Thoughts on the Songs for Sorrow EP?

[Christine]

Maybe this is me being a bit thick..but can I ask, why did people pre-order the download version of the EP anyway? What was the point of that?

 

I'm pretty sure you're not being thick. I have been asking myself the same question for days.

[Gatagordinha]

I'm pretty sure you're not being thick. I have been asking myself the same question for days.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence .

[micafan]

Hi Guys

 

I have been reading the reviews and to be honest, i think you are expecting too much from this EP. I have read a lot about the music industry and i think i know what mika is trying to do.

 

Firstly, this EP is not intended to get into the charts, it would be nice if it would though. The reason for this release is to get his name and face known again, you could think of it as a bit like advertising.

 

Secondly, Mika's management would be pretty rubbish if they suddenly released his second album after the long time he has spent outside the public eye. It is much better to get him familiarised first, this will help promote and sell his album.

 

Hope this helps:thumb_yello:

[babspanky]

Hi Guys

 

I have been reading the reviews and to be honest, i think you are expecting too much from this EP. I have read a lot about the music industry and i think i know what mika is trying to do.

 

Firstly, this EP is not intended to get into the charts, it would be nice if it would though. The reason for this release is to get his name and face known again, you could think of it as a bit like advertising.

 

Secondly, Mika's management would be pretty rubbish if they suddenly released his second album after the long time he has spent outside the public eye. It is much better to get him familiarised first, this will help promote and sell his album.

Hope this helps:thumb_yello:

 

People do it all of the time. Some are out of the charts for even longer. It's not uncommon. They don't all release EPs before the album, the usual route is to release a single or two. And some are extremely successful with it.

 

I personally think if his strategy is to familiarise the public with his music again by releasing the EP, in the hope that on the back of it they will buy the new album, it's not a great strategy.

The tracks on the EP IMO aren't the best and also IMO won't, by and large be the kind of tracks he puts on the album.

[iadoremika]

Maybe this is me being a bit thick..but can I ask, why did people pre-order the download version of the EP anyway? What was the point of that?

 

 

Though I agree, it's odd, and annoying from a principle point of view, that the price got changed.

I think I'm stupid because I never thought about it.

[babspanky]

I think I'm stupid because I never thought about it.

 

I like people who own up.

[xlindee]

People do it all of the time. Some are out of the charts for even longer. It's not uncommon. They don't all release EPs before the album, the usual route is to release a single or two. And some are extremely successful with it.

 

I personally think if his strategy is to familiarise the public with his music again by releasing the EP, in the hope that on the back of it they will buy the new album, it's not a great strategy.

The tracks on the EP IMO aren't the best and also IMO won't, by and large be the kind of tracks he puts on the album.

 

Yeah exactly. I don't know many artists who put out an album, then an EP, then a next album.

I think most people do that indeed.

 

Yeah, I don't think so either.

People would be all confused if it was like that.

And I certainly don't hope the album will sound much like the EP, cause that would dissapoint me.

Don't get me wrong, I think the EP is okay, but I wouldn't stand a whole cd with songs like Lady Jane and Lonely Alchoholic.

[Gatagordinha]

Yeah exactly. I don't know many artists who put out an album, then an EP, then a next album.

I think most people do that indeed.

 

Yeah, I don't think so either.

People would be all confused if it was like that.

And I certainly don't hope the album will sound much like the EP, cause that would dissapoint me.

Don't get me wrong, I think the EP is okay, but I wouldn't stand a whole cd with songs like Lady Jane and Lonely Alchoholic.

 

From what we've heard of the album so far I think it'll be very different from the EP.

 

I tend to just take the EP at face value; it's just a project Mika wanted to do largely for his own amusement and not for commercial gain, to show another side to his songwriting. On balance I prefer the Mika we are (hopefully) going to hear on the second album, but I still think the EP has some worth musically.

 

I think the lead single from the album will be a total change from anything on the EP..very upbeat and danceable. Well I hope so at any rate.

[Soaring Simpson]

Maybe this is me being a bit thick..but can I ask, why did people pre-order the download version of the EP anyway? What was the point of that?

 

Though I agree, it's odd, and annoying from a principle point of view, that the price got changed.

 

In my case, because I thought I might as well pay for it while I had my credit card out to order tickets.

[micafan]

I guess i never thought about it like that:thumb_yello:

 

But In my opinion I love the songs on the EP.

Cant wait!!! especially toy boy. On mika's Vblog it sounded fantastic,

[Christine]

On balance I prefer the Mika we are (hopefully) going to hear on the second album, but I still think the EP has some worth musically.

 

That's how I view it. As long as it's just an addition to the album and not a replacement, I think it's a nice little bonus. I've always wanted to hear Mika do some different stuff but since it takes him a couple of years to produce an album I wouldn't want to see 4 years go by without a pop album just to get a taste of something else.

 

I think the lead single from the album will be a total change from anything on the EP..very upbeat and danceable. Well I hope so at any rate.

 

It will be Blame it on the Girls.

[Gatagordinha]

In my case, because I thought I might as well pay for it while I had my credit card out to order tickets.

 

Well that's fair enough .

[Gatagordinha]

It will be Blame it on the Girls.

