Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Knew Too Much

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I literally fell upon MIKA one day while surfing the internet about a year back looking for; of all artists; The Scissor Sisters, and saw the video for "Grace Kelly" by someone named MIKA on the sidebar. I was instantly intrigued and so...I clicked. Thank God I did, for if I hadn't I may not have discovered the pure joy of his amazing music.

MIKA's music brings a simplicity, child likeness, yet undeniable depth with it. His songs aren't just extremely catchy or poppy, but are so full of depth, with most telling a little story of some sort. It's great to have this in a world of shallow pop/rock and rap crap music.

His sophomore album, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", builds on the same fantastic childlike sounds and concepts of his first album "Life In Cartoon Motion". He starts off with a wonderful teen anthem aptly titled "We Are Golden", a cry for acceptance by peers and adults alike. He then gives us a wonderfully addictive little ditty called, "Blame It On The Girls", followed by "Rain", which I LOVE!!! A song about hating the rainy days and longing for the sun. "Dr. John" I'm not quite sure about yet.

Then we come to what I believe MIKA to be the BEST at, and that is his ballads. "I See You", is a hauntingly beautiful song about, feeling invisible in relationships. His classic training in piano comes into full swing here as he shows us just how dang good he is on those slick ivory keys.

"Blue Eyes" is a fantastic song with a wonderful almost reggae type tune to it. And "Good Gone Girl" is a sad story wrapped in a fun sounding sticky sweet pop song. At the half way point we get to my three favorite songs. First, is the George Michaelesque "Touches You" which has such an addictive chorus you'll be repeating it over and over again in the car. 'I wanna be your brother, wanna be your father too; won't let you run for cover even if they want us to. I wanna be your sister, wanna be your mother too, I wanna be, wanna be whatever else that touches you.' After that is my FAVORITE song on the album, "By The Time", such a sad and emotional ballad put into such a mellow and relaxing song. 'Don't wake up, won't wake up, can't wake up, no...don't wake me up'. The song is so beautiful and the lyrics tells such a sad yet well known story in today's age. Then lastly, "One Foot Boy" is very different from anything MIKA has done previously. His pop has always been straight up pop, but this song has such a heavy almost hip/hop groove flair to it, yet it works so well.

"Toy Boy" takes the album into a very different direction up to the end. Giving the album more of a jazzy/blues flavor, with MIKA's ever presence funny coups and puns thrown in. "Pick Up Off The Floor", is a fantastic blues ballad and a sad story as well. "Lover Boy" and "Lady Jane" wrap up the album with more clever depth and quirkiness. "Lady Jane" being a strange; and I do mean STRANGE song, about a girl who falls for a man and ends up mutilating herself and becoming a fish...yeah...a fish...but for MIKA, it works.

MIKA's voice, I could only describe as a male version of Mariah Carey. He is able to hit very low registers but is best know for hit a very high tenor, or is it high alto for guys, I'm not sure. He has a beautiful voice and a fantastic ability at writing. His cleverness and originality is undeniable and if he ever decided NOT to do music I'm sure he could have a career as a children's author.

Pick up both albums since they are both shining examples of what MAINSTREAM music could be, if people could put their clothes on and focus on the music and not the nudity, profanity or oneupmanship that has become today's music industry. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" is definitely worth being in your collection.

Best songs:
"Touches You"
"By The Time"
"One Foot Boy"
"Pick Up Off The Floor"
"Rain"

Pure fluffy pop from start to finish and I loved every minute of it. I considered rating this 4 stars because of the inevitable comparison to Life in Cartoon Motion. That comparison lowers things a little. The two albums have a very similar feel and any song from either album could easily fit on the other. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, especially if you like the upbeat feel Mika's music has, but I can't help feeling that I bought Life in Cartoon Motion a second time. However, I decided to rate it 5 stars on the merit of two songs: Good Gone Girl and One Foot Boy. The former is different enough to liven things up a bit, it almost has a little bit of a hip-hop feel to it. The latter is just plain fun. It seems like a depressing topic, a boy with one foot, but Mika makes a light upbeat tune out of it.

