Customer Reviews

Introduction

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Watch this girl - at 19 she is superb! "Imagine" is breathtaking; never thought I would like someone else singing this other than John Lennon. Looking forward to hearing more from Alex

This is a really amazing CD. Music like this does not come along every day. There's no one else out there like Alex Parks. She puts everything into her music and the honesty and passion can be heard in every note her voice sounds. I cannot praise her dedication highly enough. She's an artist with real integrity and believes in producing quality music, and this is reflected throughout "Introduction," which I hope is only the first of many beautiful recordings.

Six months ago, I was your typical jazz/folk/soul/indie fan who thought Fame Academy was just another cheesy primetime TV show. Then one evening I accidentally switched on BBC1 just as Alex Parks was about to sing a cover of Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful'. I was thrown into a jaw-dropped, mesmerised state of disbelief by the power and beauty of her voice and her soulful, tomboyish charisma. I was converted overnight to watching the show every week for the following 2 months - and that's not an unusual story. To give you an idea of how different this girl is from the average talent show winner, Alex has been highly praised by Thom and Johnny from Radiohead.

This is a fantastic debut album, an impressive mix of powerful ballads and edgy rock tracks. This album has gone double platinum in the UK, continuing to climb in the UK album charts. Every one of the 7 original tracks is superb in a different way, and 4 of the 6 covers are excellent too. Here's my track by track review.

Maybe That's What It Takes: Not one of Alex's strongest, lyrically speaking, but this track is gorgeous. I love it, simply for Alex's magnificent vocals. Her voice connects directly to the pleasure centre in my brain.

Cry: Simple but subtle lyrics. A catchy and compulsive melody that takes a while to grow on you, then holds you captive.

Dirty Pretty Words: Driving, exciting, rocky, gritty, catchy... hit single material.

Imagine: I never liked Lennon's song much in the first place, and I don't like this cover either, especially the strings and keyboards. Alex's vocal starts out a bit thin, but builds to a good finale.

Not Your Average Kind of Girl: Strong lyrics, great vocals, and lovely intro, reminiscent of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. This is one of the tracks on which the programmed instrumentals work really well.

Mad World: Excellent. I'm not familiar with the Tears for Fears original, but I hugely prefer Alex's cover to Gary Jules'.

Everybody Hurts: Spoilt by slushy, icky strings and keyboards. All round a very MOR version of the REM original... not a good direction for Alex, I feel.

Beautiful: Lovely. True to the ravishing showdown performances that topped and tailed Alex's exciting ride through Fame Academy. I really like the 70s-style backing vocals. Another hardwire to the pleasure centre.

Stones and Feathers: Fascinating, clever and very unusual. Building from a slow start it develops into a great, epic production. The outrageous lyrics have me in a state of happy mystification.

Here Comes the Rain: A great cover of one of my favourite Eurythmics songs. One of the tracks where tacky electronic programming adds instead of detracts.

Yellow: Illustrates a fundamental problem with this album. It's beautifully sung... Alex's vocals are irreproachable. Slapdash, over-loud instrumentals clobber the track though.

Wandering Soul: Another brilliant rock track with folk rock influences and huge hit potential. Fantastic lyrics, gorgeous vocals and good production.

Over Conscious: Dreamy, enigmatic, tortured, clever, camp. A very imaginative piece of work.

Since there's no song clips on Amazon.com, you might like to visit Alex's official site at www.alexparksofficial.com (with which I have no connection!) where all the tracks can be heard.

Alex Parks is a fluke. Someone spawned from a tv talent show that is actually a performer with huge talent. She easily stamps her own distinct flavour on the cover versions appearing on the album, giving them all a new lease of life.
The seven original songs, all co-written by Alex, are guaranteed to take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. "Cry" will have you doing just that (while you're busy waving your lighter around in the air!) while "Dirty Pretty Words" and "Wandering Soul" are classic angry anthems that will be crowd pleasers for years to come.
Parks stands a mile apart from the watered down mainstream pop crowd. Her voice and style are unique and she's already an artist of outstanding quality. Roll on the next album!

initial reading of the track list was quite disappointing, as there are so many covers, but i think the quality of her own work makes up for this, i was an alex fan from the beginning of fame academy even though i am very cynical of "talent shows", but i think this album really is beautiful, and hope that there are more brilliant albums to follow,

I don't usually buy CDs from reality talent show winners, but made an exception for the amazingly talented Alex Parks. She has a unique voice and incredible vocal range and puts emotion into everything she sings. I prefer her original tracks to the covers she has done (which are still exceptional- her version of Mad World is great). "Maybe that's what it takes" "Cry" "Stones and feathers" and "Wandering soul" are oustanding.

