Customer Reviews

Soundtrack to Your Life

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ashley Parker Angel saw success and fame through his participation in a musical group called O Town, the product of a TV reality show about making a boy band. When the group's star faded, so did Angel's, but not his ambition.

Soundtrack to your life is Parker Angel's attempt to forge a solo career free from the auspices of O Town and for a first up effort the signs are encouraging indeed. While O Town was very much is the pop mold 'Soundtrack' rocks and is a lot stronger than anything Parker Angel had previously assosiated with.

The album is a collection of '70s singer/songwriter and '80s college rock and Parker Angel's vocals are reminiscent of a cross between the balladering of Goo Goo Dolls front man John Rzeznik and the front ahead rock of All American Rejects Tyson Ritter.

Let U go is allready a hit single and Soundtrack to your life will be. The album begins pretty rock heavy but perhaps the shining moments are towards the end with two incredibly moving ballads "Where did you go" and the cinematic "Apology"

The album was produced by the Matrix team who have also worked with the likes of Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff and are no strangers to making hits that garner high radio rotation.

Expect to hear a lot of Ashley Parker Angel over the airwaves this summer.

Well well well, never would I expect to be a fan of a former O-Town member.
In fact, if you told me I would be now, I would laugh in your face.

But, here's the deal. I heard "Let U Go", and bought it on iTunes the same day, and..well lets just say 3 days later it already has 50 plays on my iPod.
I bought the album the day it came out, and honestly, it's the best album this year.

The album starts out with "Let U Go", as most of you have probably already heard. The most rock track on the CD, with a catchy chorus. The CD quickly goes into a catchy pop song, "I'm Better", which is also more rock than the rest of the CD. It keeps getting better as "Soundtrack Of Your Life" comes on, possibly the most catchy song on the album. The lyrics are great, and personally one of my favorites on the CD. "Feels So Alive" is next, keeping the catchy pop-rock tunes coming. Very very catchy song, I love it. "Crazy Beautiful" comes on, and at first I didn't like this song, but it has grown on me. One of my favorites now, I could see this being a single.
"Who Cares" is next, and my favorite on the CD. The song is so different, yet has some familiar sounds. Reminds me a lot of a Beatles song, yet is completely original. I cannot tell you how much I love this song.
"Shades Of Blue" is after, and another amazing song. It was my favorite for awhile, but listening to it too much can get me a little depressed, as the song is extremely sad. Gives me chills everytime I listen to it.
"Beautiful Lie" is good, I'm not attached to the song, but it's another catchy song that's very listenable.
"Perfect Now" is also catchy, and something in it works. A lot of people can relate to this song, as can I. I love the lyrics, and the chorus is spectacular.
"Where Did You Go?" is my second favorite on the CD. The chorus is just amazing, and original. It's just hauntingly catchy. The piano, and his voice work very well on this song.
"Along The Way" is another slower song, and the album slows down at this point. Very nicely written song.
"Apology" is probably my favorite lyrical song, and is a really sweet song. Great way to end the album.

This CD has so much variety, and can be listened to over and over again. The different sounds make this CD one that will not get old soon, and I can say that almost anyone will love this CD.

After months of anticipating this album, I just picked it up at Best Buy an hour ago. My first listen, and I fell in love with a lot of the tracks on this album. It's also worth a mention that Ashley co-wrote every single one of these songs on the album, so we know it's a personal album, and not some songs that were written by others and given to him for the album. My review of each song is below:

1. Let U Go - The debut single from Ashley. When I first hear it a few months ago, I was shocked because we can all safely say nobody really expected this type of song from Ashley, but it suits him well. You can hear the influences from some of his favourite artists on this track. Could have a bit more lyrical depth though. 4.5/5

2. I'm Better - Very catchy song, kind of reminds me of Let U Go in a sense. It's more on the pop side, but it's a song that you just can't help but like. 4/5

3. Soundtrack to Your Life - My personal favourite on the entire album. Lyrically, it's one of my favourite songs I've heard in a long time. The lyrics are very meaningful and gives you inspiration when you're having a bad day. I think even non Ashley fans would really enjoy this one, as pretty much anyone can relate to it. The song is about life in general and it's a message to his 9 month old son, Lyric. "I heard your heartbeat, it took away the fear." 5/5

4. Feel So Alive - Another personal favourite. I remember hearing him sing this one briefly on There and Back, and I really enjoyed the sound. It's up-beat and a great song about when life is changing and your going through difficult times, you still, like the title says, feel so alive. 5/5

5. Crazy Beautiful - Lyrics are cute, I like the theme to this song. More of a pop song here, but the chorus is fun and catchy to sing to and overall it's a great song. 5/5

6. Who Cares? - I've heard people comparing this song to that of the Beatles, and it does sound like he was inspired by them. Good song. 4/5

7. Shades of Blue - After listening to this over and over, I finally realized that this song is about suicide. Ashley said that he wrote the song as inspiration because in high school, a friend he knew committed suicide. It's slowly becoming a favourite of mine now. Very deep and dark, but it teaches us that we're all just shades of that person. The chorus reminds me of a mix of 3 Doors Down and Third Eye Blind. 5/5

8. Beautiful Lie - Started off so-so about this one, and ended up loving it after a few listens. This song reminds me of another one (non Ashley), but I can't put my finger on it. Either way, great tempo.
"How you gonna say you're never goin' walk away?" 5/5

