Times Online Review: The Boy Who Knew Too Much

Pete Paphides

3 Stars out of 5

For many, the problem with Mika was summed up by the closing seconds of his debut hit Grace Kelly: “Ker-ching!” With the final chord of his sure-fire chart-topper fading, the former boy soprano could no longer keep a lid on his delight with the song that he wrote as a screw-you to the record companies who told him to tone down his act. It was impossible to proffer an opinion about Grace Kelly without disclosing your feelings about a camp, half-Lebanese singer-songwriter cursed by an inability to walk into a crowded room without a show of jazz hands. In pop terms, it was kind of a gauche thing to do. But the clue to Mika’s intentions was in the song title. If you school yourself on enough 1950s musicals, you start to see the plot twists of your life in similar terms. In Mika’s internal narrative, Grace Kelly was the moment when the plucky protagonists write the song that proves their nay-sayers wrong and propels them into the big time.

In the interim, two years of bona fide pop stardom have done little to make Mika meeker. Serving notice of his second album, the recent single We Are Golden was admirable for the loftiness of its objectives. But much as you wanted to love a song with the craven rhyming couplet “Teenage dreams in a teenage circus/ Running around like a clown on purpose”, it felt like an awkward assemblage of hooks stuck together with the sort of demented pomp found on old Todd Rundgren records. Thankfully, he finds his stride with Blame It on the Girls, a double-yolker chorus with verses that take their melodic cues from the showtune- scented pop of early Harry Nilsson.

This time round, he avoided the mawkish power-balladeering that blighted sections of 2007’s Life in Cartoon Motion, but on an album whose apparent creative wellspring is the singer’s tricky adolescence, the let’s-do-the-show- right-here! chutzpah of Dr John extends some way short of a lyric with more than a hint of How Soon is Now about it. Coming from an artist who remains reticent to divulge his sexual orientation, the words of Toy Boy are bound to come under scrutiny. Here, the singer casts himself as a toy whose feelings for another plaything are cast aside in favour of a “Barbie girl”. Sadly, the plinky-plonky music-box arrangement presents a credulity- stretching challenge even for those who made it through the whole DVD of Rufus Wainwright’s re-creation of Judy Garland’s tribute concert.

Fascinating as they are, his failures are still failures. Thankfully, there aren’t many of them on The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Once We Are Golden has finished its chart journey, there are a few more representative emissaries waiting to supplant it. Over spare percussion and plaintive highlife guitars, Blue Eyes leaves as its calling card the sense of déjà vu that comes with all great pop. Best of all though, is Rain, one of several moments on here that suggests that, even if people eventually grow tired of the jazz hands, he’ll be firing hits into the ether for as long as he cares to do so. Ker-ching indeed.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article6838724.ece

Thanks for posting Deb

I'm not sure about this review, it's hardly what I would call in depth and I don't agree with half of what it says.

Having said that it's not having a go at Mika which is always nice to find.

Toy Boy is a failure?

Oh well. I love the way all the critics pick out different tracks as their favourites.

Interestingly, this reviewer Pete Paphides gave LICM 4 out of 5 stars back in February '07...

Still, it's not the most negative review he'll get, I'm sure.

I don't think much of the critic writing this article.

The first couple of sentences are incorrect for one thing.

At first I thought I was just dismayed as all the reviews have been so good.

But now after reading the whole review I think the authour Pete Paphides is a snob critic who probbaly thinks a lot of himself.

If you listen to both of Mika's albums & just watch a couple of Mika's interviews anybody would know that most of what it stated in this article is bulls**t.

Believe me I know I am a biased Mika fan but this article is weird & so not true.

Pete still gives The Boy Who knew Too much a 3 out of 5.

Personally I don't care & would like him to just not review Mika anymore. Haha!

Interestingly, this reviewer Pete Paphides gave LICM 4 out of 5 stars back in February '07...

I knew I heard this name before.... I was about to search my docs:teehee:

Yes, not very positive to call his songs plinky-plonky. Not everyone seems to get them, I guess...

It's funny how he mentions Rufus Wainwright’s JG concert in connection with Toy Boy because the first ever live performance of Toy Boy actually reminded me of Rufus Wainwright's live shows. However, to me this comparison is nothing but positive and the birth of a more mature performer, actually:wub2:

3 out of 5!

Please, this is wayyyy better that LICM!!

Maybe the writer was tired!!

Interestingly, this reviewer Pete Paphides gave LICM 4 out of 5 stars back in February '07...

 

Still, it's not the most negative review he'll get, I'm sure.

I think it counts as a positive - "Rain, one of several moments on here that suggests that, even if people eventually grow tired of the jazz hands, he’ll be firing hits into the ether for as long as he cares to do so".

Clearly, not listening to Toy Boys lyrics properly.

Good that he likes Rain though, and he doesn't look on I See You and By The Time as "mawkish power ballards", thankfully.

So far no totally negative reviews, fingers crossed for the next few weeks.

Mika will like the Harry Nilsson comparison, lol

I don’t understand half of what he says because I get lost in the waaaaay too long sentences, and mysterious references! Don’t try to get smart on me, it doesn’t bite!

And I just want to point out that I truly loved Rufus Wainwright’s Judy Garland’s tribute concert! And that’s about it!

I knew I heard this name before.... I was about to search my docs:teehee:

 

Yes, not very positive to call his songs plinky-plonky. Not everyone seems to get them, I guess...

It's funny how he mentions Rufus Wainwright’s JG concert in connection with Toy Boy because the first ever live performance of Toy Boy actually reminded me of Rufus Wainwright's live shows. However, to me this comparison is nothing but positive and the birth of a more mature performer, actually

I agree!

Odd review, I can't decide what he really thought of the album. 3 out of 5 is one of those quite non-committal ratings isn't it? As if they don't quite have the balls to give it either a 4, or a 2 . 3 out of 5 is a bit meh. Mika himself would possibly prefer a 2 or a 4 wouldn't he .

All this reference to jazz hands and kerching.. Not really relevant to the album.

He clearly didn't listen to Toy Boy properly either.

But at least he did say some positive things.

Thanks for posting.

This review brought to mind the old phrase "He's so sharp, one of these days he's gonna cut himself".

I don't think I've ever seen a review where someone tried to psycho analyse it all so much.

Anyway.....

NEXT!

Thanks for posting