What can you anticipate to the weakest season (Season 9) in the history of American Idol? Lee DeWyze and his debut album Live It up is just like that. Listeners could only have one feeling, which is plain. Simon Cowell used to say, the true artist should have the masterpiece that half of the people would love it and half of them would hate it. This is so right. Thinking about all the great works, all of them are unique and creative, and most of this novelty would definitely not be able to concern all the tastes.
It is a pity that Live It Up can not do it. The first time you listen to it, you would know that this is just one of the most ordinary pop-folk albums. No one can really love it or hate it. Usually there are two attitudes toward such kind of music: one is sleepy, one is touching, because most of the folk song would relate to emotion expression and lyric ballad. The reason why I say this album is so ordinary is because it is in this principle.
The first song “Live It up” is just such love ballad. Delightful guitar solo and Lee’s lazy voice take listeners to the street in which the man meets the strange lady, and he thinks about falling in love with her. Such cliché seems to define the whole album of being simple without excitement. The following songs such as “It’s Gonna Be Love”, “Dear Isabelle” and single “Beautiful Like You” all have similar storytelling. The arrangement of the song similarly uses lively guitar solo or soft piano to reinforce the sensibility of the love stories. Only these elements would the fans who want to have excitement refuse to accept this album. Undeniably, similar style and simple stories in the song could hardly bring any commercial benefits to the album, and it is no surprise that Lee is one of the most unsuccessful American Idol.
Although this album could not take Lee to the circle of “brilliant artists”, Live It Up still has something to talk about. As a pop-folk album, the songs can sometimes become so touching to the listeners, especially when the story of the song can match listeners’ past experience. Firstly, Lee’s lazy and husky voice perfectly matches with folk music. Taking “Dear Isabelle” as example, Lee transfers his love to “Isabelle” vividly and incisively with his lazy voice. In the song, he sings that he is not good at expressing his feelings, so he writes this song and hopes everything is not too late. Meanwhile, the inornate personality as a painter provides a plain side appropriately to this song. Besides, Lee’s powerhouse vocal is depicted in the song “Beautiful Like You”. Such powerful vocal is one of the merits in his Idol journey. Unlike David Cook and Kelly Clarkson, Lee’s voice is more like the water with breeze, a little wave from the water, not too much, but just alright. In “Beautiful Like You”, Lee lightly depicts a heart of waiting in verse, when the song comes to the chorus, Lee gradually gives us a little bit of excitement and then explode: “If you could only just stop running, if you could only take a second to breathe it in, everything that you know would be beautiful like you”.
Obviously, to listen to this album need particular occasion. When you are so excited to want to have a party, this album is definitely not want you want. However, when you have time to sit down and appreciate everything, you would find that Lee uses his sincerity to tell us beautiful and warm love stories one by one. Sometimes, we have to admit that, commercial and authentic are always opposite. You may never find pure spirit in Lady Gaga or Katy Perry’s songs, but those albums that never sold well usually maintain the sincerity and authenticity such as this album.
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