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I was going to be strong and not download...wait until Monday at midnight. Pfft. That lasted about as long as it took me to read clawme's first comment. Now I'm just waiting for the frickin' download to finish.

Thanks nas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Happy Birthday clawme!!!!11!!

You're gonna be so glad you caved, Abby. Hee hee ha ha!

ETA: All you bishes out there....CAVE!

Just do it.

ETAA: You know what I hate about this CD? IT'S TOO DAMN SHORT!

Okay, "As Long As We're Here" is my favorite of the moment. The beginning, the middle, and the end rule the world.

Listened to Ashes. My reaction? Now I'm listening to Everything I Don't Need. My reaction?

Squee!!!1!!!!

eta: I love the little piano "trills" at the end of As Long As We're Here. And now I'm listening to Falling. My reaction? Lurve. Hee! I haven't heard anything I didn't love yet!!

eata: I'll just keep on talkin' to myself. I'm really impressed by the diversity of the tracks. I'm listening to Something About Us. Yup. I love that one too. Hee. It's got a very "old style crooner" vibe to it, and it fits his voice beautifully!

45%. . . . . .48% . . . . . 50%. . . . . .53%. . . . .

If only I'd gotten off my ass and switched over to my new super-duper fast computer during the week, it might be DONE by now!

68%. . . . .69%. . . . . . 73% . . . . .

Grrrrr! Faster, dammit, FASTER!

83%. . . . . .84%. . . .85%. . . . .

Hee! I was all WTF!? Where did the posts go after nas posted the OMWH download link?! Here they are!!

I agree about it being "radio freindly". But I ain't getting my hopes up....this is Clay Aiken we're talking about here.

I LOVE EIDN & Ashes. Get down with your bad self boyfriend.

"Something About Us" is too gorgeous. It belongs on a movie soundtrack.

Ditto for "The Real Me", and of course, LAA. Beautiful.

Clay.......you did good this time.

And don't worry.......I'll be buying several copies of the album too. I'm not THAT bad of a fan.

Yeah that! I've now listened to all of the songs...and there is not a one I didn't like. I'll have to listen more to pick a favorite or two! I'm so happy!!!

Thanks again nas!

Me, too!!!

I can't believe I have a Clay Aiken CD where I'm not going to skip any of the songs! That's never happened before! Not even on the Christmas CD!

I can't even pick a favorite. I'm a schmoop, so I'm thinking Grace of God might be closest to the top at the moment. Doesn't hurt that that's the song where he gets closest to using his lower register. That's my only tiny gripe--where's his lower register? Of course, that the same gripe I have with everything he does.

Holy shit, THAT is Clay Aiken??!??!??!?!??!??!!!!!!! :wink

I've never given much of a flying fuck about radio play, but if they could send out "Ashes" with no name on it, it could probably get played. NO ONE who isn't intimately acquainted with Clay's voice would hear that and instantly know it was him. Donny Osmond did that ages ago, and it actually got his song played on the radio. He knew if they knew it was him, no one would touch it. But by virtue of the record alone, it did get played. Sucks, but c'est la vie. Of course, that was before the complete corporatization of radio, back when a good song could get played on the radio simply by virtue of being a good song. Those were good times.

I'm actually puzzled by the decision to use OMWH as the first single, since that's the most obvious, stereotypical "Clay Aiken" song on there. So he's gonna show up on Today, and the View and Leno and sing that song, and everyone listening is gonna think "Oh, more of the same from Aiken." That's a shame, I think, cuz this CD is different.

I'm on my second pass through the CD now. Everything I Don't Need is all kinds of awesome. That growl?? Heh.

Okay, I gotta get this on my ipod so I can get off this computer and play it downstairs. . .. ciao!

One more thought. Someone needs to take Something About Us and write a musical around that song that Clay can star in. So there. Now I'm gone. For reals.

