Customer Reviews

Custom Built

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Bret Michaels seems to be everywhere lately. The Poison front man and solo artist has done 3 seasons of Rock of Love for television, appeared on The Apprentice and a few other tv shows, received publicity for the song "Nothing To Lose" which featured Miley Cyrus and was in the hospital not too long ago. But to be honest I was always more of a fan of the music he did with and outside of Poison than I am of his newfound celebrity status. I liked the material Bret released with Poison, especially the first few albums, and to some extend his solo career. Custom Built is Bret`s fifth studio solo album, sixth if you count 2008`s Rock My World which had only 3 new songs and was mostly a greatest hits of his solo career up to that point and a promotional tool for his Rock of Love series.

I think the material here is supposed to appeal to fans of the Rock of Love series or just Bret Michaels who don`t know anything about his past music. A duet with Miley Cyrus was sure to bring Bret some attention on radio and bring him new fans who weren`t familiar with him. I don`t mean the material on the album is bad but this is almost the same thing Rock My World was, old songs with a few new thrown in and remixes. There are 12 songs on Custom Built of which 7 are new songs, there are two bonus songs included with the digital download only (other versions of new songs Lie To Me and Wasted Time). Out of those seven songs there`s the song for his new tv show Riding Against The Wind (which is a very good song, I`ll give him that) Nothing To Lose with Miley Cyrus (which depending how you view it might be good or absolute trash) plus a solo version of the same song. There`s also a cover song "What I Got", another version of Every Rose Has It`s Thorn (I don`t like this version, I thought it was such a personal song that including all those musicians kind of ruined it for me in the end) and two new songs Lie To Me and Wasted Time which are good. Bret stays with the country-rock formula that he has stuck with his entire solo career, for the most part it`s a pleasant sound and it works for him.

So here`s a summary of what Bret did on Custom Built:

-Two new mixes of Driven (that song has been on Freedom of Sound, Rock My World, Acoustic sessions and now on Custom Built) and Go That Far. The mixes are not bad but the songs are not new.

-Two versions of a new song Nothing To Lose.

-His new television show`s theme song.

-Two other new songs (total of five "brand new" songs)

-A new version of Every Rose Has It`s Thorn with other artists.

-A cover song.

-Two Songs from "Freedom of Sound".

-One song from "A Letter From Death Row".

Correct me if I`m wrong but there doesn`t seem to be a whole lot of new on Custom Built. What`s on the album is definitely not bad but I`d prefer all-new material especially considering how Rock My World had only three new songs. If you just want the new songs go ahead but otherwise you will probably be deceved.I think the two new mixes are not bad, but rather unnecessary. Plus doing a new version of Every Rose Has Its Thorn seems useless as well if it`s not going to be that great. I don`t think Michaels will really impress anyone here but his new material is true to himself which is not a bad thing. As much as I love Bret as a musicians I`d recommend this to casual fans and collectors only. I can`t give this more than two stars unfortunately.

There is nothing this guy cannot do. From frontman, to actor, to T.V. celebrity, to writer, to singer, to solo artist, Bret Michaels can and does it ALL! And let's not forget, DAD!! Truly amazing, and true to his fans, I have met Bret on a couple of occasions, at celebrity softball games, and backstage at a Poison show, He treated me and my son like family, signing autographs, and giving out free tickets to upcoming gigs. All of his solo material is good, but this CD is "fan"tastic! Every aspect of his fanbase gets a little piece of his talent. Even though I'm more the rocker type, I also really enjoyed the bluesy and country stuff too. No song sounds like another, and you will be blown-away by his vocals, and the lyrics.. The ballads are especially playable. Worth the price, worth your time, worth listenning to over and over!! Thanks Bret..

I can't even beleive how terrible this album is. The best song on this album is the duet with Miley Cyrus; does that say enough for ya? A friend of mine gave me this album, I listened to it once and gave it to my teenage daughter. She tried to give it back, and I wouldn't accept it. I am not sure where it is now, probably in the garbage.
I never have written a negative review of an album. If I don't like an album, I usually just skip it and put out a good word for the ones I like. This album however could not be ignored because it was a pretty high profile release by a high profile "artist". It is album releases like this blatant money grab that make legitimate releases from artists from the 80s look bad. Someone said to me the other day in regards to this album, "You know when those 80s guys release albums nowadays, they are never any good." I then had to explain how other bands are releasing very good material. I also realized that the really bad stuff needs to be pointed out as well.
Note to Bret, "surround yourself with some actual musicians and song writers and do a real album, even if those people aren't the guys in Poison."

If you are new to Bret Michaels, this is a great album. It has some of his previous stuff on here along with some new songs (I personally love the Miley duet). If you are already a Bret Michaels fan (as I am), this album is a bit of a letdown, because as previously mentioned, half of it is stuff he's already released. And somehow he took "Every Rose", a beautiful song, and ruined it with this version. But all in all, it's still a decent album. I enjoy his song writing, and his fun rock style. I have listened to it a few times all the way through during my commute, and I definitely recommend it to new Bret fans, and for the die-hard Bret fans. If you aren't either one of those, just download the Miley Duet.

I'm a new fan of Brett Micheals. I didn't even know who he was until I saw him on the apprentis. I bought this cd because I wanted to hear his music. I have to say I like this album. It's different from I usually listen to. Change is always good.

I bought this cd at a store near where I live. I'm the type of person who always says "I hope it doesn't suck. I hope it doesn't suck." to myself. I can official tell you (the reader and buyer) that this cd does not suck. It is amazing...creative...his music is totally different then the artists that you hear in today's music. And most of all...it's fun to listen to!!

I love Bret Michaels's voice!!

This is an awesome CD. Love the duet with Miley Cyrus and then the same song without her. Something on this CD for everyone. Can't wait to see him tomorrow!!

i haven't purchased a cd of Bret's in a very long time. this is a great cd and i love the music. some of the songs feel like they hit home to me.

I fully support Bret Michaels! I ve watched him on all the seasons of his tv show Rock of Love yet for me it was just for laughs at the ladies who did all those things to pass tests just to get dates with Bret and such along with ditzy cat fights in the house as well yet I knew those were all set up but honestly I dont think he found true love on any season of Rock Of Love at all I think he s quite better off with Kristi the mother of his two quite cute and adorable children!! I even have the magazine with the article of him being in the hospital and such and I'm hoping someday to meet this man who went through hard and tough times to making a band known as Poison, to going on his own, doing those tv shows, going through critcal times being in the hospital, and now here is hoping for the best for him throughout the rest of his life. Bret Michaels you are a great man!!

This was an excellent CD. It's difficult to think of there being no more Poison, but Bret did a great job. He even re-made some songs into a different category of music. Such as Every Rose Has It's Thorn into a country-type song. It was great. The person that I bought it from, if you're reading this, I bought it used and it skips in 4 places. I'm trying to find out what to do about it. I can't remember who I bought it from. But the music on it is fantastic!