Right Where You Want Me

Jesse McCartney | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hollywood Records
• ASIN: B000GW8U4K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,695 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Of all the many feelings a heartthrob like Jesse McCartney is apt to inspire, pity is not high on the list: Here's a 19-year-old with a bazillion teenage fans and firm traction on a couple of different freeways to mega-stardom, music and acting. Yet play Right Where You Want Me--the follow-up to one of 2004's guiltiest, fizziest pleasures, Beautiful Soul--and it's hard not to mourn McCartney's misspent youth. Replace this new CD's producers with a batch of one-named tastemakers, ramp up the writing for a more sophisticated crowd (i.e., make it raunchier), and bring on a slew of influential guest rappers, after all, and McCartney would be interchangeable with an intergalactic star like Justin Timberlake. His voice is as bendy and burnished, throwing off hints of Michael Jackson here and Adam Levine there, and he's not far behind on the style meter.

Languishing a few levels below Timberlake-caliber celebrity, though, hasn't hurt his prospects of adding to his fan base: Right Where You Want Me's dozen songs display a desire to come across as a grown-up (the title track and "Daddy's Little Girl" dispense with coyness in favor of explorations of what it means to be a full-on loverboy), but they also stay true to the nice-guy pop that put McCartney on the map. "Can't Let You Go," "Tell Her," and "Right Back in the Water" follow the same relationshippy formula that made Beautiful Soul such a pleasure; "Feelin' You" takes it up a notch, but barely. If there's an experiment here, it's with breaching the boundaries of pop in favor of rockier terrain: "Can't Let You Go" is a pretty pulse-raiser, but instead of dripping with hard-driving 'tude it calls to mind Jackson's rock-obsessed bid to be "bad." --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description

I've never felt the need to lose control / Always held on back and played it slow / But not this time..." With these words from the title track to his second album Right Where You Want Me, an older, wiser Jesse McCartney is most certainly back. It's been two years since the release of Beautiful Soul, the platinum-plus selling album and Top 5 single which topped the charts in Australia, Italy, the Philippines and Taiwan and made "Jesse Mac" a household name. And in that time, the singer-songwriter and actor has seen more than his share of award shows, movie sets and sold out venues (Jesse garnered an American Music Award nomination for Best New Artist, an MTV Award nomination for Best Pop Video and three Teen Choice Awards, including Choice Male Artist, Breakout Artist and Crossover Artist, as well as 2 highly coveted Emmy Award nominations). But in between his professional obligations, McCartney also took that time to reflect on how far he'd come. The album includes contributions from such hit-making writer-producers as John Shanks ("Blow Your Mind"), Kara DioGuardi, Greg Wells, Drew Ramsey, Shannon Sanders, Marti Fredricksen and Eman. But make no mistake, this is Jesse's project through and through, as one listen to the deeply personal "Invincible," which features a sparse vocal backed by a 15-piece orchestra, clearly demonstrates. "It's a really heavy song about a buddy of mine who died in a drinking and driving accident three years ago," Jesse explains. "I felt like I had to put that on the record because it contains such an important message for kids my age, which is to think before they drink and drive. It's so powerful that they'll have to listen."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pleasantly surprised fan., September 28, 2006

By 

B. Douglas (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Where You Want Me (Audio CD)

i really like jesse. he's got a good, if unique, voice and his songs from his solo debut were catchy enough. however, that disc had its lowpoints as it was geared heavily to the radio disney demographic. jesse grew up a little bit on his sophomore effort to great effect. the songs are a lot more guitar-driven and hook-laden. the highlight of the disc for me is the painful 'invincible.' the vocals will hook you, the lyrics will keep you in. highly recommended disc.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Album With Both Average and Shining Moments, September 25, 2006

By 

Michael Brent Faulkner, Jr. "Brent Faulkner" (Kentucky) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Right Where You Want Me (Audio CD)

Jesse McCartney is definitely one of the prominent so penned "heartthrobs" of today. He is a talented actor as well as a talented, credible enough singer. Jesse doesn't so much have the problem of say Lindsay Lohan or Ashlee Simpson in releasing an album; he was a member of the lackadaisical, underrated Dream Street prior to becoming a serious actor. Also moreso than Lindsay or Ashlee, the boy can sing, even if this album in particular does have its flat moments. Having not heard BEAUTIFUL SOUL, I don't have the ground to compare this album, but based off the single "Beautiful Soul" compared to the songs here, this album doesn't necessarily have song nearly that strong. It isn't a bad album though in the least, and it has many shining moments.

"Right Where You Want Me", the title track features soulful production with a very minor-dark feel during the verses. The chorus though takes on "cliche proportions" as the guitars are overproduced and tend to cover up McCartney's vocals. His falsetto here is particularly notable, and almost makes up for the more indicipherable vocals by McCartney at the chorus.