Crap. I guess I get the "bad fan of the year" award, because I barely noticed any of the songs. I started at "Ashes" (because I already know I hate OMWH), and then went about my regular internet business like I do with all my other music. Usually, if a song is good, I stop what I'm doing and go "OMG! What's this song called? I love it!" and switch from mini-player to full iTunes, but I didn't do that once with this album.

I feel like an outcast now.

Can I just mention really fast that I am so sickeningly in love with "Sacrificial Love" I can't even....

I mean...God...

I'm just a mess because of it...

Anybody got a light?

More than a little turned on at the moment. Try listening to "Ashes" on headphones, and on the last line, and the sound moves so it's like he's singing just behind you - first into one ear, then moving slowly around behind to end up with his lips thisclose to your other ear. The first time I heard it I actually looked over my shoulder.

LOVE "Everything I Don't Need". He GROWLS! And "Something About Us". And actually "As Long As We're Here" is fab, the instrumentation is great.

Getting late - I will drool at more length tomorrow when it's not 3am. hee.

nas, you rock!

So does this CD. Awesome. After five years. Five. Wow. It's awesome.

I really LOVE every single song. It's too much to have all at once.


Hee. ...and then toss Jules and Kav into the mix and it's really just.too.much.

i just got through listening and let me just say, I don't love it...I AM BEYOND LOVE, I FUCKING LOVE IT TO LITTLE PIECES, I WANNA MARRY IT AND NEVER STOP LISTENING TO IT AND AM SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKIN HAPPY RIGHT NOW. (just incase there was any doubt.) I can't even describe it. eep. I am so proud of him!!! 5 years baby. He's so fantastic. I just think this album is him through and through and I adore it. It totally hits me and he's just awesome. So beautiful. I really adore all of the songs. They are very intricate and interesting. Not at all boring to me. I can't take them all in completely but to say, I love it. I want to dance around the house but it's 11:30 so I have to wait.

I got to listen for my first time with Julie and Kav and it was awesome. iluboth.

Nas is my favorite person right now!!!! I'm going to dream of nas tonight!!! if i ever get to bed that is. thank you thank you thank you.

Kavanaugh KJ wrote:

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Try listening to "Ashes" on headphones, and on the last line, and the sound moves so it's like he's singing just behind you - first into one ear, then moving slowly around behind to end up with his lips thisclose to your other ear. The first time I heard it I actually looked over my shoulder.

Thank God I'm not the only one who did that. I seriously thought someone was talking to me and my headphones were too loud and was creeped out when I looked around and no one was there.

My favorites off of one listen: Grace of God, Falling, As Long As We're Here, Sacrificial Love, Weight of the World and surprisingly for me, Something About Us (and still Lover All Alone)
Like it a lot/Like it: Ashes, On My Way Here, Where I Draw the Line, Everything I Don't Need (but I think more because I like the different vibe it lends the CD and what it lets Clay do with his voice than actually liking the song itself)
Least favorite: Also surprisingly, The Real Me (I like Natalie Grant's version better from what I remember. It dragged.)

Clay's voice is fucking fantastic on this CD. It reminded me just how much music today is missing voices like that. And what a good producer can do? Finally. I really think Kipper lent an amazing amount of talent to this CD.

ClayIsMyCabayo, it might just not be your style. It might even grow on you. It's a far more "pop" CD than I expected, that's for sure. It's okay not to like/love it!

I hope I'm more fun in dreams than I expect I am. Seriously, once it leaks it's easy to find. I love the internet.

YouStopRightNow wrote:

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I really LOVE every single song. It's too much to have all at once.

This is me. I've been listening to all the songs on a loop tonight while surfing and doing some work. Every song that comes up I think, oh, this is my favorite. Hee. I guess I have 12 favorites.

clawme - Happy Birthday! Great birthday present eh?

nas - thanks so much for bringing the link.

