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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than I expected in many ways, October 31, 2007
Like a lot of reviewers I was intrigued by Emmy Rossum's performance in 2004's "The Phantom of the Opera" and I wanted to see how she would develop as a singer. Her debut album "Inside Out" bypasses the classical crossover genre which many would expect from her- some will probably disappointed, and draws inspiration from the likes of Imogean Heap, Enya, Sarah McLaughlin, Sarah Brightman and a host of others. Some reviews call it a "rip off" of artists like Enya and Heap, however I think that Rossum has a younger, pop-ier, less synthisized sound. Rossum wrote all the lyrics and cowrote all the music (with the exception of a cover of "Rainy Days and Mondays") and sang every vocal including all the harmonies and backing without using any synth. That definately gives the album a feeling of being truely about the artist, that few albums in the contemporary pop genre have. However it often comes off with mixed results.
The single "Slow Me Down" is a blend of 150 tracks of Rossum singing the song and harmonies. Her voice runs fast and breathless as she sings of "Rushing and racing and running in circles moving so fast I'm forgetting my purpose" and then draws out the chorus where she pleads to stop before she misses out on life. As a concept it works but in execution it feels cluttered and hard to listen to. Maybe that was the intention but I doubt this was the wisest choice of a single. The layed vocals also interfere on "Falling" a pop infused song about the heady sensation of infatuation. The technique fares better on "Stay" a song that opens with several tracks of Rossum's voice in an eerie whisper peading "hush now, close out the light, no need to speak, time will slow if we surrender..." and a new wave of vocals come in on the chorus "head rush, careful don't stop now, shiver" The vocals are arranged in waves as if a tide is coming in and receading and slowly buidling to a climax until we are given a final plea to "stay" almost like a siren's call. "Lullaby" is what the title says. Here Rossum's solitary voice sings each verse adding only a layer or two on the chorus. "Don't Stop now" features a creeping sound as Rossum sings of a lover's infidelity, and the "The Great Divide" has very simple lyrics ("Are you listening?" and "I need you now" for the most part) though it achieves an almost epic feel. At nearly seven minutes long it really divides the first and second portion of the album. The cover of "Rainy Days and Mondays" stands out by virtue of being the only cover on the album. Rossum makes it her own by recording the song itself and overlapping it with "dum, dums" that sound like raindrops plonking down. Perhaps the most notable track is the last one "Anymore", which again features solitary vocals, and instrumentals playing a childish tune as Rossum sings about her younger self wishing for her absent father to come home, realizing that he won't: "When she was younger- Stood staring at the door waiting for the day that she knew would surely come...But as time ticked away promises fade one by one and now she's all grown...". Many reviews have noted that Rossum's CD cover suggest nudity (and for the record all it does is suggest it) Yes, she's not dressed in the pictures, but they aren't about her body by any means. Perhaps it was intended as a metaphor for the way she strips herself bare on these songs, singing about her own (sometimes painful) experiences.
On one hand I commend Rossum for trying something different, and taking an active role in the creation of these songs. However, it sometimes seems that in the process she forgets that she as a lovely voice. The best moments on this album are when she allows her voice to be as bare as the rest of her. While I'm glad Rossum didn't take a "look what I can do" approach to her songs, singing as high as she can, I wish she'd shown us a bit more of what she sounds like. The layered vocals provide a lush tapestry on songs like "Stay" they threaten to overwhelm songs like "Inside Out" that would benefit from a more acoustic sound. Also while Rossum doesn't use synthesizers the effect of multiple vocal tracks often sounds like that of a synthesizer and using it on too many songs makes the album start to feel a bit repetitive.
Overall I give this album 4 stars for it's lyrics, and some lovely songs that reveal Rossum as a dreamer, a romantic, and an awkward kid (some of the album's charm lies in it's awkwardness- while it aspires to adult contemporary genre some of the lyrics give away the fact that Rossum is barely out of her teens). It loses a star for being overproduced on some songs and obscuring the vocals. I do think it's worth checking out despite it's faults and I'm interested to see what musical directions Rossum head in the future.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous Debut, October 24, 2007
I first saw Emmy Rossum, as most people did, in 'Phantom of the Opera.' I was stunned by her voice in Phantom and thought she did an amazing job. Afterwards, I looked up everything I could find about her. I saw many of her movies including 'Songcatcher' where she sang country/Scotch-Irish ballads and 'Nola' where she sings pop songs. The diverseness of her voice is just simply amazing. And this is just another genre that Emmy has proven she can do.
Many have likened this to Imogen Heap/Frou Frou and Enya, and I agree there are similarities, but this is still uniquely Emmy.
Emmy said that with this album she wanted to bare herself, hence the title 'Inside Out'. And unlike many pop singers out there today, Emmy co-wrote every song on this album with the exception of Rainy Days and Mondays, which is very impressive.
My favorite tracks on this album are 'Lullaby' which is just a very soothing song- a grown up lullaby, 'Anymore'- where sings about how it felt to grow up without a father, and 'Don't Stop Now'- where she sings about catching her first boyfriend cheating on her. And her cover of 'Rainy Days and Mondays' is fantastic. The way she uses her voice in that song with these 'do do dos' you can almost feel the rain. And in every song she sings on this album you can feel the emotion she put into it. All in all a fantastic debut! Brava Emmy!
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is what I call music., October 23, 2007
Because I live in Brazil, it's still gonna take a lot of time until I have the physical CD in my hands. But I've downloaded the entire album here on Amazon and here's what I got to say.
These days, I find it hard, almost impossible to be honest, to discover an artist who has so much passion for their music: this love, this fire is explicit in every lyric and melody of this CD. When all we hear on the radio are frantic beats, stupid, redundant lyrics with a mediocre singer, Emmy shines through and she's here to stay.
All of the songs calmed me down and some of them touched me deeply. My favorites are "Inside Out", "Stay", "High", "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Anymore" and, clearly, the first single "Slow Me Down".
I'll ignore all of these people saying she sounds like Enya or Imogen Heap: I honestly don't care. THIS is what WE NEED in music nowadays. Weren't Britney, Christina, Fergie, Beyoncé, Gwen and many, many others inspired by Madonna? Why can't Emmy have a few similarities to other singers in her work too?
I hope Emmy goes far and continues to inspire people with her music. This is pure, dreamy, special and, at least to me, unique. Congratulations to this amazing singer and I'll be on the line waiting for the sophomore album.
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