Album reviews

~Album reviews~
"The problem with reality is the lack of background music.."

CD reviews for albums featuring Monsieur Sebastian. Okay, perhaps they're not reviews so much as 'random thoughts and personal opinions' but anyway.

All I need is you
Open up the Gates
Just as I am
Angels Brought Me Here
Australian Idol: The Final 12
Rise Up!

All I need is you

Ahhh, nice, new single! ^_^. Okay, most of us have already heard 'All I need is you' on his album, and on channel 10 ads. But this is still definitely worth your $5. ^_^.

This was a good choice for a song to make his next single; it's catchy and fun, one of the best songs on his album, and he wrote it himself. So buy it and support him. ^_^. The song itself sounds *slightly* different to the one on the album - I think there's a slight difference with background vocals and bgm.

There are two other remixes of 'All I need is you' - the 'Cutfather & Joe Remix' (how do people name remixes?), which is faster and very cool, and the 'Sterling Remix' which is about the same speed but with buzzy background music and little clappy noises and other cool special effects (though I'm not sure I dig all the buzzing).

And after these three comes the main reason you need this single - 'Climb every mountain'. It's not the live version from the show but a new recording. It's similar to the live version in length and how he sings it. And it's great, as you'd expect. ^_^.

Open up the Gates

Guy singing, though not for Planet Shakers

Okay, this is a Planet Shakers album on which Guy sings two songs. It's all Christian music, some of it's kind of pop, some of it's more heavy, some fancy bgms, not that I ever know how to categorise music. I was gonna just mention the two Guy songs, but figure I should at least listen to the album while I type this. ^^.

My friend gave me this CD ages ago but I admit I never listened to it until I started watching Australian Idol and heard of Guy. ^^. This isn't my style of music; like it's not the kind of thing I could listen to over and over, but it's good music. It's nice to have some good Christian music by talented people. The lead singer's name is Henry and he sings a fair few of these songs, afaik; if you like Guy you might well like him too (I think they sound quite similar in some songs).

Track 3 is called 'You are holy' and is a Guy solo. I like this song and not just because Guy sings it, although I suppose that's what helped me pay it more attention than the other songs. It's quite strange, really, to listen to Christian music because you're a fan of the singer. But this is a good worship song too; I really like the words.

Both Guy's songs on this album are quite un-r&b, his signature style; it's interesting to hear him sing like this. He sings *well*. But again it feels so strange for me to write about Christian music from a music point of view.

Track 7 is 'Everything to me' and Guy sings it along with Natalie Ruiz (hmm, she went to my school; she's an excellent singer). You can hear him best in the chorus. They both sound good. This is a more upbeat and 'fun' song than 'You are holy'; more 'praise' than 'worship', I suppose. It also has great lyrics.

I seem to remember reading that Guy's brother Ollie wrote one of the songs on this CD but I can't remember which one. Maybe track 8. Geez I'm lazy.

Actually, now that I'm listening to this album, I'm wondering why I don't listen to it more often. ^^.

Just as I am

Here we are, the first album that's all Guy. ^_^. It's pretty r&b and pretty good, especially if you do like r&b. I don't, much, but I can't help but like an all-Guy album. ^_^. Some songs are better than others; here are my thoughts on each one. You already know I'm a big Guy fan (duh) but I'm trying to be objective-ish and not just rave indiscriminately over every song.

List of songs (rated from one to four stars):
1. Angels brought me here **
2. So I *1/2
3. Can you stand the rain **1/2
4. No one can compare (to you) **1/2
5. All I need is you ***1/2
6. What a wonderful world ***
7. My beautiful friend ****
8. Something don't feel right ****
9. When doves cry ***1/2
10. Just as I am **1/2
11. 3 words ***
12. i 4 u *1/2

Angels - I'm gonna spare you from hearing my thoughts on Angels for the three hundredth time. I like it on this album more because it introduces a little extra variety. One thing I liked about Guy on the show was the variety he could do and I was hoping we'd get a bit more taste of it on this album. The reason I never buy albums by a single artist is because a lot of the songs start to sound a bit the same. This album's not really like that but it's still definitely not as varied as on the show.

So I - this is probably my least favourite song on the album, which isn't to say I really dislike it. I like the lyrics a lot (it's about living your life well), and the verses are cool, but I find the chorus too 'busy' - the background vocals especially. Guy can sing so high (o.O.) so well but I think I prefer him lower. ^_^.

Can you stand the rain - this is kind of mellow and doesn't have annoying background music. It's quite nice; I like it well enough. (After listening to the album umpteen times, this is one of my favourites.)

No one can compare (to you) - again, neither love it or dislike it; quite r&b, slow-ish. The best songs are yet to come. ^_^. (After listening to the album umpteen times, this is also one of my favourites.)

All I need is you - this is one of the three songs written by Guy himself. ^_^. Coincidentally, this is one of my favourites. ^_^. This is kind of fun and upbeat less r&b than most. (You can tell I know nothing about music; I never know how to describe songs; I just keep comparing them to r&b. ^^.)

What a wonderful world - I've already touched on this down on the Final 12 album. It's the same track. ^_^. I like it though. It's fun.

Guy recording My beautiful friend - maybe my favourite song on the album, along with 'Something don't feel right'; Guy changes tack and sings a simple, sweet, slow song with piano backing. The lyrics are nice too; it's just a beautiful song and not marred by anything. ^_^.

Something don't feel right - another of the songs written by Guy, and again, one of my favourites. I mean, it does have the 'busy' background you associate with r&b but it doesn't get in the way of the singing, which is fun and funky; it's an enjoyable song. ^_^. I love the way he sings 'something don't feel right'. ^_^.

