Michael Johns - Hold Back My Heart (Dig)
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Artist: Michael JohnsEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-06-23
Music Label: Downtown
Soundtracks:
- Heart on My Sleeve
- To Love Somebody
- Feeling Alright
- Little Bear
- Fools Gold
- Mountains
- Fire
- Hold Back My Heart
- This Is Goodbye
- It's Too Late
- Heart Is Weak
- Turn to You
Music reviews of Hold Back My Heart (Dig)
Music Review: A HEART That (For The Most Part!) Was Worth Holding Out For!
Rating: 4 Stars
Much like Melinda Doolittle, who also released her debut effort earlier this year, Michael Johns is a gifted artist who goes way beyond the "American Idol alum" tag. Like Doolittle, he's blessed with an innate talent, a likable personality and a built-in fanbase. The similarities don't end there. As with Doolittle, Johns' debut release, the soulful HOLD BACK MY HEART, is often brilliant, showcasing the arrival of a major talent. At times, however, it's also bogged down by an over-the-top retro groove that all but results in the singer geting lost in the mix.
The album opens with "Heart On My Sleeve", a real vocal tour-de-force. A muted, yet thoughtful, arrangement allows Johns' voice to just soar. Soulful, earnest, powerful...these are the pipes of a true contender! The whole thing is so perfectly modulated that you can't help but have a hard time believing it took Johns this long to break thru. An absolute stunner!
Covers can be tricky...you want to pay homage to the original, but you also want to (and NEED to!) put your own spin on things, making the track your own. Johns does both beautifully with his take of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." There's a classic vibe, but it also feels fresh and contemporary. A spirited arrangement and strong vocals all add up to another killer cut.
However, it's "Feeling Alright" that really blew me away. The disc's most organic, straight ahead rocker, this is Johns at his very best ~ an amazingly smooth, sensual lead vocal, an arrangement that adds to (but never overpowers) the proceedings, and lyrics that are fun and sexy ("Your breath like wine/You got me feelin' so fine"). The rock here is real...not forced, not calculated...from-the-gut REAL. Without a doubt HOLD BACK MY HEART's best cut, "Feeling Alright" is a direction I'd like to see Johns move in more on future releases.
The same can't be said about "Little Bear." It's at this point that HBMH gets heavily bogged down by a retro soul groove that's both over the top and horribly dated. Johns totally gets lost in the mix, with things like horn arrangements and wailing backing vocals overtaking things. Retro can be cool, but "Little Bear" sounds like an outdated throwaway track.
Things rebound slightly with "Fools Gold", a nice enough mid-tempo rocker. There's a cool weariness to Johns' vocal during the first half of the song, but then he shifts into "belter" mode. Take a note from the Ann Wilson songbook, Michael...less CAN be more! (Oh, and ditch the banshee chorus!).
"Mountains" is slick, to the point of a bad Vegas revue act. I can just picture Tony Orlando or Donny Osmond doing this number, complete with the dancers and strobe lights. Toss in a weak lead vocal, lame lyrics and totally generic intrumentation (that guitar solo...ugh!!) and you have a hot mess...minus the hot!
Things reach a retro overload with "Fire", a track that's just too much of....too much! The arrangement is bad '70's R&B/Funk, with the horns blaring, versus accentuating, Johns' vocal is grating at best, and the backing vocals are all over the place, detracting instead of adding. As I said before, retro is O.K., but it walks a fine line between flavorful and farce. Small doses work best.
Things get back on track with the disc's title cut. Much like "Heart On My Sleeve," "Hold Back My Heart" lets Johns' vocals shine...they tumble out of the speaker in an easy, natural manner, taking center stage among an energetic, yet concise, arrangement. Unlike two or three of the previous tracks, this is a singer I BELIEVE.
Ditto "This Is Goodbye." Sounding a lot like Daryl Hall's younger brother (or maybe even son!), Johns caresses each and every word, some times crooning, some times belting. BUT....and this is a BIG "but"....he's ALWAYS in control; he owns the song, instead of it owning him. A great arrangement and understated, yet effective, backing vocals only add to an already brilliant effort. VERY nice!
"It's Too Late" is a nice mid-tempo number, just a notch above a ballad, but I can't help but think this good song could have been great. The arrangement here is nothing special ~ we've heard variations of it elsewhere on the disc. Why not go with, say, just an acoustic guitar, and REALLY showcase Johns' voice? Nice....but it could have been sooo much more. A missed opportunity.
As for "Heart Is Weak"...Fred Mandell's keyboard fills are nice, and Johns delivers a heartfelt vocal, but that vocal seems strained at times, with the production cluttered and cramped. Nothing complements anything else here...all the elements are conflicting. Once again, Johns has to learn that less IS more!
Things conclude on a strong note with "Turn To You." Featuring the acoustic-based arrangement that should have graced "It's Too Late", Johns' vocal is front and center, unadorned, honest and sincere. Contrary to what Johns and producer Dave Cobb seem to think, it's in the quieter moments that Johns' brilliance really shines.
So where does Michael Johns go from here? HOLD BACK MY HEART is certainly a debut release from an artist with true potential, someone who could easily rank along side Daryl Hall and Robert Palmer (high praise indeed!) one day in the annals of Rock&Soul. But A) he needs to work on his writing (there's nothing wrong with some more outside material for the time being), B) work with another, more seasoned producer (Cobb, while competant, is rather generic and unimaginative) and C) remember...LESS IS MORE!! Still, Michael Johns is someone to watch!
(As with all my reviews, I'm docking the disc half a star for not including the lyrics).
Description of Hold Back My Heart (Dig)
2009 debut album from the American Idol alumni. Though Michael Johns only came in eighth on Season 7 (in 2008), his early exit gave him the time and energy to concentrate on writing and recording Hold Back My Heart. The album features six songs co-written by Johns and Dave Cobb while Diane Warren and British singer-songwriter James Morrison also contribute lyrics. 12 tracks.Blues CDs
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