Billboard Watch: Top 200 Albums (Jason Mraz: Mr A-Z)
As you can see, I've changed the name of the Billboard column. After going to the Billboard site the week after I did the first "Weekly Billboard," I realized I couldn't subject myself to some of the things that were topping the charts for consecutive weeks. And since this is not a full-time job, sometimes I just don't have the time. So occasionally I'll see what's on the Billboard and let you know about it. It doesn't necessarily have to be something on the top of the charts. Maybe sometimes I'll go to the bottom and see what's down there. This week I'm doing the number five album on the top 200 album list: Jason Mraz with Mr. A-Z.
Jason Mraz had a hit back on 2002 with "Remedy," and hearing that song piqued my interest. So I downloaded a bunch of his live recordings in addition to picking up a copy of his debut album Waiting For My Rocket To Come. I found that I enjoyed the album, but I enjoyed his live performances even more. In my opinion, one weakness of the first CD was that it took songs that sounded best with an acoustic guitar, vocals, and not much else and then overproduced them. The songs were still solid on the album, but sometimes it was just too much.
That brings us to the sophomore effort from Jason Mraz, Mr. A-Z. I've heard from some that they find the first single, "Wordplay" to be cocky and self-referential. I don't feel the same way, though I can definitely see where that impression would come from. The thing about Jason Mraz is that he refernces his older non-album songs in his lyrics on the first album. It seems to me, more than being cocky, he just gets a kick out of it. So that doesn't bother me. The fact that he talks about himself quite a bit in the song doesn't really bother me either, because he is, as he says "all about the wordplay." If he didn't do it well, that would be one story. But he does.
The nice thing about Mr. A-Z is that the whole album doesn't have to be about the wordplay. Sure, we've got songs like "Geek in the Pink" and "Did You Get My Message?", which showcase Mraz's free-flowing style, but we also get tracks like the haunting "Bella Luna" and the almost Ben Folds-esque "Mr. Curiosity," which display his singing chops. Mraz has extraordinary control of his voice, and he sounds as good singing in falsetto as he does in full voice.
The problem I have here is the same one I had with the first album--the production. The songs on the whole are stronger on this album, and it doesn't show as much as it did with Rocket. But there are times when the songs seem to revel in their overproduction--like at the end of "Did You Get My Message?", when there's a completely unnecessary run of background vocals and general chaos, or the incomprehensible bridge to "Mr. Curiosity" that features wind chimes and opera. I'm not kidding. It's weird.
On the whole I enjoy the album, and I can recommend it. But there are too many parts that make me say "Wha' Happened?" for me to give it a really good score. If you want the best Mraz out there by far, find his live performance at Java Joe's from 2001.
Final Score: 3 cents.
Jason Mraz had a hit back on 2002 with "Remedy," and hearing that song piqued my interest. So I downloaded a bunch of his live recordings in addition to picking up a copy of his debut album Waiting For My Rocket To Come. I found that I enjoyed the album, but I enjoyed his live performances even more. In my opinion, one weakness of the first CD was that it took songs that sounded best with an acoustic guitar, vocals, and not much else and then overproduced them. The songs were still solid on the album, but sometimes it was just too much.
That brings us to the sophomore effort from Jason Mraz, Mr. A-Z. I've heard from some that they find the first single, "Wordplay" to be cocky and self-referential. I don't feel the same way, though I can definitely see where that impression would come from. The thing about Jason Mraz is that he refernces his older non-album songs in his lyrics on the first album. It seems to me, more than being cocky, he just gets a kick out of it. So that doesn't bother me. The fact that he talks about himself quite a bit in the song doesn't really bother me either, because he is, as he says "all about the wordplay." If he didn't do it well, that would be one story. But he does.
The nice thing about Mr. A-Z is that the whole album doesn't have to be about the wordplay. Sure, we've got songs like "Geek in the Pink" and "Did You Get My Message?", which showcase Mraz's free-flowing style, but we also get tracks like the haunting "Bella Luna" and the almost Ben Folds-esque "Mr. Curiosity," which display his singing chops. Mraz has extraordinary control of his voice, and he sounds as good singing in falsetto as he does in full voice.
The problem I have here is the same one I had with the first album--the production. The songs on the whole are stronger on this album, and it doesn't show as much as it did with Rocket. But there are times when the songs seem to revel in their overproduction--like at the end of "Did You Get My Message?", when there's a completely unnecessary run of background vocals and general chaos, or the incomprehensible bridge to "Mr. Curiosity" that features wind chimes and opera. I'm not kidding. It's weird.
On the whole I enjoy the album, and I can recommend it. But there are too many parts that make me say "Wha' Happened?" for me to give it a really good score. If you want the best Mraz out there by far, find his live performance at Java Joe's from 2001.
Final Score: 3 cents.
Tha Docta's two cents. | 12:20 AM
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