9. Perfect Now - Another one I heard from There and Back that I really enjoyed. On the show, it seemed great, and the finished product is no exception. Another catchy song from the album that you can't help but enjoy. 5/5

10. Where Did You Go? - The album finishes off with 3 beautiful ballads. Where Did You Go? is a great break-up song. I like in the chorus how the song echos in the background, as if your alone and depressed and missing someone. 5/5

11. Along the Way - My second favourite song, followed very closely by Soundtrack to Your Life. There is something about these lyrics that I just love. I think good lyrics help a lot in determining what is, and what is not a good song. Lyrical depth is also important, and Ashley emphasizes that on this track. If anything, listen to this song.
"It's who I am, it's time to be, it's where we are, nowhere, letting go of everything, is the hardest part, when you start along the way." -I can't help but think he's talking about his O-Town experience. 5/5

12. Apology - Oh what a great way to end the album. Just a live piano and mic. Beautifully done and it takes me back to the music way back when they would do it like this with no special effects. I think this is a great way to determine how talented an artist truly is, because most bands and artists these days have these fancy special effects added to their tracks, and we don't really get to see that talent shine. Ashley's vocals are just the centre of attention on this one, which is the way it should be. This shows us that he truly is talented, because if you can have a great song, but if you can't replicate that sound, live, what's it worth?
"What wrong with you and me, this my apology, from the moment that I leave, you stay with me, and every promise that I broke, stays with me." 5/5

Overall, I'd give this album 5/5 stars due to the amount of songs on here that could definitely be a hit single. If you haven't picked this album up yet, I'd definitely recommend it. I believe certain stores also are carrying it with two bonus tracks.

Ashley has come a long way from his O-Town days, and he's only going to get better. An amazing debut album from Ashley Parker Angel.

This album showcases Ashley's writing and singing ability and FINALLY allows him the opportunity to show WHY he should be on top of the music charts. The songs are catchy, well written and well produced. One of the BEST album purchases I've made this year!

If "My Chemical Romance" had a place in his iPod then he must have had Sgt Peppers playing in his crib as a baby and he never forgot it. It's pretty hard to mistake the Beatlesque quality in many of the songs here and Angel certainly pulls off the similarities in fine enough quality and originality to say that he would have done Paul & John proud as their understudy. But the early 70's late 60's sound doesn't stop there with borrowings from Pink Floyd, Tommy James and a good hint of 10cc. A wonderful reinventioon of a sound long past in a new generation. APA makes a great argument for many of us from an older generation to pay attention to the pop charts occassionally.

The "Soundtrack to your life" opens with a bang via the McFLY inspired first radio single "Let you go". True it remains a fairly catchy song yet it's not the best track on the compilation. Ashley Parker Angel truly excels and becomes impressive when tackling tracks arriving mid-way through his first release. Obviously his adolescent female fans will appreciate and fawn over every title yet it's the ballads that will impress and demand attention from pretentious music fans. The technical production used to record his lead vocals on "Who Cares?" enable Ashley to deliver a performance reminiscent of Robbie Williams. Even subtle chord changes on "Who Cares?" will have David Gilmour fans smiling. The track "Shades of Blue" perfectly leans on classic 1992 Duran Duran. My personal favorite track "Perfect Now" is a song mashing an Oasis vibe with Robbie Williams.
I truly believed this release was going to be a joke and I was prepared to slam the product, however, I must admit that I am extremely impressed! If the label can manage to erase his past association with his fumbled boy band, then, they may have landed an artist that will cross over and appeal to even a male marketplace!

I REVIEWED THE ALBUM ON MTV'S THE LEAK!!!! USUALLY YOU ONLY LIKE ONE OR TWO SONGS OFF A CD AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE WASTED YOUR MONEY$$$$ BUT NOT WITH THIS ALBUM BY ASHLEY PARKER ANGEL!!!! EVERY TRACK IS GREAT AND YOU CAN SEE WHY WE HAVE HAD TO WAIT FOR IT TO DROP!! THIS ALBUM WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT!!!PEACE, CRYSTAL FROM NC

this cd is great i got it as soon as it came out. the songs on the cd are so meaningful. you could see how much things he went through making the cd. GO ASHLEY

I never heard of this artist until I saw his reality show on MTV and kind of bought this CD out of curiosity and reviews here.
I have to say this is really good album, very well put together, i don't even like this type of music but i love this CD

So I had never heard of Ashley Angel Parker or even remember hearing any of O Towns music as they were never "BIG" here in Australia, but when I saw Ashley's show on MTV I absolutely feel in Love with his courage and determination to rebuild his career and make it in the music industry as a successful solo artist. Despite only hearing small parts of his songs during his show, I went ahead and brought this album anyway as I had a feeling this was going to be something great.

And I was honestly not disappointed. This is an excellent achievement by Ashley and his entire album Rocks, I don't even skip pass any of the songs. It has a great vibe and is definately an album you can play over and over again without getting sick of some of the songs.

I am so happy for Ashley that he is enjoying the success he deserves from this album with all the hard work and effort he put into making this, and I believe this is a representation of his raw and original talent. I wish all the best for Ashley and his family and strongly encourage anyone (and everyone) to go out and buy this album, you won't be disappointed either!!