suzie

...I need to restrain myself from starting to talk about the choice of the lead single again...

On the standard album that was released in France you can only hear the Miami edit, the LA edit (the original version that you can hear in the video as well) only appears on the French deluxe CD The UK album (even the standard one) contains both, since they complement each other. So the Miami edit ends the album like a reprise of the LA edit you hear first.

When you eventually receive it can you let us know about the difference between the English and Italian versions of Stardust and TOOL, please.

It could be that the Daily Star is for people with poor reading comprehension skills.. plus, it looks like they have simply copy-pasted from an article 2 years ago. " A tearful Mika, 29, told me: " yes, he told me, too.:rolls_eyes:

..yes, as expected, no surprise there. He needs to get that repeated in the UK. Hope there is some twitter action being prepared for the day...

He might have been keen to work with Mika again but Mika not really that keen As usual, what we may find could be something entirely different from what he actually meant... My interpretation is that he wanted this record to represent himself and be this ultimate piece for people to worship his art () but in order to achieve that he needed to put everything else aside and just focus on that.

Here you are: http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3805677#post3805677

As Showtunes17 does not seem to be around, let me open this thread following the tradition of its predecessors: The Official Life In Cartoon Motion charts & sales around the world thread. http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7729&highlight=chart+thread and The Official "The Boy Who Knew Too Much ERA" Charts & Sales around the world Thread http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19109&highlight=charts

First post updated. Maybe one day I'll have time to read all the reviews, too, and reply to some of them. In the meantime, just keep posting

Besides, it is a mere namecheck of the collaborators, so it is not even a professional review It is good to collect all of these articles on this thread though. I won't include this one in the first post that I have now updated, if that's ok. I want to leave that post for fan reviews and some key ones from professional press

Good idea, Deb. We can all post bits from our our reviews. I am so lazy, have no time and tend to consume music in an old-fashioned way. (i.e. record stores) So can someone recommend some good links for all of us?

I am neither, but thanks. That was a nice change vs what I do for a living. And that's also why I like visiting the forum. PS: first post is fully updated with links.

An uplifting, classy, yet contemporary pop album and a big step for Mika to find his way to longevity in the history of pop music – that’s what I consider this record to be. A was a huge fan of Life In Cartoon Motion but I always thought that it merely showed what Mika could potentially achieve in the future. Following the slightly directionless second album he finally found himself and / or people who can get the best out of him. Despite the many names who worked with him though, the record still sounds coherent and Mikaesque, proving collaborations were genuine. Another important achievement is that whilst there is still a strong 70s and 80s influence on most songs, the record still sounds very much current, and with the right mix of the latest electronic and fine acoustic sound. Most importantly, however, it is his VOICE that he finally seems to have found. There have been many comments of him being a ’marmite’ artist, and in my opinion, it may have had to do with his falsetto sounding a bit ’raw’ and not always blending into the song. On this record, however, there is a really healthy use of his range and his falsetto simply shines over the dance tracks, whilst his baritone sounds as full as it can be, implying how confident he is with these songs, his art and most probably his life as well. My Track by Track: The Origin of Love – When I first heard the live version I knew exactly what potential that song had and I could only hope the recorded version would manage to give back the defiant feel of the live performance that is about love’s triumph over the power and control the church / God is exerting on his disciples to restrain one’s natural desires and condemning them as sinful. The Italian - Latin - Spanish chant in the middle is absolutely awesome: in a few words it captures the controversy surrounding the paternalistic views the Catholic Church, despite God being referred to as also having maternal features in the Bible. The recorded version has a slightly different feel to me as the voice distortion strengthens more the ’love as an addiction’ message of the song but it does celebrate love, too and love it: it is one of the few pop songs that use voice distortion to support the message and not merely to surrender to trends. It would sound great on the radio and so different from the rest of what is out there, too. Lola - A lovely, teasing song about a hooker with a strong 70s Bee Gees feel to it. It is simple, sweet and stylish and does not pretend to be more than it is. Stardust – What a perfect place has been found for Mika’s falsetto. Modern electro-dance song with a difference: there is depth to the sound and the singer can actually sing. Make You Happy – one of my favourites, can’t get enough of it. There is unrest and some kind of serene (or probably drugged) calmness present at the same time: all because of the different layers (vocals and drum base) being in different time signatures so the stressed beat always ends up in different part of the bar in the seemingly monotonous chorus. What a great idea. Besides, the song is a mix of styles, sounds, beats that still form a coherent piece that I could listen to days on end. I guess it is partly because of the brilliant mix of the vocoded singing with one of his best vocals ever on a record and partly because of the honest lyrics. I am most pleased about this song having made it to the album as it is non-single material and neither it is for live performance. It is mainly for the mind and ears to enjoy and mine do. Underwater – after the unsettled times we arrive on calm waters with our ship sailing smoothly on the waves when we suddenly stop and jump into the water to discover something unknown, unexplored and a place where we can’t be reached. I don’t know who came up with the piano part but they have a natural talent in transcribing pictures and feels into sound. I can even hear the birds above after the second chorus as they fly over the water. The 70s rock choir sound in the chorus also gives the whole song an incredible serenity. Overrated – A fine example of avant-garde electro-dance music: imaginative, modern yet all human. It is a wonderful surprise on the album. Kids – playful and calm pop song with a catchy chorus kept simple but beautiful. Great tune for a pop prince. Love You When I’m Drunk – I absolutely love it: music, lyrics and Mika’s vocals. You get this dizzy feeling from the funny sounds and bells since the beginning and in the middle you feel like he is staggering. It reminds me of early 80s Human League songs. Step with Me – One is no longer drunk but perhaps slightly tipsy or at least losing senses because they are in love. I adore the beginning and am a total fangirl of this song. Popular - It sounds like some 60s musical. Wait, it is from a musical. Haha. Priscilla and Mika are a perfect match. I want more of them. I love Mika’s rap, too. Priscilla surely outshines him in that but the point is that for some unknown reason Mika is the popular one now, despite being ’uncool’. How true: him staying true to himself seems to have paid off. Emily – I like it better than the French version. Not only because of the really funny and sarky lyrics as well as the perspective Mika is telling the story from but also the ’Emily line’ being a catchy hook this song needed. Heroes – Beautiful song. I like how the chorus with the echoing sounds is in complete contrast of the verses, as if someone was having nightmares about the horrors of the war they previously fought in. Celebrate – My least favourite on the album: I find it dull in lyrics, dumbed down in vocals, and Pharrell’s part a joke, to be honest. I like the idea of the basic beat sounding like someone is walking back home happily and occasionally stopping to jump up and down with joy but it sounds like they are marching in clogs (heehee). I do like the end though, except for Mika’s ’urban’ vocals on top. It is a mismatch in style, in my opinion. I was surprised to hear at a live performance what good and personal lyrics the song had originally so I wonder why those needed to be replaced by a couple of ”gonna be okays”. Anyway, he can always sing the original version at concerts. Make you Happy reprise – Wow. I’m really impressed. It is a response to the lyrics in the earlier version but the strings make it more emotional and he sounds even more determined that he is going to save this relationship. All in all, I just love how the album flows. It is a story with one song relating to the one after it by continuing the theme in either a similar or completely the opposite aspect. This coherence I never noted on Mika’s first two albums. Concerning the collaborations, I don’t think it was merely some ‘lucky coincidence’ that these worked and made this album sound so good. To me it is pretty obvious that Greg Wells, Jodi Marr, Nick Littlemore, Paul Steele and frYars are among the few people who seem to complement Mika in his songwriting process, so I hope to hear Mika songs with their involvement in the future, too. Bonus tracks I have heard so far: Karen - a surprising change from the fragmented, eighties europop sound of last year’s live version, it now sounds like and airy chamber pop ballad from the ’60s (the beginning actually reminds me of Everybody’s Talking): effortless and graceful – the opposite of what I heard before. A nice makeover. L'Amour Dans Le Mauvais Temps – an even better and more suprising makeover after the Compiegne version. How sweet is the rain sound on the guitar at the beginning and throughout the song. No melodramatic harmonizing throughout, just singing in a soft and restrained way about taking comfort in the loved one despite difficult times. I can even picture watching from the comfort of one’s room how the rain is dripping onto the window sill. The French lyrics must make more sense than the English version we heard as temps is a homonym: it can mean weather or times. Now the song has the right balance in the singing and the arrangements and I enjoy listening to it as it sounds sweet and melancholic. Un Soleil Mal Luné – a song with classic piano accompanyment sung beautifully so that I don’t even need to understand the lyrics to enjoy it. A little gem of the album. Tah Dah: I keep wondering if Barry and George could have possibly got together in the mid-eighties to write this awesome song for a future popstar... Also, did George record the ’freedom to love’ parts? Haha. I am back in time, grooving to the song. Tah Dah

