Disco de Marion Raven: “Here I Am”

You might know Marion Raven as the pretty (and then later sultry) brunette from M2M. Well, she's all grown up now (as if their 2nd album wasn't any indication of that - that girl suddenly became all sexy and voluptuous) and she's got a lot to write about for this new album.

In retrospect, it's a pretty solid, polished post-millennial pop/rock album, but don't just easily put it as a totally average album. It's chock full of tracks that are as catchy as they are sincere. Having your album produced by uber pop god Max Martin kinda helps out a lot, crafting a slick pop/rock album that's as accessible as it seems artistic.

All the tracks are great, by the way. Did I mention Marion Raven's easy on the eyes too (even though she tries to seem more boho and grungy with this one - she's still very much prepackaged and hot). Here's a track-by-track review of the album:

1. "End Of Me" - One of the catchiest tracks off the album is also one of the loudest and most frenetic: a stomper of a pop/rock anthem in the same vein as Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and The Veronicas' "4Ever." This one adds an eeriness that's different from the direct mainstream approach of the other two artists, especially with the use of the piano and guitar in the intro. Great, catchy, fast-paced track that's used to open the album with a bang.

2. "Here I Am" - A full on declaration, well, since the track's pretty self-explanatory. Angsty, yet loud at the same time. It's still catchy, but it's also epic with the use of the strings and big midtempo rockin' beats in the background.

3. "Break You" - THIS is a pop anthem here. Sounds like a pissed off female version to Backstreet Boys' "Incomplete," except more suited for an arena rock stadium. This is as loud as the album gets, and it's pretty damn loud.

4. "Crawl" - Not as instantly catchy as the first three tracks and not as outstanding either, but it's still catchy, bouncy, yet angsty pop/rock.

5. "Little By Little" - The pace slows down a bit and I think one weakness of the album is how the slowed down songs make the mood more somber than they are (since a lot of the album deals with angst to begin with, fast or slow songs alike). It's sweet and innocent, but it lacks the power of the other tracks.

6. "Get Me Out Of Here" - Another catchy pop/rock track that's expected at this point. It gets formulaic, yet it's still a lot of fun to listen to because it's anthemic, fast, and catchy.

7. "13 Days" - Another epic pop/rock track that's unlike the darker mainstream stuff Evanescence and Avril Lavigne have done lately. It's got a growling background with strings and bass, but it's all to the effect. Pretty good.

8. "For You I'll Die" - An ode to a lover. Marion Raven pours her heart out for this one, mainly because it's a very piano-laden ballad that's sparse and not as polished as the other tracks. It's a very intimate candlelight setting, but eerie at the same time.

9. "Let Me Introduce Myself" - Yet another catchy mid-tempo pop/rock track. It's okay, especially since there have been other better tracks that came before it.

10. "Heads Will Roll" - Great intro: almost Bj?rk-like, but it then turns out to be a really rockin' track that's just as pissed-off-sounding as any angry track here. It's darker and more experimental, yet it's not totally alienating.

11. "At The End Of The Day" - One of a few lighter moments in the album, it's pretty cheesy because it's lightweight adult contemporary/alternative. It's happy and catchy.

12. "Six Feet Under" - Like "13 Days," it's epic, yet this is more melodic and straight up pop/rock rather than trying to be a super orchestrated track. It's one of the slower Max Martin tracks, yet it's one of the best in the album because it's so melodic.

13. "Gotta Be Kidding" - A total change from "Six Feet Under" because the melody in this ain't as familiar and it's so disjointed. It's weird, but it's still straight up pop/rock. The random blasts of energy during the chorus is weird too, but you get used to it.

14. "In Spite Of Me" - Like "Little By Little," it's a more sweet track that shows a more vulnerable side to Marion Raven, the solo artist. It's a nice way to close the album because it's so simple and sweet, but it closes it in a sleepy manner.

So this album is actually a mixed bag of pissed off rocky numbers, some okay pop/rockers, and some sentimentally sweet slow numbers. With her thin, yet clear voice, she's best when she sings and not screams, yet her louder tracks end up being her catchier ones. "Here I Am" may not be Marion at her peak yet, but it's a great indication of what she's capable of: she's a promising artist with great potential, even though she might seem like another slick concauction of the pop industry.

Despite the fact that Marion left the pop roots of M2M, the album is proof that she can make it on her own in a different genre. This album represnts a more mature, grown up Marion, and if you're expecting the album to be anything like M2M, you are wrong. This is for ROCK fans.

Marion's voice is absolutley amazing and she wrote nearly all of the tracks. She plays both the guitar and piano. Most of the songs are about heartbreak or anger, except for Little By Little and Inspite of Me, which are lovely ballads.

Here I Am, End of Me, Six Feet Under, Gotta Be Kidding, and Break You have excellent lyrics and really show off Marion's powerful voice. This is a must have album. It has already done really well on the charts in other countries, and it will do well here eventually. Expect more great stuff from Marion in the future.

