After reading the early reviews of Lee DeWyze’s new album, “Live It Up,” I was prepared to recommend Idol fans ignore it and just purchase “Slumberland.”
That independent album — Lee’s second — was released just before the paint salesman from Mount Prospect, Ill., appeared on Idol.
And it showed promise. My only complaint, someone needed to nudge Lee out of slumberland and add a little kick to his music.
That happened on “Live It Up,” a perfectly pleasing pop album.
A classic? Hardly.
A potential platinum album? Probably not, given the lack of buzz about Idol’s season nine and the ensuing summer tour.
Still, “Live It Up’s” not nearly as bad as you’ve been hearing.
In my mind, “Sweet Serendipity,” with its rapid-fire chorus, was a poor pick for a first single. More annoying than catchy.
But the album offers up better mid-tempo pop songs, including the title track, “It’s Gotta Be Love,” “Stay Here” and “Me and My Jealousy.”
Among the ballads, “Beautiful Like You” and “A Song About Love” are the standouts.
That latter makes for a nice album-closer and comes closest to recapturing the simple charm of “Princess” and “Stay” — the two standout tracks from “Slumberland.”
But this album offers up more versatility than its predecessor while keeping Lee’s husky vocals front and center.
To his credit, Lee has writing credits on 10 of the 11 tracks, the lone exception being “Beautiful Like You.”
Download worthy: “Stay Here,” “Me and My Jealousy,” “A Song About Love”
Grade: B-
Other reviews: (Look, Amy, I included Newsday)
Chicago Sun-Times: Gives Lee 1 star
Allmusic.com: Gives Lee 2 stars out of 5
Newsday: Says Lee has best post-Idol debut since Carrie Underwood
US Magazine: Gives Lee 1.5 stars.
Entertainment Weekly: Gives Lee a C.
Chicago Tribune: Gives Lee 2 stars out of 4.
Lee DeWyze
“Live It Up”
1. Live It Up
2. Sweet Serendipity
3. It’s Gotta Be Love
4. Dear Isabelle
5. Beautiful Like You
6. Stay Here
7. Me and My Jealousy
8. Brooklyn Bridge
9. Weightless
10. Earth Stood Still
11. A Song About Love
A Song About Love American Idol Lee DeWyze Live It Up Me and My Jealousy Stay Here Sweet Serendipitiy
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4 Comments
Ah Mark, just for me. Thanks!
But seriously, I’m glad you decided to give Live It Up a listen for your third installment of “Let’s talk about Lee’s CD.” (Yes, I’m counting.) There are so many who are just ready to throw Lee out with American Idol (think baby and bath water). American Idol is not the phenom it once was but that’s not the fault of the contestants. Regardless of what dizzyfeet has in store for us this year, Nigel Idol (I mean American Idol) has jumped the shark. It’s done. But it’s left us with such notables as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, and David Cook. Will Lee live up to the stature of these predecessors? Not likely, but he’s a talented guy and deserves the respect of at least listening to his CD before throwing out a blog or review. So thanks Mark, for giving Live It Up a listen and giving Lee a chance.
Oh, and here is another positive review:
IGN Entertainment 7 out 10
http://music.ign.com/articles/113/1133262p1.html
Thanks for giving LIU an honest listen. I wonder if some of the other reviewers even bothered to listen and just based their review on snippets or even worse..other negative reviews. Really not a fair way to judge an album. I have read the word “bland” and “beige” and I’m sorry, I’m not getting that vibe at all. I think it’s one of the best CD’s I’ve ever purchased and I will go pick up another as I have a feeling I’ll be wearing a hole in this one 🙂 I highly recommend it!
I love live it up.