When doves cry - the famous song by Prince. I think I'm the only person in the world who has never heard the original of this. I *really* like this song. At first I liked the version he did on the show better - it was shorter and so had more edge to it - but now I'm happy to be able to hear the whole song because some of the words are really cool.

Just as I am - I think this was a good name for the album. Like 'My beautiful friend' this is a slower, simpler song with very light background music. I think this sums up Guy pretty well, especially in the light of the bad thing that happened at his last Adelaide appearance. :( This is pretty though maybe not *quite* as engaging/sweet as 'My beautiful friend', though that may just be a matter of opinion.

3 words - another kinda mellow one with a beat and it's also nice. A bit like 'No one can compare to you' in some ways.

1 4 u - this was also written by Guy. Though I *really* like the other two songs he wrote, I'm not that fond of this one - you may notice the ones I like less are the busy, strongly r&b ones that don't showcase his voice so much. ^_^. Actually it's growing on me... but yeah, I just generally don't like songs where the background music has precedence over the vocals; I think quite a few other people like it.

Overall, I'd say this is a great effort for something that was produced in six days! o.O. Generally there aren't too many 'vocal gymnastics' (except maybe 'When doves cry', could have done with a bit less) and most of the songs themselves are pretty good, and some very good. I'll really look forward to his next album, where he'll a) have more time and b) can probably put more of his own songs on it. I think they could have found a better picture to put on the front cover; I mean, he's a cool-looking guy and I think that pretty well every single picture I've got on my site has him looking great, so it could hardly be difficult to get a better shot of him.

[Update: Now I've listened to the album a fair bit more I just have one or two little extra comments. I really like this album. I can't often play and replay albums but I can with this one. I really enjoy it and there are no tracks that are annoying enough to skip over like on some CDs; all together the album makes for an enjoyable listen. I think when I wrote all the above I was a little disappointed because I'd loved 'When I get you alone' and 'The way you look tonight' and some other stunners from the series, and there weren't any songs that broadcast his vocal talents in the same style, that's all. ^_^.]

Angels Brought Me Here

This single has the songs 'Angels brought me here' and 'When I get you alone'.

I've expressed my feelings toward 'Angels' several times on this site already, so I'm sure you all know by now what I think - that at first I didn't like it but it grew on me. Now I've listened to it so many times I'm ambivalent again. ^_^. It does seem like a song suited to Guy (the lyrics, I mean, not the style). It's pretty and he has such a nice mellifluous voice, and it gets stuck in your head, but it's not the kind of song you can put on repeat five times like most of his songs.

'When I get you alone' is Guy's cover of the Thicke song he did on the 'Up close and personal show'. So it's basically a recording of that live performance. It's definitely one of his best performances and my sister said it's really amazing he managed to do a song so perfectly when he was performing it live - he was even dancing around and grooving all over the stage, but every note is spot on. This is such a fun song and I was glad to see it on this album; I like it much better than Angels, I must admit.

Australian Idol: The Final 12

This album is kind of variable as far as song quality goes. Some are good, some are average, a few are pretty shoddy - and definitely not because the singers are bad. I dig all the singers. For Guy's album, I rated all the songs but I feel reluctant to do that for this, since for some of these singers, this is the only song they have and I don't wanna seem like I'm having a go at *them*. ^^.

List of songs:
1. Rise Up (everyone)
2. Dirty Girl (Rob)
3. Dance with you (Bek)
4. What a wonderful world (Guy)
5. Burn for you (Peter)
6. Ladies (Cle)
7. One thing leads to another (Paulini)
8. Wide awake and dreaming (Matt)
9. Starting all over again (Shannon)
10. Always and forever (Lauren)
11. Closer (Levi)
12. The show must go on (Kelly)
13. You believe in me (Cosima)
14. Movin on (Marcia Hines, with Idol girls singing backup)

My favourites on this album (apart from Guy) are Lauren's 'Always and forever' - I love Lauren's voice and this is a nice song, a kind of slow-ish, sweet pop song. This is the kind of song Lauren should do. ^_^. Also Bek's 'Dance with me', which is one of the only songs that survived being listened to several times.

Rob's 'Dirty Girl' is kinda cool in sound, but I don't like the lyrics, and thus won't listen to it. All the others are either pretty good or not that good - just my opinion, of course. The worst song is arguably 'Movin On' - it's kind of a painful song. Marcia has a great voice but this was not a great song to give her... I think everyone does do a good job with their singing; you can see that pretty well all of them deserve to be in the top 12, and that when they're not on stage they can do flawless performances.

Anyway, I suppose I should be reviewing the album from a Guy point of view. Guy sings in 'Rise Up' and has his own song, What a Wonderful World. He also does background vocals for Levi and Lauren's songs, although it's easier to pick him out in Levi's. He has a good voice for background vocals; kind of gentle and subdued.

I do like 'Wonderful World'. I wasn't sure I liked the background music when I first heard it - it's very chirpy, boppy, happy. But I do like it now; it does suit the song. I think I prefer the piano version on the show though. But this puts me in a good mood. As most of you would know, Guy's version of Wonderful World is smoother, more fun and more upbeat than the original Armstrong tune. ^_^.

Rise Up is alright; I mostly like it to see if I can try to work out who's singing which lines. Some are easy to identify and some aren't. Guy's one of the easy-to-identify ones. ^_^. He sings more in the second half of the song than the first half. I don't have much opinion of this song, though some of the lyrics are a bit cartoonish, it's kind of fun, y'know. ^_^.

Rise Up

I don't have this; I don't really want this. One wonders why I even put this on the page at all. Because Guy does sing half a dozen lines on it, that's all. ^^. If you want info on this, look elsewhere. ^_^.

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