Fresh Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 BBC Review Too schizophrenic of design to successfully sell its positives. Mike Diver 2009-09-11 While it may come as a surprise to those blinkered to the machinations of the music industry, Mika’s ascent to superstardom around the time of his debut album, 2007’s Life in Cartoon Motion, wasn’t exactly smooth. A spread of negative reviews for the Grace Kelly-spawning long-player did nothing to disrupt its commercial success. But Mika, as a musician who writes his own material, must surely have taken a few less-than-favourable assessments to heart – if not, it would only support the suggestion that his quirk-laden fare can’t mean much to the man himself. So expectations for this follow-up incorporate hope that Mika has developed his sound following so much exposure, so many new experiences and a much bigger budget to play with. And, certainly, The Boy Who Knew Too Much is bolder of arrangement than its predecessor – sometimes haphazardly, and sporadically disastrously, but never boringly. Mika’s classical background can lead him down cluttered compositional avenues, but when he turns down the contrast between structural elements, the results are hugely enjoyable. Both I See You and By the Time are pretty arrangements that find Mika’s occasionally questionable vocals complementing elegant piano lines well – the former is particularly striking in its accomplished articulating of melancholy, with no clunky couplet tripping over its sparely employed strings. It must surely be a single. In fact, it could very well be Mika’s finest moment yet. Closer Pick Up Off the Floor rather undoes the good work of the aforementioned brace by coming over indecently theatrical, but it’s the only other track here that aims for the heart rather than a temporary embrace for a silly, drive-time sing-along. The lyrical drivel of lead single We Are Golden, Blame it on the Girls and Good Gone Girl is, sadly, fuel for the fires burning in the bellies of Mika’s fiercest critics, and salvation via the George Michael-echoing Touches You arrives as too little, too late. Mika needs to find a balance between the polar musical worlds he’s so intent on occupying, between mature sensitivity and worrying puerility. Because, until then, his indulgences will always overshadow songs that are really quite beautiful. A disaster it’s not, then, but The Boy… is sure to attract no little vitriol from other corners of the music press, opinions swayed by its schizophrenic nature. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/4xp2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattycakes Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 "occasionally questionable vocals?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Thanks for posting, and your signature is awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikalollipop_karla Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 thx for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violet_sky Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Closer Pick Up Off the Floor rather undoes the good work... I disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassiopée Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I disagree. me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaX Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Thank you for posting ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fresh Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 Thanks for posting, and your signature is awesome! Thank you! I totally agree with the reviewer, 'I See You' has got the potential to be a massive hit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natmika Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Really, this review reads sometimes as something translated via Google online translator:aah: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naectegale Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 BBC ReviewToo schizophrenic of design to successfully sell its positives. Mike Diver 2009-09-11 While it may come as a surprise to those blinkered to the machinations of the music industry, Mika’s ascent to superstardom around the time of his debut album, 2007’s Life in Cartoon Motion, wasn’t exactly smooth. A spread of negative reviews for the Grace Kelly-spawning long-player did nothing to disrupt its commercial success. But Mika, as a musician who writes his own material, must surely have taken a few less-than-favourable assessments to heart – if not, it would only support the suggestion that his quirk-laden fare can’t mean much to the man himself. So expectations for this follow-up incorporate hope that Mika has developed his sound following so much exposure, so many new experiences and a much bigger budget to play with. And, certainly, The Boy Who Knew Too Much is bolder of arrangement than its predecessor – sometimes haphazardly, and sporadically disastrously, but never boringly. Mika’s classical background can lead him down cluttered compositional avenues, but when he turns down the contrast between structural elements, the results are hugely enjoyable. Both I See You and By the Time are pretty arrangements that find Mika’s occasionally questionable vocals complementing elegant piano lines well – the former is particularly striking in its accomplished articulating of melancholy, with no clunky couplet tripping over its sparely employed strings. It must surely be a single. In fact, it could very well be Mika’s finest moment yet. Closer Pick Up Off the Floor rather undoes the good work of the aforementioned brace by coming over indecently theatrical, but it’s the only other track here that aims for the heart rather than a temporary embrace for a silly, drive-time sing-along. The lyrical drivel of lead single We Are Golden, Blame it on the Girls and Good Gone Girl is, sadly, fuel for the fires burning in the bellies of Mika’s fiercest critics, and salvation via the George Michael-echoing Touches You arrives as too little, too late. Mika needs to find a balance between the polar musical worlds he’s so intent on occupying, between mature sensitivity and worrying puerility. Because, until then, his indulgences will always overshadow songs that are really quite beautiful. A disaster it’s not, then, but The Boy… is sure to attract no little vitriol from other corners of the music press, opinions swayed by its schizophrenic nature. