mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I've been reading the posted reviews, and decided I needed to find some more positive ones to lift the mood. I love how every reviewer, positive or not, is finding something different in the music. By that alone, I think Mika's genius is proven. Music Review: Mika September 29, 2009, 3:11 pm Barry Divola whomagazine The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Casablanca/Universal) Mika's first album, 2007's Life in Cartoon Motion, sold more than five million copies, and many critics bent over backwards to hate it. Which just goes to show that critics don't like shameless hams, but record buyers love them. And yes, 26-year-old Michael Penniman is more hammy than a piggery. He has said that The Boy Who Knew Too Much is his adolescent album. If so, then it doesn't sound like his teenage years were filled with existential angst, a well-thumbed copy of The Outsider, and albums by the Smiths and the Cure. Opening track and lead single "We Are Golden" proclaims, "Don't give it up when you're young and you want some!" and sounds like Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" and Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer," both being played at once by two Scissor Sisters tribute bands. Even when he sings about hating rainy days on "Rain," Mika sounds like he's doing high kicks and twirling a cane. After you manage to stop singing along, you may want to slap him. Barry's Rating: ★★★★★ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 http://www.avclub.com/articles/mika-the-boy-who-knew-too-much,33118/ The Boy Who Knew Too Much A- by Chris Martins September 22, 2009 There’s a reason that musicals based on famous pop music are so successful. Whether it’s The Beatles, Billy Joel, or ABBA, it’s easier to enjoy the amped-up energy of a show if the music is immediately familiar. So while nearly every moment on Mika’s sophomore album The Boy Who Knew Too Much sounds derived from a past mega-hit, it’s what makes the album so enjoyable. Mika shakes his jazz hands throughout a whirlwind cabaret of what could easily be Queen or Prince or Scissor Sisters songs, churning through hooks so fast that it’s hard to find time to identify their origins. But although The Boy Who Knew Too Much is a bit of a pop-music Frankenstein, it’s also shamelessly fun and endlessly catchy, so why be picky? Although the album seeks to sum up Mika’s teenage experiences, it’s considerably more mature than his 2007 debut Life In Cartoon Motion, except for the over-the-top opening track “We Are Golden,” which sounds like a sing-along for toddlers. Exuberant, glittery dance tracks are still his specialty (“Blame It On The Girls,” “Good Gone Girl,” “Touches You,” and the booming “Rain” are standouts), and lively vaudeville-esque piano numbers (“Dr. John” and “Toy Boy”) add diverting variety. Overall, Mika has slapped together a pop-music patchwork capable of appealing to anyone who’s ever liked a song on the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2009/10/12/mika_the_boy_who_knew_too_much/ Home / A&E / Music / CD reviews Album Review Mika, 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' October 12, 2009 Rock Mika The Boy Who Knew Too Much Casablanca ESSENTIAL “By the Time’’ Mika plays the Orpheum Thursday at 7:30 p.m. If you prefer your pop preternaturally gleeful, Mika is your man. “The Boy Who Knew Too Much,’’ his second kaleidoscopic pile-up, is chock-full of bright, brash anthems. “Teenage dreams in a teenage circus/ Running around like a clown on purpose/ Who gives a damn about the family you come from?/ No giving up when you’re young and you want some,’’ Mika sings on the lead track, his voice sliced and stacked into a zillion Queenly layers, a kids’ choir shouting the song’s title (we are golden!) over soaring keyboards and zinging guitars and crashing drums. After that, the Beirut-born, London-bred tunesmith tones down the razzle-dazzle of 2007’s “Life in Cartoon Motion.’’ Many of these catchy singalongs sport a whiff of subtlety and angst, and while his debt to Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and Scissor Sisters is alive and well, something close to nuance infuses “Blue Eyes’’ and “By the Time,’’ a dreamy collaboration with Imogen Heap. Set-closer “Pick Up Off the Floor’’ dims the Day-Glo dynamic in favor of a torchy glow, suggesting this clever artist is more than the sum of his influences. (Out now) JOAN ANDERMAN © Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gzfyxz8ald0e~T1 The Boy Who Knew Too Much [Deluxe Edition] [bonus CD] Mika Review by Heather Phares Making an album even more vibrant than Life in Cartoon Motion would have been difficult for Mika. On The Boy Who Knew Too Much, he doesn't try to top himself; instead, he reins in just enough of his debut's indulgent tendencies to let his gift for great melodies and hooks be the focus. His multifaceted pop sounds a little calmer and a lot more confident here — rather than cramming songs with moments intended to impress that end up being overwhelming, "Dr. John"'s finger-popping minor fall and major lift and the calypso-tinged "Blue Eyes" actually are impressive because they're so direct. While Life in Cartoon Motion was remarkably engaging, occasionally it felt like Mika was more skilled at pastiche than presenting his own sound. Here, Mika and producer Greg Wells fashion songs that sound truly distinctive; though touches of inspirations and peers like Elton John, the Bee Gees, and the Scissor