Six months ago, I was your typical jazz/folk/soul/indie fan who thought Fame Academy was just another cheesy primetime TV show. Then one evening I accidentally switched on BBC1 just as Alex Parks was about to sing a cover of Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful'. I was thrown into a jaw-dropped, mesmerised state of disbelief by the power and beauty of her voice and her soulful, tomboyish charisma. I was converted overnight to watching the show every week for the following 2 months - and that's not an unusual story. To give you an idea of how different this girl is from the average talent show winner, Alex has been highly praised by Thom and Johnny from Radiohead.

This is a fantastic debut album, an impressive mix of powerful ballads and edgy rock tracks. This album has gone double platinum in the UK, continuing to climb in the UK album charts. Every one of the 7 original tracks is superb in a different way, and 4 of the 6 covers are excellent too. Here's my track by track review.

Maybe That's What It Takes: Not one of Alex's strongest, lyrically speaking, but this track is gorgeous. I love it, simply for Alex's magnificent vocals. Her voice connects directly to the pleasure centre in my brain.

Cry: Simple but subtle lyrics. A catchy and compulsive melody that takes a while to grow on you, then holds you captive.

Dirty Pretty Words: Driving, exciting, rocky, gritty, catchy... hit single material.

Imagine: I never liked Lennon's song much in the first place, and I don't like this cover either, especially the strings and keyboards. Alex's vocal starts out a bit thin, but builds to a good finale.

Not Your Average Kind of Girl: Strong lyrics, great vocals, and lovely intro, reminiscent of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. This is one of the tracks on which the programmed instrumentals work really well.

Mad World: Excellent. I'm not familiar with the Tears for Fears original, but I hugely prefer Alex's cover to Gary Jules'.

Everybody Hurts: Spoilt by slushy, icky strings and keyboards. All round a very MOR version of the REM original... not a good direction for Alex, I feel.

Beautiful: Lovely. True to the ravishing showdown performances that topped and tailed Alex's exciting ride through Fame Academy. I really like the 70s-style backing vocals. Another hardwire to the pleasure centre.

Stones and Feathers: Fascinating, clever and very unusual. Building from a slow start it develops into a great, epic production. The outrageous lyrics have me in a state of happy mystification.

Here Comes the Rain: A great cover of one of my favourite Eurythmics songs. One of the tracks where tacky electronic programming adds instead of detracts.

Yellow: Illustrates a fundamental problem with this album. It's beautifully sung... Alex's vocals are irreproachable. Slapdash, over-loud instrumentals clobber the track though.

Wandering Soul: Another brilliant rock track with folk rock influences and huge hit potential. Fantastic lyrics, gorgeous vocals and good production.

Over Conscious: Dreamy, enigmatic, tortured, clever, camp. A very imaginative piece of work.

Since there are no song clips on Amazon, you might like to visit www.alexparksofficial.com (with which I have no connection) where all the tracks can be heard.

Wow! Just wonderful - and boy can she pick some songs, I love all these songs.

I first saw Alex on Pop Idol, The United Kingdom's original version of American Idol. Remember, Pop Idol was the inspiration and the original idea for AI. Anyway, I digress. During the show she competed with a lot of very talented singers, however, there was something about her voice that made me sit up and watch. She has a fantastic voice and can sing covers and her own written material with ease and have you listening to every word, sound, beat and rhythm. Alex, of course, made it to the final. A very tight win at that, I voted for her, and was delighted that she won, but only just. Her release of her first CD, Introduction, the title is exactly that, an introduction of herself to you, and the songs on this CD are brilliant. Some covers you will, or may recognize, but it is her own songs that make her shine and stand out from the rest. If you want something different, want to listen to a female vocalist with a great voice and want an introduction to Alex and her talents, then this CD is a must. If not, then try this anyway, I think you will like what you hear and also give you an insight as to what the United Kingdom has to offer in their version of Simon Cowell's hit talent stage.

This album should have been very good with good or interesting covers (except a poor rendition of Everybody Hurts - a song which should should not in my opinion be covered). Instead it comes acropss as quite bland. I was exepting emotional punch like Sinaed O Conner, I got a mild wimper of an artist who still has a lot of growing to do. Having said this Alex's Voice is very good and far above the average pop fodder that is around thses days. The album did not disuade me from buying her next release but I hope it will fulfil expectation...Perhaps some duets would have livened up the album a little and many of the tracks just seem far to short and the album never fully gets into its stride.