There was only one song on this album that I dislike (and I dislike it immensely): Toy Boy. It feels like, I dunno... polka-pop. That's as terrible as it sounds. Every other song easily reaches the standard set by his debut album and I doubt anyone who liked that will regret buying The Boy Who Knew Too Much. So, buy it! Love it!



As a note of interest, the song Blue Eyes was included which was originally released as part of the Songs for Sorrow EP. So, if you want the other songs from Songs for Sorrow as well, you might be better off just purchasing the other two singles (Lady Jane - a good song and Lonely Alcoholic - one of my favorites) as an mp3 download.

i fell in love with mika and his music when i first heard "grace kelly." loved his first album, life in cartoon motion (especially the song "love today"). i know that when an artist comes out with a smashing debut their second effort tends to pale in comparison. the new cd is basically the same sound and feel as mika's first cd. i love the sound and feel of the first cd...so i do like the sound/feel of the new cd. if you like cartoon you will like the boy (if you didn't like cartoon,you will not like the boy). i love his sound, but i was not expecting a duplicate cd. the songs on each cd can be traded with the songs of the other. it is a good cd. my favorite songs are: we are golden, touches you and one foot boy. i give the cd 5 stars because it is a good cd, it is fun music and mika is a great singer.

'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' is Mika's second studio album. If you are wondering how this compares to his first release, this collection of songs is still very pop orientated with Mika's signature use of piano and drums and organic, free-style singing approaching. 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' is very light; somehow Mika manages to make most of the songs very upbeat and optimistic with the exception of one or two. The production and writing quality of the lyrics are slightly improved over his debut album and on some songs, the instrumentals are remarkably well (at times more so than the lyrics).

The Good: Mika has improved as a song writer and producer. I was impressed more so with some of the musical instrument production more so than the lyrics simply because some of the songs are very complex and moving musically while the lyrics were a bit lacking and not as strong. Also, Mika did not stray too far from the style of his first release. In many ways this feels like a natural progression from the first album rather than something completely new and different. More tracks featured on this release came together better for me and felt more cohesive than in the previous release. Only up until the last two or three tracks did I feel he was going too far out into weird musical territory.

The Bad: None of the tracks are bad, but some felt weak. Mika shines on the upbeat, pure celebratory 'pop' tracks like "We Are Golden", "Blame It On the Girls" and "Good Gone Girl", while the slower tracks felt somewhat out of place with the rest of the album's vibe. While "Toy Boy" is quirky and tells a (somewhat) amusing story lyrically, it simply brings the album down because it feels very left field and distracting, taking away from the smooth flow of the album. "Dr. John" sounded like a cut from his first album, and that was okay but to me as a listener, it felt out of place among the other tracks.

In all, if you liked Mika's first release, you'll enjoy this one. It's pop, fun, dance-inducing with interesting lyrics and musical backing that really pulls you into the experience. There is a very old, Beatles/Queen vibe on a lot of tracks while some felt like they were re-imaginings of older songs ("Touches You" reminds me a lot of a pop-remaking of George Michael's "Father Figure"; "Good Girl Gone" features some harmonies similar to Frankie Valli's "Walk Like a Man"). Mika flirts with different past genres of music; a little hint of disco with a lot of 1980s woven through many tracks. It's fun, carefree, quality music. Only a few tracks are skip-worthy but otherwise it's a solid effort. Worth a listen.

Listen to These: "Blame It On the Girls", "Touches You", "One Foot Boy", "Rain"

I discovered MIKA through an Entertainment Weekly review shortly after Life in Cartoon Motion came out. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard those amazing songs for the first time. MIKA instantly became one of my all time favorite artists.

After waiting patiently for something more, I am definately not disappointed. Every song is perfection: his voice, the harmonies, the orchestral arrangements, the lyrics, the energy, the emotion. I can't express what this music does to me. Thank you, MIKA. Please keep doing what you're doing for a very long time.