Sisters still pop up, the musician Mika borrows from most on The Boy Who Knew Too Much is himself. The album's opening trio of tracks nods to his debut's most vivid moments without copying them: "We Are Golden" is every bit as sunshiny as "Love Today"; "Blame It on the Girls" builds on "Grace Kelly"'s sleek style; and "Rain" is a kissing cousin to "Relax"'s pulsing, melancholy disco-pop. Mika tries a few different sounds on for size, most notably on "Toy Boy," a subversively sweet singsong that lies somewhere between Elvis Presley's "Wooden Heart" and the Dresden Dolls' "Coin Operated Boy," and the torchy finale, "Pick Up Off the Floor." While ballads still aren't his forte, slower tracks like the Imogen Heap collaboration "By the Time" offer welcome breathing room from "One Foot Boy" and the album's other almost ridiculously catchy tracks. Anyone who liked Life in Cartoon Motion's bright, brash approach won't be disappointed by The Boy Who Knew Too Much — it's clear Mika knows exactly what he's doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/090923/33/221su.html Yahoo! Music Album Review Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Wednesday September 23, 2009 3:11 PM ) Released on 21/09/09 Label: Island While camp excitability, a liking for glitter and a tendency to make everything seem like a canteen table dancing scene from "Fame" are all perfect qualifications for life as a Freddie Mercury impersonating pop star, for an adolescent schoolboy they're a fast-track to a life of bullying and torment. Not surprisingly, Mika's teenage years weren't the happiest; filled with insecurity and loneliness just like his second album, the follow-up to the six million selling "Life In Cartoon Motion", which he's based on them. First single, "We Are Golden", might be infuriatingly sunny but that's where the good times end. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" is an intentionally more honest and candid record. It's a deeper, darker album - "deeper" and "darker" being comparative terms and the comparison being with the day-glo, operatic pop nursery rhymes of his 2007 debut. But it's also a Mika album, so while inspired by growing pains, it's not a blow-by-blow account of them. It's a slightly muted version of its predecessor, with isolation, doubt and the odd bit of self-loathing to take the edge off all that teeth jarring sugariness. An air of melancholy cuts skippier tunes off at the knees - the light calypso of "Blue Eyes" is as sad as it is jaunty, the joyful "One Foot Boy" as crushed as it is hopeful - while even the roller disco friendly likes of "Blame It On The Girls" comes with a jaded chorus swipe of "Are you wishing you were ugly like me?". And when he gets the balance right, as with the brooding Pet Shop Boys style nod of "Rain" and fragile Imogen Heap collaboration, "By The Time", he finds the ever illusive spot that lies between distraught and elated and is sweet for all the right reasons. "Toy Boy" misses such brilliance by a mile, the oompah-oompah ditty with bitter lyrics about being used and abused by lovers aims to subvert its own Disneyness, but just irritates. "Touches You" is practically a "High School Musical" version of George Michael's "Father Figure" and the aforementioned "We Are Golden" is dazzling in its banality. Yet with the rousing, brave face knees-up of "Dr John" as the pay-off, all such misfires are entirely forgivable. Indeed, the far bigger problem for "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" is a lack of the instant hooks and choruses which made hits of everything from his debut. Deeper and darker takes longer to charm, which is bad for singles, but should see the album's shelf life extend to long after Mika's novelty has worn off. 7/10 stars by Dan Gennoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouselle Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/18/mika-album-review Mika: The Boy Who Knew Too Much(Casablanca) 3/5 stars Caroline Sullivan The Guardian, Friday 18 September 2009 Those who believe that faux-classical arrangements, children's choirs and bouncy bonhomie have no place in pop should look away now. The follow-up to Mika's highly successful debut abounds with all of them, and when his falsetto is factored in, the result is more than some people will be able to stand. But The Boy Who Knew Too Much also makes a case for Mika being one of the most underrated pop mavericks. Each song is intricately wrought - flutes and pizzicato violins give Toyboy the quality of a superior 70s kids' TV theme; rich orchestral embellishment on the bubbly-but-bitter Blame it On the Girls recalls vintage Eurovision. At the core of these songs are gleaming melodies that rarely fail to hit the mark, which is why even the single We Are Golden is tolerable despite the best efforts of a gang of horribly exuberant kiddie backing singers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika4Life13 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Fairly...bittersweet reviews... T4P! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie13 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Thanks for posting I think the last sentence from the Yahoo review sums it up well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Thanks for postingI think the last sentence from the Yahoo review sums it up well. Good to read some reviews that arn't from obvious Mika Haters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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