Unbroken

Katharine McPhee | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: January 5, 2010
• Release Date: January 5, 2010
• Label: Verve Forecast
• Copyright: (C) 2009 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 47:11
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0030GGTJM
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,794 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music from Mcphee, January 19, 2010

By 

barry (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unbroken (Audio CD)

Poor Katharine McPhee has never received the critical accolades she is so worthy of. She definitely deserved to win American Idol against Taylor Hicks. There was no comparison but Ms. McPhee is one of those women who is so beautiful on the outside that many people ignore the inside. She is lovely and beautiful indeed but many critics just think she has a simple pleasant voice and she possesses so much more. I love her new look and hairdo as she asks to have her vocals heard. I was one of those who did not love her debut cd. It was too poppish for me and didn't show off her great vocals and versatility.

A couple of years have passed and Katharine McPhee has grown up a lot. When I first heard this cd I didn't know what I thought and honestly would have given it 3 stars at that point. But after hearing it over and over I love it. There are no tracks here that are standout hits so you must listen to each track as its own. Most of the songs are ballads and only with the intense listening will you find the quality and versatility that is actually here.

It would have helped to have some uptempo tracks to break up the ballads so that they could have been appreciated more. Standouts of the ballads are SURRENDER, LAST LETTER, SAY GOODBYE and FAULTLINE. Interestingly my least favorite track is the title UNBROKEN. ANYBODY'S HEART has Katharine's vocals velvety like silk and DRIVIN and TERRIFIED are excellent displays of her vocals. The most uptempo here are poppish ballads LIFETIME, HAD IT ALL and the fun BRAND NEW KEY.

I still feel like Katharine McPhee has not been matched with the ultimate music to show her true artistry and versatitlity. Listen to her sing SOMEWHERE on the David Foster and Friends cd/dvd and you will see what she is capable of. But she does well here and I am very grateful for SAY GOODBYE and LAST LETTER. I am a huge fan and just wish that this cd had some strong tracks for singles to draw more listeners in. Katharine McPhee is still a rising star yet to meet her highest mark but UNBROKEN is a strong positive step. There is great talent here and I can't wait to see what comes next.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNBROKEN McPheever, January 17, 2010

By 

Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Unbroken (Audio CD)

Up until this past summer, when 2008 fifth-place finisher Brooke White released HIGH HOPES AND HEARTBREAK, I had overwhelmingly ignored practically every artist that was ever on "American Idol" that ever released an album. I just felt, and still largely do, that even as it tries to promote new talent, it also seems to promote the continued corporate approach to pop music of today. Brooke's album was the sole exception up to that point, a breezy bit of 1970s California-inspired pop.

In her wake, then, there is Katharine McPhee, who finished second to Taylor Hicks on "Idol" in 2006. I wasn't exactly high on her self-titled post-"Idol" 2007 album, thinking it sounded like everything else on today's adult contemporary and R&B radio. However, her second album, UNBROKEN, is a different sort of album from its predecessor. For while it still contains the AC and R&B elements of its predecessor, there is a noticeable emphasis, as there was on Brooke's album, on acoustic-influenced 1970s pop elements, like on "Lifetime", and the up-tempo "Had It All". Katharine also does a fairly good vocal workout on "Faultline" without resorting to the irritating melisma that seems to be part-and-parcel of far too many divas that will remain nameless. She gets able assistance, both in the writing and performing aspects of the songs, from people like Rachel Yamagata and veteran guitarist Mark Goldenberg, who worked with rock icon Linda Ronstadt thirty years before on her somewhat controversial but hugely successful 1980 new-wave rock album MAD LOVE. The big surprise in this collection, however, is Katharine's reggae-influenced cover of "Brand New Key", which had been a #1 hit for three weeks in the winter of 1971-72 for folk-pop songstress Melanie. Katharine claimed that she had not heard Melanie's original before she was about ready to record it, but she sounds quite comfortable doing it.

It's this kind of largely uncluttered production on UNBROKEN that, like Brooke's album from '09, sets it apart from the more hyped-up "Idol" divas Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood: nothing extreme, everything done just right and tasteful, but with a good deal of originality. This may likely end up being one of my personal favorites in 2010.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the KAT we were looking for coming out of IDOL, January 5, 2010

By 

Jason Suttmeier "DJ Jayito" (NYC, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unbroken (Audio CD)

Most of America - who fell in love with McPhee - especially after her OVER THE RAINBOW performance - were expecting something like this CD from KAT. Although, I loved the first CD, it was pretty much not what the collective fans of McPhee expected. Moving away from the overproduced modern day pop music, UNBROKEN showcases just how talented KAT is. She has the best voice to ever come out of American Idol, and it's a real shame most of the show's fans will never hear just how special she is. I feel if KAT had released a song along the lines of the the standouts (for me) on Unbroken...

SAY GOODBYE
HOW
KEEP DRIVIN'
SURRENDER
UNBROKEN
FAULTLINE
... There are so many, actually. Keep Drivin' and Unbroken are currently my MOST favorite!

... she would've been a huge success. People who watch McPhee on Idol didn't want another modern day pop artist... They wanted a beautiful / strong TALENTED vocalist singing pretty ballads. We DEFINITELY don't need anymore modern day "we can't really sing" pop artists. Thank you for a beautiful CD, Kat!