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/4xp2 Is it me? or does this read like it's been produced by Google translate? Someone is trying too hard to be clever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywonka Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Schizophrenic my ass, Mister Google Translate Pseudo Writer! His looks like a schizophrenic writing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naectegale Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Really, this review reads sometimes as something translated via Google online translator:aah: Is it me? or does this read like it's been produced by Google translate? Someone is trying too hard to be clever. :roftl: snap! Great minds think alike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natmika Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 I think we all seem to agree on this one:mf_rosetinted: And I told myself I wasn't going to read reviews, specially because I haven't heard the album yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droopsy Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 me too Same! Schizophrenic my ass, Mister Google Translate Pseudo Writer! His looks like a schizophrenic writing! Exactly.. Nothing against a review that isn't 100% positive but come on, I get on my nerves just from his writing style alone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixenbbw Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 It's like the journo is in a 2007 timewarp! I wonder whether he's read some of the "cooler" music press's fab reviews and decided to be a BBC rebel and be controversial! Whatever he says...Pick up off the Floor is gving me such a thrill just now and I know it's going to be my fave from this album.........theatrical or not! I'd pick up any one of the other current chart artists albums from the top 40 shelves in HMV if I wanted ordinary/predictable/samey pop....but I don't. I'm 40 years old and I have literally waited a lifetime for Mika to come along and I wouldn't want the world of music without him in it for anytihng! He's got my five stars for what it's worth...:wub2::wub2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 From Dictionary.com Schizophrenia definition schiz-o-phre-ni-a /ˌskɪtsəˈfriniə, -ˈfrinyə/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [skit-suh-free-nee-uh, -freen-yuh] –noun 1. Psychiatry. Also called dementia praecox. a severe mental disorder characterized by some, but not necessarily all, of the following features: emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations. 2. a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements. - This is Mika's modus operandi - and it works for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixenbbw Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/4xp2 Oh, and how come I appear in your signature!! :roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fresh Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 I actually think the review is well written. It's not being too harsh, he just seems be much more of a fan of Mika's slow, pretty songs such as 'Happy Ending', 'I See You' etc.... and thinks that's where his main talent and skill lies. It does seem like Mika won across many new fans when 'Happy Ending' was released, as it demonstrated a different side to his music. Even some of his biggest critics like it, and I'm sure 'I See You' will have the same effect. Oh, and how come I appear in your signature!! :roftl: Hahaha you're trying to break out of everyone's screens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickadee Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 There are some things I agree with and some I don't. Mika can have questionable vocals sometimes.... when he's singing live performances. He's commented on it himself. But on studio tracks it's a different story. They have the time to get it right, make sure he's pitch perfect etc etc And he's not jumping up and down all over the place "performing". Much easier to hit all the notes correctly under studio circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 There are some things I agree with and some I don't. Mika can have questionable vocals sometimes.... when he's singing live performances. He's commented on it himself. But on studio tracks it's a different story. They have the time to get it right, make sure he's pitch perfect etc etc And he's not jumping up and down all over the place "performing". Much easier to hit all the notes correctly under studio circumstances. Yes, at gigs he's jumping and running around on stage. But when he's sitting down at the piano...(and not out of breath)....he takes my breath away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzie Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 I disagree. ...I agree... with you me too me three Is it me? or does this read like it's been produced by Google translate? Someone is trying too hard to be clever. That's 'mainstream' British journalism... you should know better "Mika needs to find a balance between the polar musical worlds he’s so intent on occupying, between mature sensitivity and worrying puerility." So he thinks Mika should position himself in one genre... How simple and boring that would be. Mika is at exactly the right place. I never understood people who like either black or white in everything. This guy should get himself a life. So narrow minded and boring it hurts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura* Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 TFP I agree that this review is a pretty harsh in some statements, but on the whole I find it balanced. It deals with negative aspects, but also praises Mika's qualities as a songwriter and performer. What's more, the person who's writing seems to know a bit about Mika's career and "development" as an artist, which is a positive thing anyway. We can't deny that lots of people fail to appreciate the magic of his songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 T4P Fresh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babspanky Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Reviews are interesting, but they are someone else's point of view. I like to read them, but don't much care what they say. Of course it's nice to read good ones, but I have my own opinion and nothing a reviewer can say will change that. It may influence people who aren't great fans in some way, but that's life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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