I think Ellenowl must have meant something else, not sure what though. @Ellenowl can you show us what Youtube video you are referring to?

I am back, too, after 2 days of absence...

Strange he has other favourites outside France... He did not change it, they are layered on top of each other on the record.

@BluntTalking I think it was Mika's manager you met

Thank ou for the hugs. yes, I know I should. Holiday is also on my list of things to do I am in the UK, btw, and earlier today I saw a girl with a Mika bag on the tube, then a couple of mins later another one with a pink bowler hat so for a moment I thought there might be something happening I am not aware of... Of course the album is not lauched in hte UK yet, but I had to come and check twitter and MFC just to be sure.

It's not only you, it is everyone and everything... I'm stressed out.

I do, but really really busy nowadays. I'm working even right now...

@BluntTalking Thank you very much for coming on MFC and sharing some behind-the-scenes details with us. I think you spotted why he is polarizes opinion so much. Him being intelligent is no news to his fans but I don't think any of us would consider his songs to be gimmicky. I personally consider them clever pop songs that may be difficult to get if one closes off and judges them on the surface only. In fact, I think it is the complexity of his songs that makes most of them unfit to the mindset of the casual pop music listener, whilst those interested in other genres simply look down on pop. I hope he manages to open people's mind a bit with the new album.

I like your enthusiasm!

Actually, there is something really gay about this word. Last week I re-watched The Birdcage again on tv and I remember Albert talking about sprinkiling stardust during his performance... I can't recall the exact phrase and also, it was a dubbed version but it reminded me of Mika's song right away

Yes, I mean, I only 'complain' because I want the best for him in terms of making the right choices to promote the album. I can live with this song , even the album version, but I do find it funny how for both WAG and this one he decided to add these really great, personal lyrics to the live performances - as if they had to be left out from hte album on purpose, to make the lead single more 'consumer friendly'. I don't think that was his choice though. Now I really wonder about the success this song will bring in the US. Promoting the album with the re.written 'Popular' may also be an option. Wicked is famous and popular in the US, isn't it.

He is promoting the album, not the single, but my main concern is of course the choice of the first single itself. Well, not to me as I feel this song has been de-Mikafied. Especially the lyrics. I'm glad he came up with / re-added some personal lyrics for this show. Now it is finally clear that the song is more about his return to his bf. I hope he'll sing this version at concerts or even the full original China Boy.