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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great buy, and not just cuz the music is great!!!, June 8, 2003
First off, I'm a BIG Mandy Moore fan, weird cuz I am almost twice her age, haha. No, she's great because she is not contrived or plastic, unlike most teen pop. Mandy is SINCERE, with real honesty, emotion, and innocence, which really rings true. Not only that, Mandy has EVOLVED as a singer and artist. This is true based on her followup/true 2nd album "Mandy Moore", the "A Walk To Remember" soundtrack, her other soundtrack cuts, her acting in movies, and later in September, her "Coverage" album, a true blue, powerpop, covers album, where she shows jaw-droppingly superb taste in songs (Todd Rundgren, Elton John, XTC, Waterboys, Joan Armatrading, Cat Stevens, Carole King, etc), and features Semisonic's Dan Wilson, the Rembrandts, and produced by powerpop knob twirler John Fields, who has worked with Bleu and many other cool bands. I am dropdead excited about "Coverage", like you don't KNOW!!! The clips are amazing.Now, about this great Japanese version of "I Wanna Be With You". Not only is the music great pop in the best sense of the word, she transcends teen pop, and these songs all hold up. Why?? I would say they remain fresh cuz they weren't killed by overexposure. I would say these 17 tunes have a timelessness about them which does not date the songs to a particular period of time. They're not overproduced, feel like plastic or fake. Mandy sings with a genuine soulfulness not inherent in her age then. Plus, she sings a ballad like the title track with a sweetness, purity and honesty her peers could never GET. The producers here must have let Mandy stretch or something, cuz she sounds great. So great, even Lesley Gore woulda stood up and taken notice of Mandy's talent!! Sure, Mandy has evolved, but this was a swell starting point. Not only that, it's probably worked to her benefit she didn't break huge, because she wouldn't have been able to evolve as a singer and artist. She is not stuck, married to a particular song or style, made to record "Candy" or "Cry" parts 1, 2, + 3. She's even dabbling in songwriting; I'd love to hear a whole album of Mandy originals!! Maybe after "Coverage". Now, why is this Japanese CD the best choice of purchase of her earlier stuff?? Because, it takes 99% of the studio cuts from the US CDs of "So Real" and "I Wanna Be With You: Special Edition", and puts them all in 1 place, a convenient 17-track disc. HOWEVER, it drops the remixes from IWBWY-SE, and also leaves off, who knows why, "Love Shot". Now, that song is on the CD single of IWBWY-Pt 1, so no need to duplicate albums with the US CD of "So Real", just buy that CD single. And, the remixes, and then some, are also on CD singles. Plus, that IWBWY-SE disc is sequenced badly, with an odd track order, mixes that feel out of place, and duplicate songs from "So Real". This disc is much improved, it corrects the flaws of the US releases, the track order is much better, the sound quality is of higher Japanese standards, AND it includes a lyric booklet for ALL songs!! The Japanese rule when it comes to CDs!!
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