"Just So You Knew" is a rather unexciting, uninspiring track. There is nothing new here to draw you in; at times infact, McCartney sounds a bit thin. Despite that, McCartney does sit on top of the production vocally well here, but quality supercedes production with this track making it filler material in my eyes.

"Blow Your Mind" is the track that you've been waiting for McCartney to record (yeah I know he's only released 2 albums). What is particularly exciting is the soulful-rock quality of this track that just might give McCartney a bit of rock-credibility. This track is the strongest rival where quality is concerned to "Beautiful Soul". Also, an "electrifying" guitar solo makes this track all that much better than it already is.

"Right Back in The Water" is another solid track exploiting the best facets of McCartney's vocals. Unfortunately by this song, you do start to wonder how nice it might be if McCartney stepped outside of his comfort zone to try to sing a different type of song. "Anybody" showcases an over-exerted performance by McCartney meaning that his voice here sounds like McCartney is working to hard. Despite the faux-pas, "Tell Here" almost completely makes up for the uninspiring, predictable "Anybody".

The only other major standout of RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT ME is the penultimate track "Invincible" which is among the top echolon where quality of the tracks are concerned. Here McCartney sounds great, the lyrics are exceptional, the string orchestration is lush, and it makes for perhaps the best track or one of the best tracks on the entire album. Otherwise, the ball is dropped on such tracks as "We Can Go Anywhere", "Feeling You", or "Just Go" while other tracks are above average, though nothing to write home about ("Daddy's Little Girl" and "Can't Let You Go").

It is hard for some of the strongest material here to assign a rating of just 3 stars, however as whole, the album has its phenomenal moments and its dull moments making it average. However, I believe Jesse McCartney has more than his looks going for him, meaning vocally, he isn't a bad singer; he is one with great potential. 3 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing!, October 2, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Right Where You Want Me (Audio CD)

Jesse McCartney is amazing. I really thought that 'Beautiful Soul' was a great album, but now that I've heard 'Right Where You Want Me' it just blew me away. He has definately grown up so much from Beautiful Soul, but not so much as to change his fan base of teenage girls. Jesse has a more rock sound on this CD (#'s 3, 8, & 12) and I like it more than all the ballads on Beautiful Soul. This CD is more upbeat and fun, but still has it's slow & sweet songs. Two of his best songs on this album lyric wise for me would be Just Go & Invincible. I am going to rate every song on the album from 1-10. ---

1. Right Where You Want Me- 9/10 - definately one of the best songs on the record. Has a rock/pop sound & is very catchy.

2. Just So You Know- 8/10 - also one of the better songs. Not my favorite but not my least favorite either.

3. Blow Your Minds- 10/10 - This song is great. I love the rock vibe and you can tell that Jesse put his heart into this song.

4. Right Back In The Water - 8/10 - I really like this song. probably one of the better slow songs. The lyrics are good, just like all the rest of the songs on the record.

5. Anybody - 8/10 - This song was pretty surprising for me, but in a good way. It starts out slow and then the chorus has a more rock sound. This song also sounds amazing when sang live.

6. Tell Her - 9/10 - By far the best slow song on the record. The lyrics mean a lot to all of us teenage girls "If you see my girl just tell her I miss her smile//Tell her I'm counting the minutes gonna see her in a little while//Just tell her i love her." Not many artists can have such meaning and things that you can relate to in their lyrics.

7. Just Go - 9/10 - Another one of my favorites. The lyrics on this one are very much something that people can relate to "I trusted you, yeah that would be my first mistake//i've been lied to//Your eyes are ice cold blue, a mirror of the heart inside of you."

8. Can't Let You Go - 9/10 - Another song with a rock vibe. I love this song even more when performed live. You can definately tell that Jesse thinks hard on his lyrics and puts his heart into his songs.

9. We Can Go Anywhere - 7/10 - Not one of my favorite songs. It was written for Jesse's fall 2007 movie 'Keith'. Kind of reminds me of Beautiful Soul songs.

10. Feelin' You - 8/10 - The ONLY song on the whole record that Jesse did not write, but that doesn't mean much. This song is still catchy and fun.

11. Invincible - 10/10 - Wow how can I even begin with this song? I can hardly bare to listen to this song because it has so much meaning and it's very sad. The song is about a friend of Jesse's who died in a drinking and driving accident about 3 years ago. The lyrics for this song are amazing and so meaningful.

12. Daddy's Little Girl - 10/10 - My absolute favorite song on the record. It has a rock sound and is very catchy. It makes me want to get up and dance. I found the lyrics very funny but still very good- "Girl shake what your momma gave ya//Shake it like your tryin' to break it//Bout to start an earthquake//BOOM!" You sort of have to listen to the song to understand it's meaning.

Overall this album is GREAT and you should definatley buy it and see how you like it. This is a must have for teenage girls who like Rock/Pop --think Justin Timberlake or Teddy Geiger-- and is amazingly a much more grown-up sound from Beautiful Soul.