| I went to Borders the other day and
while I was there they had 5-song promo CD's of the Josie. So like any music lover I
picked one up and said what the hell it might be good and if it's not, well it's free. I
then went on to buy $60.00 in CD's, each of which I was very excited to get home and
listen to. Well I think that there should be a law, and the law should be "ANYTHING
THAT YOU GET FOR FREE SHOULD NEVER BE BETTER THAN THAT WHICH YOU PAID FOR". No shit,
I got home and played a couple of the CD's and thought, not bad. Then I put on the Josie
and I just fell in love with it. So this is where the review starts.
Josie, as it turns out, is from Chicago. As the lyrics go
in the opening track "Free" - Born and raised in Chi-town / no city of angels
made me what I am. Well, maybe that city of angels didn't make her what she is, but it
just may have been an angel that gave Josie the voice she has. This girl can sing, boy can
she sing, and as a matter of fact she does all the vocals on the disc. As I said, the
opening track is "Free" and it's a hit if ever I heard one. This song has a
chorus that sweeps you away and you will be singing this one till the cows come home. It
has a dance feel to it and could be easily re-mixed to be a dance club fav, but strong
beat should not be confused with techno, which it's not.
What the CD is for the most part is a diary of sorts. If
you listen to it all the way through you feel as if you know more about this girl than the
person who's been working next to you for the last 5 years. So is that a good thing? Well
that depends, if it's someone going on and on about how life has screwed them, then well
yeah, it can become a bit too much to take. But in the case of Josie it's more about being
an individual, it's also about right now. I think that is the thing I love the most about
this CD. You have this feeling when you are listening to it that she wrote the songs
today, it's all so real. It's pop, but it's pop done very, very well.
I have to tell you track 10 is off the hook. I would say
that if you buy this CD, and I hope that you will, you should go right to this cut. I
know, I know "Free" is the single and it's great but "Need To Be
Lonely" takes it over the top. You can bullshit yourself all day long but what it
always comes down to is the songs, and the songs on this CD are great. The last cut is
"You Can Hear Me Now" and she sings it acapella - it's perfect. Now here's the
thing, thank God she didn't make this one a hidden track. You know that track, that one
that you have to hold down the fast forward button on? They shouldn’t call it the
hidden track, they should call it the pain in the ass track. Anyhow a big tip of the old
chapeau to the producers for not over doing everything, and making it so slick that you
slip when listening. I would rather trip over hooks any day, too cool.
So what is an unkunvenshunal girl? Well with Josie it's
someone who is out there doing what she feels is right for her. In a nutshell she's all
about self-expression, and if you don't like it….oh well. In this day and age of the
cookie cutter pop princess, it's so nice to see the real deal. I hope that you will spend
some time getting to know Josie. I think you will like her a whole bunch, I know I did.
Highly recommended!
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