a breath of fresh air. This is what I'm talking about! Real music. Man do we need more artist like her. Big up to To Ms. Michelle. I knew if Nas liked her so would I. can't wait for her next one.Free Music Review: Decent CD
Hit: 3 Stars
Girlfriend can sing no doubt. But to me her voice is a hate or love it thing and I'm leaning towards hating it. Certain songs are great, but then some are just plain annoying. I really wanted to love this one, especially with all the hype surrounding it. I love her on Lost Ones, but I guess some things are better in small portions.
The songs seemed all over the place to me, so I can't really tell what her "style" is. It's like they tried to have her do a lil bit of everything like a sampler platter. LOL, I'm cool. I have put this CD aside for Lina and Erykah Badu for now.
It's not a bad CD, but I'd suggest listening to the samples or borrowing it from friend before purchasing. See if her voice is your cup of tea.
Happy listening!
Free Music Review: Just okay
Hit: 3 Stars
I bought this CD a few months ago and am just getting around to listening to it. I have to say that I think that Chrisette Michele is very talented and majority of these songs sound like they would be off the chain when performed Live-however, as a CD most of the songs didn't 'wow' me. Yes there are three songs I really like, but the rest just tend to blend into white noise for me. In an age where the R&B landscape are just offering the public formuliac tracks from 'artists' that would be booed from any decent church choir, Chrisette is woman that does stand out as an unique. This CD is worth you checking out to decide for yourself.