Bo Bice - The Real Thing
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CD Details
Artist: Bo BiceBrand: *
Edition: Music CD
Music CD: Region Code 0
CD Release Date: 2005-12-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Music Label: 19 Recordings/RCA
Soundtracks:
- The Real Thing
- You're Everything
- U Make Me Better
- Nothing Without You
- My World
- Remember Me
- Hold On To Me
- Lie...It's Alright
- It's My Life
- Willing To Try
- Valley Of Angels
Music reviews of The Real Thing
Music Review: Strong vocals for the most part, yet the album could've been better
Rating: 3 Stars
When the final two of the American Idol Contest were announced, you couldn't help but feel that both Carrie and Bo might be tough sales compared to what is predominant on the radio today. When the past three winners won (and a very strong runner-up), you knew that they were easy sales because they embodied what was playing on the radio and in American households at the time. Country has strong followings to an extent (Look at Gretchen Wilson's quadruple platinum debut HERE FOR THE PARTY in 2004 or even bigger blockbusters by Shania Twain such as UP! or COME ON OVER or the former ubiquitous Garth Brooks), yet country hasn't been as strong this year where sales are concerned compared to the last couple of years. Rock, similarly, hasn't been the biggest seller either, where people prefer to listen more to Pop, R&B, and Hip-Hop/Rap. In fact, only few rock bands may stir a big enough buzz to ascend them to platinum or multi-platinum level - heavy hitters like System of A Down, Dave Matthews Band, Nickelback, Coldplay (which is more alternative, of course). With that said, Carrie entered the charts at a very strong #2 opening and Bo might possibly have a decent opening. I don't think Bo will open as well as Carrie judging by lack of a radio-present single. However, Bo has made several appearances so, I only hope the best for him.
On THE REAL THING, there are positive aspects and negative aspects. On the positive side, Bo's vocals for the most part are fine. Most of the time he achieves a nice amount of grit and at other times his voice is incredibly smoother than it was on American Idol. Also, the nuances that Bo does within his album are very well executed and add some more life an character to the songs. While there are no incredibly outstanding, INNOVATIVE tracks, there are some good tracks like "The Real Thing", "U Make Me Better", "Nothing Without You", "It's My Life", "Willing to Try", and "Valley of Angels". These tracks aren't the freshest you've ever heard, of course, but for this album, they work the best and should sound the best to the listener's ear. Perhaps the biggest positive aspect is that this album serves its purpose for the simple fact that Bo did also release an album alongside winner Carrie. However, despite positives, there are also several negatives.
THE REAL THING lacks the personality that American viewers saw on American Idol from Bo. That isn't because Bice's voice doesn't sound good (because he does), but the blues/soul factor is almost completely detracted from his debut. You sense the producers wanted to make Bice more marketable, fearing the same things that I mentioned above about selling Bice to the audience. I think that the producers made Bice a bit too modern and a bit too post-grunge on his debut. Bo, being southern, grew up with more of the southern rock feel than all of the modern rock that is growing now. Rock band Kings of Leon, who hail from Tennessee are a group that are proponents of this dirty American rock & roll and southern rock. Bice would've been better suited for a debut encompassing Lynard Skynard type southern rock as well as blues-rock and maybe even country rock, which is very representative of the rock sound down south. I don't think that producers would've had to worry about Bice's TRUE fans buying a "true" album by Bo Bice.
Bice often attains the needed grit, but he falls into the same categories of the artists that helped to pen songs of his debut. I will be the first to tell you that I am NOT a Nickelback fan, and with the songs penned by Chad Kroeger (Nickelback's lead singer), you hear the same overproduced guitars that cover Bo's vocals as you do on Nickelback's over-hyped ALL THE RIGHT REASONS. When a singer has a baritone voice like Bo does (he does show off some upper range here to his credit), the focus of the production must be that Bo's voice always ascends above the heavy guitars. That doesn't always happen. It isn't until the last three songs of the album that the guitars are produced the most sensible for Bice's vocals. Coincidentally, those three tracks "It's My Life", "Willing To Try", and "Valley of Angels" are among the best of the album.
At times, the album falls flat due to uninspired and over repetitively written songs. Despite having ARGUABLY the best song writers, nothing ultimately really comes out and strikes about the songs on this album. At the best, they are average or just slightly above average, which isn't bad, but you would like to have seen Bo connect with the audience more with the songs. Part of that must be attributed to the songs themselves, which compared to the work on Carrie's surprisingly great debut (keeping in mind Carrie's is a country debut and Bo's a rock/pop affair), aren't up to the same par. I think in all fairness, this itself must be attributed to the fact that American Idol has never had a singer quite like Bo and it was hard to try again to sell him to an audience and make him a successful solo artist. Making Bo the southern rocker he was on American Idol may have been too big a risk to take, especially after seeing albums bomb terribly by runner ups Justin Guarini and Diana De Garmo.
With that said, this is by no means a terrible album. However, this isn't a truly great album either and to be honest, I expected it to be the better album of the two rather than the other way around. Some critics will argue that it is worst than it is, but I think it has its good moments and its bad moments. I give it 3 stars solely for the vocals themselves because for the most part, Bo Bice sounds very good despite uninspired repetitively produced material.
Description of The Real Thing
The DVD side of the Dual Disc contains:* Full album in enhanced stereo * A 22-minute 'A Day In The Life' video- includes acoustic performances of: Changing for the Better; Whiskey, Women, and Time; Sinner in a Sin; and Papillon. Also included is an exclusive look behind the scenes of Bo in the studio, at promo appearances, photos shoots, and meeting his fans. * Bonus studio recordings: Cinnamon & Novocaine, Sinner In A Sin, Whiskey, Women & Time
Bo Bice, American Idol darling and Alabama babe magnet, had to have known he was taking a risk in naming his debut full-length The Real Thing. Up until now, those who weren't fans of the show and were introduced to Bice's heart-on-his-sleeve brand of southern rock through either his fall 2005 guest spot on Carlos Santana's All That I Am or his chart-topping turn on the single "Inside Your Heaven," also from 2005, may have been tempted to write him off as reality-show riffraff. The Real Thing--thanks in no small part to producer Clive Davis as well as Bice-boosters Richie Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, Chad Kroeger (Nickelback), and Ben Moody (Evanescence)--redeems the hirsute, hard-charging rocker. Bice steps lively through a cavalcade of soaring guitars and top-drawer hooks, and he doesn't skimp on the belting--hear it on the full-flame lament "Nothing Without You" and also "Remember Me," an insistent rant sunk chest-deep in sincerity. If Bice sounds less earthy here than he did on the show--onstage he recalled the singer from the '60s band the Grass Roots to eerie effect at times--few will be disappointed. This is modern music with a Southern-man twist made irresistible by a bare-it-all guy who means it. The real thing, in other words. -Tammy La Gorce
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