I remember when I heard M2M was done making music and it bothered me alot because they were one of the truly talented groups around at the time. They wrote most of their music and played some of the instruments, unlike every other teen group or soloist at the time who had a huge team behind them creating their success. When I found out Marion Raven was going solo, I was pretty bummed and wasn't expecting too much. That said, this album completely blew me away. Marion is no longer a teenager and that shows in her music, but that doesn't mean her music isn't clean. It just deals with more mature relationship problems. She wrote/co-wrote every song on the album except "Break You." Even if her solo career doesn't take off, she can at least be successful writing for other artists.

1.) "Get Me Out Of Here": A great way to start the album. It's an upbeat rock song that has been stuck in my head for the past few days.

2.) "Break You": The first single off the album written by Max Martin, who wrote "Baby One More Time" and launched Britney Spears into super stardom. This deffinatley isn't the best song on the album and seems like it tries to be a Kelly Clarkson song a little too much, but still a really good song in it's own right.

3.) "Crawl": Great tune and great lyrics. I like how it starts off slow and builds to the chorus.

4.) "Here I Am": The third single off the album and title track. Something about this song reminds me of something Britney Spears would have done, but I think it's just the way they mixed it or something. This is my second favorite song on the album.

5.) "Little By Little": The fourth single, but deffinatley not the fourth best song on the album. It's decent, but gets very repetitive. By the end of the song, you don't want to hear the words "Little By Little" again. And it seems like something Hilary Duff would do. Marion doesn't use her big voice hardly at all on this song.

6.) "End Of Me": The second single and my favorite song. It's edgy and mixes rock with lots of digital effects, but in a good way. The chorus is amazing and this is the song that you can't get out of your head after hearing it. I love the end when she mixes the first verse with the chorus. This song shows off Marion's great voice and writing ability. I would buy this album after hearing this song alone. Furthermore, it has a unique sound and doesn't sound like it's done in the style of any current artists.

7.) "13 Days": This song took me two listens to start to warm up to it, but I like it now. It's not one of the best, it's not one of the worst.

8.) "For You I'll Die": Marion slows things down alot with this great ballad. Very haunting. This song showcases her unique sound, unlike many songs on the album that sound like imitations of artists in this genre.

9.) "Let Me Introduce Myself": This song would be good if they would take away the weird sound effects and the distortion on Marion's voice when she says the line "Let Me Introduce Myself." However, even that couldn't save this song from being the worst one on the album. The songs that were cut from the album were better than this.

10.) "Heads Will Roll": This song incorporates rock and grunge. The verse sucks, but the chorus rocks, so this song ends up decent when you balance it out.

11.) "At The End Of The Day (Feat. Art Alexakis)": I'm not familiar at all with Everclear's music, but this is an ok duet. It just doesn't sound anything like the other songs on the album and doesn't fit in with the rest of the songs. However, it is a good song.

12.) "Six Feet Under": Great Song all around. I would like to see this become a single. It's haunting and has a great melody.

13.) "Gotta Be Kidding": Very reminiscent of an Avril Lavign song. It's a really good song, but I wish Marion would do more in her own style. Also, there are some weird instruments used in the background that I could do without.

14.) "In Spite Of Me": A great way to close the album. It's a slow ballad and goes the opposite direction of most of the songs on the album. Marion has obviously been cheated on because a great number of songs on this album deal with that topic, but this song is about her cheating on someone and how they were able to overlook it.

15.) "Surfin' The Sun (Bonus Track)": I love the versus and the bridge on this song is incredible. Very reminiscent of the old M2M style. The chorus goes the opposite direction of the haunting verse and makes it more of a light hearted pop song. This bonus track is alot better than some of the songs on the album and I'm baffeled as to why it got cut from the album.

This is a very good album on it's own, but when I compare it to "The Big Room" and "Shades of Purple," it doesn't hold a candle. Some of the songs on the album aren't as good as some of the cut songs. "There I Said It" is a cut song that is awesome and "Surfin' The Sun" should be on every copy, not just the Japaneese version. Marit Larsen, the other half of M2M, has a solo album coming out as well and I've heard some of her new stuff. You can hear traces of M2M in both of their music, but neither is as good without the other by their side. I Atlantic should just hire M2M back. "The Big Room" had little, if any form of marketing in the U.S. I didn't even know it was out way back when, which is probably why it bommed sales wise.

I would reccomend this album to all M2M fans, and if you've never heard of M2M, but like Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavign, this album is right up your alley. Go to Marion Raven's website where you can see her music videos and listen to snippets of some of the songs on the album. That's what convinced me to buy it.

I love her CD, she has a great voice and all her songs are catchy and interesting to listen too. I like all her songs and music style. She supprised me i did not expect her to be so good. I would recomend this CD for anyone who likes Kelly Clarkson because the music is loud like hers. There is a nice mixture of loud-(mostly) songs but some nice slow songs too.

This album is very gothic, i like it. her vocals here are a huge step up from M2M. powerful. Shes found her style with her voice. All the songs except one are written by her, and the lyrics are very telling. The songs are about getting hurt by people, and getting hurt over again. theres a couple positive songs in there. Listen to her songs and see her videos at her website. I went there and heard two songs and took the chance of buying the cd based on those two songs, and I ended up liking the cd.