mari62 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Review of Mika' s album The Boy Who Knew Too Much A lot of artists fear being forgotten when they prepare a comeback with their sophomore album, even if they've had a fair degree of success the first time around, they can always find themselves surplus to requirements when returning. Mika however is in no danger of that happening anytime soon. His big voice and big hair as well as his massive selling single Grace Kelly, means that he's still very much ingrained on the average pop fans ever lapsing conscience. One listen of album opener and single We Are Golden and it's pretty clear that Mika will be dominating the commercial radio airwaves for some time to come. It follows the same blueprint as Big Girls (you are beautiful) with its anthemic chorus and self help lyrics of 'we are not what you think we are, we are golden'. He even brings in a choir at one point that sounds like a mixture of children and adults alike, perhaps mirroring his own sprawling fan base while doing so. The sound and style of the tracks on this album contrast with each other as much as the colours on the albums multi-coloured artwork. Michael Jackson esque power ballad I See You with its flowing minor piano keys and self deprecating lyrics of 'You don't see me at all but I see you' are soon washed over by a wave of hand drumming and Caribbean sounding guitar plucking in the form of charming sing-along Blue Eyes. What follows in the shape of Good gone girl is the heavy helping of theatre school charisma that we saw on smash hit Grace Kelly. With a fast tempo and upbeat vocals we basically find Mica trying and failing to recreate that particular hit to no avail. A quick redemption however soon arrives with the energetic Touches You, which contains more than a hint of George Michael song writing style as well as vocal delivery. Containing a chorus that's designed to stick in your head for days on end it proves to be the albums strongest track and a sure fire number 1 for the near future. It would be criminal not to mention the repulsive Toy Boy though. If you thought the title was bad then be warned, the song itself is even worse. Remember that song Big Big World by Emilia? Well imagine that mixed with Lilly Allen's Alfie only 10 times worse and you've found yourself at the frightening door of Mika's Toy boy. Truly rancid. One thing that's obvious after listening to The Boy Who Knew Too Much, is that Mika hasn't changed the winning formula that he successfully used to spike the drinks of the public on debut album Life In Cartoon Motion. The same wacky stage school antics remain in the form of his many outlandish brash pop songs as do the odd flowery ballads here or there, but who can blame him for not changing what worked so well the first time around? Sam Marland http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/albumreview/mika-the-boy-who-knew-too-muchx03x09x09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazGirl Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Nice, shame they hate Toy Boy though EP SONGS TO BE ON EP's ONLY!!! oh well, too late to protest now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANI56 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 t4p, Mari! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Angel Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thx for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel_tinydancer Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thanks for posting, but how could anyone hate Toy Boy that much???! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pideh Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess the only ones that are going to like TB are his fans. It's only 18 days left!!!!! T4p!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Angel Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess the only ones that are going to like TB are his fans. It's only 18 days left!!!!! T4p!! It's the final countdown..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Toy Boy is great. I love it! But won't be to everyone's taste unfortunately. I actually think it worked well on the EP, but doesn't quite fit on the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil'Violet Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 thanks for posting mari!!! One listen of album opener and single We Are Golden and it's pretty clear that Mika will be dominating the commercial radio airwaves for some time to come. It follows the same blueprint as Big Girls (you are beautiful) with its anthemic chorus and self help lyrics of 'we are not what you think we are, we are golden'. He even brings in a choir at one point that sounds like a mixture of children and adults alike, perhaps mirroring his own sprawling fan base while doing so. who? where? are they talking about us???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura* Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I've got the impression that this reviewer is confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I've got the impression that this reviewer is confused. he should listen to the album again and again before judging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazGirl Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Toy Boy is great. I love it! But won't be to everyone's taste unfortunately. I actually think it worked well on the EP, but doesn't quite fit on the album. same, I don't think any of the EP songs shoulda been on the album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 same, I don't think any of the EP songs shoulda been on the album Neither do I ... I would have liked two new unheard of tracks ... but that's just cos' I want more .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 same, I don't think any of the EP songs shoulda been on the album Neither do I ... I would have liked two new unheard of tracks ... but that's just cos' I want more .... same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Disagree with most of it. Good Gone Girl is no attempt at Grace Kelly 2 and I don't think Touches You is going to be released as a single any time soon. Toy Boy is hardly rancid. They are way off there. I mean okay, everyone has opinions, but this is really out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracekelly85 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 t4p Mari! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREDDIESDOUBLE Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 No mention of rain !! possibly the best track!! what the hell :roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Disagree with most of it. Good Gone Girl is no attempt at Grace Kelly 2 and I don't think Touches You is going to be released as a single any time soon. Toy Boy is hardly rancid. They are way off there. I mean okay, everyone has opinions, but this is really out there. Yeah! GGG hardly sounds like GK:blink: And Touches You is just plain weird. And Toy Boy is awesome. No mention of rain !! possibly the best track!! what the hell :roftl: Exactly! And I also don't think I See You is MJ-esque:blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I think I'm going to love Touches You ... not weird at all .... and I love Toyboy ... but it should have been on the EP only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubitus Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess the only ones that are going to like TB are his fans. It's only 18 days left!!!!! T4p!! may I correct you actualy it's only 15 days left for us frenchies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess some people don't like a gay toy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Homophobics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Rancid??? I don't think I have ever heard a song described as rancid before, nay truly rancid. He must really despise it. That's just hilarious. Being objective (or trying,anyway)..what is so awful about Toy Boy? Well it's a free country, if he says it's rancid then good on him . Good Gone Girl 'trying to be like Grace Kelly'? Erm, wrong! One thing I do agree with though is his opinion of Touches You. I think it would make a fantastic single, it is (from what I have heard) a brilliant pop song which will really appeal to British tastes. I predict it WILL be a single and a very successful one. T4P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanessa Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Toy Boy is great. I love it! But won't be to everyone's taste unfortunately. I actually think it worked well on the EP, but doesn't quite fit on the album. I totally agree with you he should have kept it only for the EP And they are comparing WAG with Big girl And GGG doesn't sound like GK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I am interested to read that some don't like the fact Toy Boy is on the album (and I mean MFC, not Sam 'Truly Rancid' Marland ). I personally think it fits very well and provides welcome relief from the poppiness. It doesn't bother me that it was originally on the EP. In fact of the two EP songs on TAFKAWAG I would have left out Blue Eyes, not Toy Boy, much as I like Blue Eyes. Each to his own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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