 

Do you know that for sure or is that your educated guess?

 

I know either BIOTG or We Are Golden were touted in those recent meetings with journalists.

[laura*]

Maybe this is me being a bit thick..but can I ask, why did people pre-order the download version of the EP anyway? What was the point of that?

 

 

To set the price?

[xlindee]

From what we've heard of the album so far I think it'll be very different from the EP.

 

I tend to just take the EP at face value; it's just a project Mika wanted to do largely for his own amusement and not for commercial gain, to show another side to his songwriting. On balance I prefer the Mika we are (hopefully) going to hear on the second album, but I still think the EP has some worth musically.

 

I think the lead single from the album will be a total change from anything on the EP..very upbeat and danceable. Well I hope so at any rate.

Yeah me too.

But some other people don't know that.

That's how I view it. As long as it's just an addition to the album and not a replacement, I think it's a nice little bonus. I've always wanted to hear Mika do some different stuff but since it takes him a couple of years to produce an album I wouldn't want to see 4 years go by without a pop album just to get a taste of something else.

 

 

 

It will be Blame it on the Girls.

Uhu.

Do you know that for sure or is that your educated guess?

 

I know either BIOTG or We Are Golden were touted in those recent meetings with journalists.

 

No, I actually read it was BIOTG too, and in some article it said Rain was already set to be the second single.

[Christine]

No, I actually read it was BIOTG too, and in some article it said Rain was already set to be the second single.

 

Yes there were also some whispers in LA that it was set to be the single.

 

PS - Riverstwilight, I think Gata is just asking why there is a need to preorder something when there is no chance of the delivery being delayed by the post or lack of stock.

Edited May 16, 2009 by Christine

[Fmbm]

The guitar in "Blue Eyes" pisses me off. It's kind of choppy

Luckily the drums save it.

[Christine]

Since you brought up a point about EPs not taking the place of albums.

 

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I was referring to the material, not the product.

 

For instance I would like to hear Mika do some songs with a bit of Josh Groban style vocals, but not if it means we won't hear another proper pop album for 4 years.

 

I have enjoyed listening to some different material on the EP, but like Gata, I would be disappointed if we weren't looking forward to another 10 songs of pop in the near future.

 

Hope that helps ease some of your frustration.

 

Me? I didn't know I was frustrated.

[suzie]

 

I tend to just take the EP at face value; it's just a project Mika wanted to do largely for his own amusement and not for commercial gain, to show another side to his songwriting.

 

 

yes, as Christine put it, 'a nice little bonus'...

 

Roughly speaking, the new stuff is not much different from what we heard from Mika so far (except for being even more sophisticated..etc)...

To put it in a very simple way, Lady Jane is like Over My Shoulder - it does not follow pop but classical rules. I think it was a wise decision to release it separately from the album as most of his fans do not take it well if there is too wide musical scale on the album.. ( I remember threads on Mikasounds in 2007 starting like 'what's this weird song on Grace Kelly single?' ..etc)

 

As for the album, forgive me for making it too trivial but it will be something like LICM since BIOTG is similar to Lollipop a bit (Jackson5 ish) GGG similar in sound to Big Girl/SITM.. Rain similar to Relax, We are Golden to Happy Ending ...etc Please note I am taking about the types of songs and not the melody)

So, I think new album will not be taking risks but will be following the rules of the first.

[iadoremika]

Rain similar to Relax.

I thought the same with the regular/acousic versions, if you get what I'm saying. With 'Relax, Take It Easy' the two versions are so very different. I found the same with 'Rain' (from, say, what was performed at PDP to what we heard on video blog #28). I hope I made sense there.

[harlequeen]

In fact, Neil Gaiman said it better than I ever could:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

(Scroll down to the bolded paragraph, which is the reader's question, then read his response and replace "George R. R. Martin" with "Mika" and replace "books" with "albums".)

 

Hope that helps ease some of your frustration.

 

 

thank you for the link, it sums up my thoughts exactly (well maybe a bit too many words to call it a 'sum up' but anyway )

 

for many, it seems, the songs of the EP are unexpected and not their type of songs. But we should know by now that there is more about Mika than just pop, and that he has and will explore other genres and throw it in the mix. If it's not what is deemed popular with the masses, he will release it non-commercially, and most likely with a little extra spray of glitter like we see with the EP

 

but I want to add one thing: from all I see about Mika, he IS passionate about his music. He will not release stuff that he is not altogether happy with. I fail to believe, that what we don't see meaning in, or believe awkward or cheesy, is a carelessness on his side. So there is no reason for disappointment, it's just the fact that we don't swing in the same rhythm there. Nothing wrong with that

[mikalover95]

i download the songs and i dont like it i love mika but the songs dont look like he sings it, it looks like churge songss

[laura*]

i download the songs and i dont like it i love mika but the songs dont look like he sings it, it looks like churge songss

 

Those songs are different, they're not in his best-known powerpop style.

[A. Clay]

Those songs are different, they're not in his best-known powerpop style.

 

See article: MIKA is "not your B*TCH!"

[babspanky]

See article: MIKA is "not your B*TCH!"

 

What do you mean, Alice?