You Would Be The Last Thing That I Saw Coming...I'm Still Surprised

So where to start this evening?

I am actually pretty annoyed that people are giving me such a hard time for being happy that Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s record. At the risk of sounding completely insensitive…I don’t think that the fact that Lou Gehrig passed away at a young age should be an issue. I am not saying that the guy didn’t suffer or that his life was in any way fair…but I am saying that it has nothing to do with the hitting record. We are talking baseball folks…and baseball only. Bottom line...Derek accomplished a major feat last night and there is nothing wrong with being happy for him. It doesn’t make me Gehrig hater, a mean person, or any of the other stuff I have been called in the past 24 hours. I am simply a devoted Jeter fan who is proud of his accomplishment.

Basically what I am saying is get off my ass about it.

Moving on…let’s toss The Kiskadian a bone and talk about something other than baseball. Let’s talk about the new Joshua Radin album. It is kinda funny that he finally released it last week because I had every intention of writing a strongly worded blog about the fact that it was taking so damn long. Anyway…I was pleased to see it finally arrive on iTunes and I downloaded almost first thing Sunday morning. Since then I have listened to it a few times in order to get a feel for it. The fact that it took a couple times of listening to it should have been my first clue that something was amiss. Now you should know that I am a crazy Joshua Radin fan. My Radin fanaticism is no where near the Jeter or Jovi levels…but it is still pretty high. I have loved everything that he has ever released and believe him to be one of the more talented artists currently recording music at the moment. So keep that in mind as I move on in this review.

After listening to it several times I can only say that I am content with the album. It is good and enjoyable to listen to…but nothing jumped out and made me think…oh this is DA BOMB! In fairness, part of it might have to do with the fact that a few songs were part of the pre-release thing that he did for iTunes...but that in itself just sends me on another issue so bare with me. My first point was that the pre-release of four songs Sky, The Fear That You Won’t Fall, You’ve Got Growing Up To Do, and Lovely Tonight pretty much led me to believe that I was going to be getting a phenomenal album. It set the bar pretty high. Now let’s talk about the part of whole pre-release thing that really has me annoyed and compare them then and now and you will see my point.

Sky
Then: A duet with Ingrid Michaelson.
Now: A solo with some random chick humming along every now and then.
Winner: Then of course. It was catchy and cute before. Not so much anymore. For some reason the song is just meant to be a duet. When it is sung as a duet it seems like a little “I love you more, no I love you more” argument between one of those annoyingly loving couples. As an almost solo, it seems like Joshua is just bitching and I can’t say that I like him that way.

The Fear That You Won’t Fall
Then: Pretty Good…but not as good as the version recorded for iTunes Live Session last year.
Now: MIA. Not on the new album. Being that I have the good version I am not too pissed...just a little confused.
Winner: Being that only one showed up the dance...this should be a no brainer.

You’ve Got Growing Up To Do:
Then: So incredibly hot…so much that it was almost too hot to listen to it. I think it was because it was just Joshua and his guitar. The song comes off as very intimate and can tell that there points where his intent is for the song to sung as a whisper. It is sung in such a sweet and sexy way that it is easy to forget that he is actually singing of leaving. Hell…if there was ever a right way to dump a girl…it would be this song.
Now: Annoying. It is too fast and the annoy chicks voice is in it…taking away from everything that made the song great to begin with.
Winner: No question…Then

Lovely Tonight
Then: The absolute best song on the pre-release. It is actually one of…if not the best Joshua Radin song to date. Seriously, it is that good. I knew that it would be hard for any of the tracks to top this song but I had hoped that they would be in the same league. Lyrically it is truly amazing. Every line of the song is a strong contender for the best line. I felt in love with the song from the first time that I heard it and it has been steadily climbing up my playcount list ever since.
Now: MIA…and this really pisses me off. Although I suppose that I should actually be grateful because if it had been ruined in the re-release I would have been super, super bummed.
Winner: Then

See the pattern?

The rest of the album is decent. But I said before…not spectacular and that is pretty much a bummer. I guess few things in live up to the hype. It is my own fault for allowing myself to have high hopes in the first place.