I listened a few times yesterday and loved it. Then I fell asleep about 6:30 and woke up at 3 this morning. I've had a lot of uninterrupted quality time with the cd since I woke up. I've listened multiple times with headphones and ….Wow! I hope that, regardless of sales, Clay is deservedly proud of this cd. I want to kiss him and Kipper.

What struck me is the amount of work Clay must have put in to pick the right songs for it. And the song selection screams Clay - it feels intensely personal to me. There's a guardedness, sadness, a sense of longing, and hopefulness about the cd in its entirety.

On My Way Here: didn't like on first listen and haven't changed my mind. The lyrics are too clichéd for me. But if it was the catalyst for finding the other songs, I can live with it.

Ashes: Intense LOVE. Loved the first "I Still Walked Away". Loved - "I was never good enough somehow, try to remind me now". For me, this song is a big FU to the critics. He's walked through the fire and he'll do what he wants now. It should be the anthem for his career.

Everything I Don't Need: Possibly my favorite. So bluesy. The "well, well" kills me. Kipper wrote a killer song. Very cool lyrics - loved "It's all about you - I want to move out before the breakdown starts". I love the growl and anger in it.

Something About Us: First I thought, which one of these songs does not belong? This song is way too romantic for the album. But then I got to thinking about the thread of hopefulness that runs through most of the songs, and it slides right in. Gorgeous song. I picture couples dancing to it at a jazz club and it being many couple's "our song".

Falling: Another love. Great fit for him. Love the mix of fast and slow. I love the part where it sounds like he's singing in a tunnel and last "falling" when it eases back out of the tunnel. Very cool sounding.

Where I Draw the Line: Way up on my list. The sentiment of the song reminds me so much of Lover All Alone, only more hopeful. Clay could have written this one.

The Real Me: Almost too painful to listen to. Not painful in the way of being a bad song, but painful in the soul bearing nakedness of the song. I'll probably skip it often. I don't want to feel that pain too often.

Weight of the World: Love it. So sad, yet hopeful. Another one that sounds intensely personal for Clay.

As Long As We're Here: This one is way up on my list too. The longing in it kills me - "if they could just tear them down, they'd have it all". Love the falsetto on "Why". Love the piano.

Sacrificial Love: When I actually sat down with the headphones on this one, it brought tears to my eyes. Possibly one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. This one could challenge Everything I Don't Need for my favorite.

Grace of God: I bet this is one of Clay's favorites. It's so him. Lower register Clay kills me. Love it.

Lover All Alone: LAA will always be one of my favorite Clay songs. The sound of it doesn't fit with the rest of the songs, but the lyrics are a perfect fit for the album.
I'm so happy with the album! What a gift he has given us.

eta: I have no idea why there is so much space between everything.

Can I just mention really fast that I am so sickeningly in love with "Sacrificial Love" I can't even....

I mean...God...

Yep, I know... This one is my baby, too. Gah.

What struck me is the amount of work Clay must have put in to pick the right songs for it. And the song selection screams Clay - it feels intensely personal to me. There's a guardedness, sadness, a sense of longing, and hopefulness about the cd in its entirety.

YES - totally! When I'm listening I'm getting shivers because it's even more apparent to me now that he never wanted to do ATDW. THIS is what he wanted to do and I fucking LOVE it.

and mega hugs to Julie and Jules - I had the best time squeeing over the album with you guys last night.

There isn't a song on the album I don't like. I'm blown away. I think I have a particularly soft spot for 'As Long As We're Here', which just sweeps me away every time I listen - but when each new track starts there's something else that's just wonderful. The production and choice of instrumentation is just ... whoa. But above it all - it's his voice. They've got his concert voice on CD. He sounds freaking amazing. I've been waiting to hear this from the moment he left AI - this man has one hell of a talent and to hear him singing something where the words actually MATTER to him is killing me dead, over and over again.

The growls on Everything I Have and the odd word here and there that's kind of broken aren't helping either. He's feeling these, not just singing the freaking telephone book - if he sings these on tour and finds himself musing about what he's going to have for dinner in the evening, I'll be surprised.

