Published on Sep 7, 2005
Everyone hates
American Idol and so do I.
I won’t go into the homophobia, racism and sheer mediocrity that
surrounds it; that’s another whole editorial. Simply put, the
boring show doesn’t quite do what it’s supposed to do; that is,
show how real life can be more thrilling than fiction.
There is one exception. Nobody would suspend disbelief if Clay
Aiken’s story was a movie. A former teacher to autistic children,
the nerdy, nobody-ish Aiken visibly shocked the judges in auditions
with his voice, became a finalist, was voted off, was brought back
on as the wild card, went to the finals and lost to some forgotten
guy who Aiken creamed on the Billboard charts. This is what reality
TV was supposed to be and was, for a single glorious season on a
single show.
The almost-as-dramatic
Measure Of A Man tackles familiar themes in pop music, which
may not be as familiar as you think… when was the last time you
heard a power ballad that worked? By a man, no less. “I Will Carry
You” and “Run to Me” are cinematically evocative, and illuminating
to compare with the failed “This is the Night” or “Invisible,”
which are themselves decent songs that either sound better live or
need snazzier production. Aiken’s success goes to show that singers
who can pull off the drama without making millions of listeners
cringe are actually pretty rare despite the many that try (again,
witness
American Idol, which is essentially an audition for power
balladeers, no matter what they claim to be).
The album is seriously marred by its demo-quality instrumental
arrangements (PEOPLE…. STOP USING DRUM MACHINES IF YOU WORK IN
R&B!) and some of the songs don’t work: “Shine” and “Touch” are
unnecessary attempts to update the sound of the album by throwing
in some white rock chords, “No More Sad Songs” isn’t nearly as
convincing as “I Survived You” (which is even more convincing than
Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”). And I would’ve appreciated
more songs like “The Way” that shows he’s not just a belter; this
is a voice that can tell stories and it’s frustrating not to hear
it used to that potential (apparently he’s on some kind of cover
songs tour… yikes!). But these are inevitable clunkers and
criticisms in a debut album that contains twelve songs. If the more
than fairly consistent Aiken was stock, I’d still invest, a
little.
Measure Of A Man sounds like a rushed album, but it’s still
a solid, understated showcase for a promising singer. It’s just so
much better than the other
Idol crud they’ve saddled poor consumer
exploitation-ignorant young listeners with.
Idol, a show successful only in ratings, will have to do
better than one good singer to get any kind of immortal validation
it aspires to through its title.