Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
excellent album, too bad the u.s. will never know it, March 6, 2006
i ordered this cd off amazon, being that it is not available in the u.s. and that in itself is the saddest part of my review on this album. what has happened to pop music in america? to me there is no longer a thing called pop radio. in fact i don't even listen to the radio anymore. living in los angeles i understand the social relevance and importance of rap/hip hop music and the topics that it obsesses over (domestic violence, gangs, poverty, sex etc.) and i actually own quite a few cd's in that genre. however, for it to have completely taken over what i used to know as pop music is something i don't understand. it's no longer a few crossover artists and songs that get played occasionally. it's really all i hear and just sometimes i would like to turn on the radio and not hear about someone's head being blown off with a gun or hear about a guy's or girl's genitalia being referred to as some type of food such as "candy" "jelly" or "lolipops" etc. did artists like celine dion burn us out on music that contained really great singing and catchy melodies and lyrics? given the incredible popularity of "american idol" (now in it's 5th season and still going strong) i think america is a bit confused as to what it wants from pop music. jo o'meara's album "relentless" is such a flashback for me. to the days when you could turn on the radio and hear quality songs by a quality singer. although i wouldn't say this is a perfect album without any flaws, i would say that it comes very close. the album delves into the many stages of love and heartbreak with some tunes actually co-written by jo herself. the album is loaded beautiful ballads that are produced and arranged perfectly for the ex s club 7 front woman. the best tunes for me are the title track "relentless" the first single "what hurts the most" and the last track "rainbow's end". most of the up tempo songs sound like they could have come from one the s club 7 albums with nothing really special about them. the album's strength lies in it's ballads and jo(the best singer from s club but not the best in the world) does justice to each ballad with not only a stronger voice on her than i've heard before but also with a tenderness and "coming of age" sound in her vocals that has grown within her as she matures from a girl into a woman. and again i feel sorry for american pop music fans that feel as i do about about how our country and pop radio is confused over what the public really wants to and actually should hear.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Songbird for all Seasons, December 10, 2005
When they were casting about for someone to play Dusty Springfield in a biopic a few years back, I suggested Jo O'Meara. As far as I know, she was never considered for the part, but I still think she'd have been great. She's a versatile singer, and she can act, and she's got the `60s-era pop star look. Donovan might have written a song about her. Of course, she doesn't really sound like Dusty, and that's to her credit. She sounds like nobody so much as herself. And, after singing lead on a string of hits as front-person for the S Club, she's finally coming into her own as an adult performer. One look at the cover photos on "Relentless" and you know this young woman is a force to be reckoned with. The bad news is that the material on "Relentless" doesn't always show her off to advantage. I like a lot of these songs, especially the title track and "You Didn't Know," for which Jo herself takes co-writing credit, but nothing here really knocks the socks off me, although "Relentless" comes close and "What Hurts the Most" is as catchy as anything she did with the S-Clubbers. The arrangements are uniformally tasteful, if a bit on the "safe" side, and I like the fact that the producers haven't settled for a generic sound. However, the reason to buy this album is to revel in Jo's sultry, soaring vocals; they make even the most mediocre songs sound like instant classics.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The wonderful sound of Jo O'Meara!, May 19, 2006
The voice of S club 7 and someone who did not rush into a fast solo CD to cash in after the band broke up. Jo has a voice that I can personally listen to all day long.
This her first, and at this time last solo album sold has only a few tracks that one may want to skip, and sadly her trademark powerhouse voice was not really showcased here. But this is a wonderful debut none the less
The best song here is "What hurts the most" which Rascal Flats has out now on the US charts. Personally Jo does a much better job and makes it more of a good pop song you could hear on the radio. Other winners are "I believe in you" & "Never meant to break your heart." who knows why one song sticks out to one person more then another, but I love her voice on "Never meant to break your heart." towards the end even more so when the music swells and she lets out real emotion.
If you are into ballads, and easy listing this is for you. If you are a fan of her old band S Club 7 and pop then this is for you...and if you want to hear an artist that will sadly only be heard in the UK, this great disk is for you. If you buy, it may be cheaper to get it from Amazon UK, where their import price ends up cheaper with shipping then the one here.
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by Jo O'Meara 
