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Daniel Powter Album: “Daniel Powter”
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Release Date:2005-05-25
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Pop, Soft Pop, Adult Alternative
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Label:Warner Bros.
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:093624933267
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Review - Yahoo! Music - Rob O'Connor :
Born in Vernon, British Columbia, based in Santa Monica, California, invited to sing at Live 8 in Berlin and a star in France where “Bad Day” has been heard in Coca-Cola commercials and has become a natural hit with Canada following in kind, Daniel Powter is now worldwide and quite the cosmopolitan chap. His self-titled debut album is an unexpectedly smooth ride into town. Produced by the artsy-clever Mitchell Froom and Jeff Dawson, the album is a straight-forward task master, highlighted by Powter’s bright and simple piano melodies that recall the lite-soul groove of ’70s AM radio. “Lie To Me” surrenders to a funky Jackson Five falsetto, whereas “Jimmy Gets High” with its melodramatic strings yearns for Curtis Mayfield while settling into a lush Carpenters-like production. There’s the occasional attempt to shake things up like the extra raspy and bluesy strut of “Suspect,” but mostly Powter’s on a mission to coo those seductive sweet nothings in your ear.Review - :
In every country where he climbed into the Top Ten -- whether it was his native Canada, the U.K., various territories in Europe, or the U.S., where he was helped enormously by being featured on {#American Idol} -- {$Daniel Powter} had his breakthrough hit with {&"Bad Day,"} a loping, sunny tune that pretty much has the opposite sentiment of its title. It's a good signature song, encapsulating everything charming and slightly irritating about the singer/songwriter: it's effortlessly, even incandescently, melodic, immediately working its way into the subconscious, where it will never leave (at least not for a good week or so), and it's given an artful contemporary production, which is classic enough to place {$Powter} and his hooks in the forefront, yet it's dressed with just enough modern touches in its rolling rhythms, keyboards, and guitars so it doesn't sound retro. That song is the template for the rest of his debut, {^Daniel Powter}, and while there's nothing quite as grabbing as that tune, there's nothing alienating, either, which is not only to {$Powter}'s credit, but to that of his producer, {$Mitchell Froom}. Best known for his fussy, elaborately arty productions for such '90s adult alternative mainstays as {$Crowded House}, {$los Lobos}, {$Richard Thompson}, and {$Suzanne Vega}, {$Froom} retains his mastery of the studio but abandons his affectations here, turning {^Daniel Powter} into an AAA record that simply sounds appealing. And that word pretty much describes {$Powter} himself, particularly when he's doing melodic midtempo {\pop} like {&"Bad Day,"} which is just often enough to make this record quite likeable. Not that he always has perfect pitch here -- when it comes to {\ballads}, he has a bit of a tin ear, turning toward the sappy, and he has an unfortunate tendency to slide into {$Jamiriquoi}-styled lite {\funk} (very lite {\funk}), plus his words tend to fall apart into a series of trite clichés if they're inspected too closely. Nevertheless, as a record -- as a series of expertly produced, expertly recorded adult {\pop} tunes -- {^Daniel Powter} is a debut that's easy to enjoy, thanks to {$Powter}'s melodic skills and sweet voice, both reminiscent of a less idiosyncratic, streamlined {$Elton John}. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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