I'm so in love. *happysigh*

I know it shouldn't bother me but what's with all these reviews, honestly? Are they so intent on keeping their view of him that they can't even for a moment listen with open ears? Sure, you can decide you don't like it, but for gawd's sake, at least listen. The prevailing lines of clean, inoffensive, etc., only for those that already like him, ad nauseum , don't wash for me. What, I am honestly asking, are they looking for? They complain that Ashlee Simpson is pro tooled to death, but give her three stars or more; they complain about trite lyrics (I'd say "like a child needs his blanket, my umbrella...ellla...ella..., and a myriad of other wordage is amongst the trityish trite that trites), but these are top dog on radio; they want singers, yet one of the best voices out there gets marginalized each and every fucking time. For the most part, the lyrics are reasonably adult, reasonably mature, make sense. What the hell do they want? Now, some of these artists have their place, and sure, you can like them too, and there is a lot of stuff out there currently that I do like, I love a good beat, some totally inane stuff, just for the fun of it, but what is it about Clay that they really just refuse to even consider that he is relevant. I'd rather they actually did a breakdown of the songs, the musical choices, the lyrical content, for real, actually speaking to it, the use of how it all comes together (or not, as the case may be), that they actually review it in the context it is rather than in comparison to a genre he isn't attempting. I don't know; it's frustrating. He doesn't have to be universally loved, or liked, but as much as they complain about the manufactured voices and overuse of the same fucking sound on album after album, be it Timbaland or Timberlake, (and not saying they don't have the right to be out there all over the place...they have as much as anyone else) they just aren't willing to look past his start, his perceived fans (another thing that pisses me off to no end, as a 48 year old enjoying any other singer/performer seems to be okie dokie, as it's GREAT to cross appeal to multiple generations, if you aren't Clay) He said it himself....if anyone else were singing the songs they'd be heard. Damn.

I'm just not in a fucking good mood this morning; I guess I should just not let it bother me but it does because along with the critics you've got your own fellow "fans" basically asking that you not show your face if you're over a certain age, on the tee vee, and or, implied, anywhere there's photographic evidence. Unless, of course, you're a smart, savvy, "expert" in some way, who can wear sexy, fuck me shoes, and presumably pull it off, while not being over the top in any way, cuz of course, YOU know how to act. And, by the way, since you are a certain age, even in your fuck me shoes, AH'M SURE YOU'LL BE GIVING UP THOSE FRONT ROW SEATS TO THE PYT THAT WALKS UP. Yeah, right. Keep your opinions to your self, chickie. I'll listen to whom I want, where I want, wearing what I want, and I'll just skip Fan Behavior and Dress Code 101, and rely on my own mature thought process to guide me in my fandom. I do realize there are the extreme over the top, Jesus make them stop, peeps in this fandom, but this criticism today just seems like it's aimed in general at people there to support the man, not just the highly ENTHUSIASTIC ones, but any in the age group outside PYT, because apparently it's embarrassing(!) to show anyone not magazine cover ready. Honestly, if I thought that Clay thought that way, and I see no indication of that in his interactions with varying age groups of his fans, I wouldn't be around, cuz, ya know, I've more respect for me than that. Huge fucking deep breath, under mah heaving middle aged boobage SIGH.

Shit...maybe this should go in the Rant thread?

Bitchy much today?

eta: I actually didn't think the AMG review was all that bad, excepting the last line. That one could have been left off as it's extraneous. He notes earlier in the commentary that the listeners that are not fans could enjoy certain aspects of the album and be surprised, per se, so why the closeout with only for his fans? THAT'S the kinda stuff that pisses me off...it either appeals to both, in some way, or it doesn't...why marginalized once again? But, all in all, if you skimmed it you would see that it isn't a condemnation, either. I guess you could say his review gets a two star from me.:-)

Still bitching, though......;-)