I discovered (and fell in love with) the first album (Life in Cartoon Motion) earlier this summer, so I was very excited when I found out there was going to be another one.

Mika is a unique and extremely energetic individual, and his songs are awe-inspiring. In my collection of music, I give most songs 2 or 3 stars; my tastes are widely varied, and there's little I actually dislike. Most artists, however, only have one or two songs that receives a full five-star rating in my mental rating system. Mika is one of the only artists that produces nearly all fours and fives. Nearly any song by Mika I will listen to repeatedly, though some more than others. I have yet to find any other musician (in modern or previous times) which compares - though I love Queen, and some of the other 70s and 80s pop/rock (I find very little of interest in the 90s or 00s), even Queen (which has some truly great songs) does not have the same density for me, in which a single album will contain five or six perfect five-star songs.

A lot of people dislike Mika, but don't form any opinions until you've actually heard it. If you're like me, you'll love some solid, good music. In spite of all the references people make to earlier musicians, Mika stands alone.

If you liked LICM, you will like this album. There is no analogue to Grace Kelly; nothing quite as wildly fantastic as that, I must admit. But there are multiple songs that are at least equal to Relax, Take It Easy (which in my opinion is the second strongest song in the album)- so if you loved LICM, you should love this one as well.

Good songs from LICM: Grace Kelly; Relax, Take It Easy; Love Today; Lollipop; Stuck In The Middle; Ring Ring (they're all good, but those are the best ones)
Good songs from TBWKTM: Blame It On The Girls; Rain; Dr. John; Good Gone Girl; Lover Boy; and of course We Are Golden (once again, they're all good - those are my favorites)

Funky, Brit-pop is back!

Mika returns with his new CD, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", the much-anticipated follow-up to his successful "Life in Cartoon Motion" of 2007. Produced by Mika and Greg Wells, who has worked with Katy Perry and P!nk, this new collection is just as fun, candy-coated and laced with childlike innocence as its predecessor. However, moreso on this album than on the last, it is easy to discern Mika's sexuality, which he has spoken about with discretion in the past.

Below is a brief description and numerical rating of the tracks on this CD. You can also get the Special Edition for an additional $2.00, ($11.99), which includes some extra video footage.

Track 1: We Are Golden--(8)--a lively song to start off with--"we are not who you think we are, we are golden!" Mika's accent shines through on the chorus to this teenage rebellion song. Don't go by our famiies, don't go by the tragedies we've been through, we're young and we're alive!

Track 2: Blame it On the Girls--(6)--a song about someone who's down on life and has a generally crappy attitude but really has no reason to, since he has great looks and everything everyone else envies. He'll blame his misery on everyone else, so long as he doesn't have to take the blame himself.

Track 3: Rain--(8)--never has singing about being miserable been so catchy and sing-along encouraging. You'll be happy to sing about how much you hate when it rains.

Track 4: Dr. John--(7)--Beatles-esque rocker about trying to live life but feeling like you've failed your parents in the long run, so now you're enlisting the help of Dr. John to help you make sense of it all.

Track 5: I See You--(8)--a powerful piano ballad about being in love with someone but it being complicated in the sense that you can't let them know. If they fell for you too, though, how would you know? Neither of you can express it. So he'll just adore them from afar, no matter how painful that is. It is easy to imagine this song as a Broadway number.

Track 6: Blue Eyes--(9)--this fetching number has an almost reggae edge to it. Here, he is trying to cheer up a poor girl whose heart got broken so she's taking pills and wondering why she's not feeling any better. "What's the matter, matter, blue eyes, blue eyes?" You can almost imagine the girl sitting on the beach with Mika, smiling through her tears and giggling at him.

Track 7: Good Gone Girl--(9)--this is one fun song about a girl who used to be a good girl but has abandoned her dreams and now steps on and uses men before they can step on and use her.

Track 8: Touches You--(7)--jingly piano rock reminiscent of George Michael's style about wanting to be close to someone in any form that allows you to touch them.

Track 9: By the Time--(8)--Mika usually weaves miserable things into poppy and catchy songs to help you forget your worries. Here, he makes a beautiful ballad about missing a lost loved one. By the time he fell asleep, they were gone.

Track 10: One Foot Boy--(7)--catchy, foot-tapping tune about being done once and for all with a relationship. He won't stand being asked to change anymore--you love him for who he is or he's done! And he's done.

Track 11: Toy Boy--(10)--a touching, tender song that sounds like it was lifted from a puppet show but contains much deeper content. The young boy sleeps with his boy doll until his mom has a problem with it and supplements a Barbie doll. The boy doll though is left hurt by the event and hopes the boy will remember him and his love for him when he is older.

Track 12: Pick Up Off the Floor--(8)--a cute song to end the CD with, those boys are going to do what they're going to do so don't let it get you down. If he doesn't love you anymore, pick your heart up off the floor and move on.

Overall album rating: 8

I'll get straight to the point - this album is more mature, and slower than Mika's first album. It's also not as good, but Mika's debut album was always going to be a tough thing to live up to.

The strongest songs are good gone girl, we are golden, by the time and Dr John. My personal favourite tracks are split by 2 of these songs - by the time and we are golden. Blue eyes, rain, touches you, one foot boy, toy boy are also quite good. Sorry, but newer songs like pick it up off the floor, I see you and blame it on the girls don't really do much for me.

I feel that on this album, Mika's production team have focused to much on the music, and not enough on Mika's fabulous voice, in direct contrast to the first album.

For those expecting a sound similar to his first album - be warned, the closest you'll get is good gone girls and we are golden. The rest of the album is much slower. And ignore the hype about the video for we are golden - it's a fabulous video - colourful and fun to watch.

I gave this album 4 stars because it does grown on you over time and it's not a bad album.

It seems like just a blink of an eye ago that Mika released his first album, "Life in Cartoon Motion" on March, 27 2007. Now, almost two and a half years later, the artist has released his sophomore album, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much."

My initial comment when I listened to the album the first time: "Color me impressed." After listening to the tracks, I immediately viewed the DVD (it was interesting, but not something that I'd probably watch again as I'll just watch the music videos on YouTube).

Now that I've had an opportunity to listen to the album many times and see Mika perform the set live in Chicago, I wanted to add some additional commentary about this disc.

My favorites on the album include Rain (Track 3), Blame it on the Girls (Track 2) and of course, the first single We Are Golden (Track 1). Blame It and We Are Golden are both songs that I love to dance to. Whenever I listen to rain, I become mellow and just get lost in the song ("When it rain and rain and rain and rains...")

Blue Eyes (Track 6) was also released on the Songs For Sorrow EP. It reminds me of being on a beach. Some bongo drums, strumming guitars - another mellow song. Speaking of the EP, Toy Boy (Track 11) is another great, fun song that was also on the EP. Mika tells a story in Toy Boy; instead of a typical song with a chorus, the "song" is more of a story that Mika speaks/sings. An enjoyable listen.

I See You (Track 5) is very haunting. The piano on this track is dramatic. In a way, it reminds me of Any Other World from Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion.

While I've listened to the entire album many times, these are the tracks that stand out to me. Overall, I give this sophomore release 5-stars. Is it another Life in Cartoon Motion? No. And I'm ok with this. Do I enjoy it as much as LiCM? Yeah, I do. The Boy Who Knew Too Much has its own qualities that I very much enjoy, and showcases Mika yet again as a great performer.

Overall, I think this is an amazing 2nd album, and Mika has outdone himself. The songs on this album are definitely more complicated than the songs on his first album (musically and lyrically), and show his growth as a songwriter. The best part is that they still have that Mika sound to them, and they are witty, fun, but still beautifully written. The diversity and importance of these songs make this album very unique. Mika continues to inspire me and awe me with his brilliant music.