Holdin’ Onto the Night
Artist: Greyson Chance
Stars: 2 out of 5
I remember the first time I heard that beautiful voice. No, this is not the school bus scene from Forrest Gump, and I’m not talking about Jenny’s voice. I’m talking about Greyson Chance. I fell in love with the vocals of this young artist the first time I heard his single “Waiting Outside the Lines.” I adored it because it had an inspirational message, as opposed to being yet another run-of-the-mill song about love, like most are today.
But Chance’s new album Holdin’ On To the Night took that uniqueness away from him and made him just another lovesick pop artist. The problem arises with the fact that he’s only 14 years old. What 14-year-old thinks this deeply about love? Intense lyrics like he’ll “travel a thousand miles/just to see you smile” cause a little skepticism for me since he’s barely old enough to get his learner’s permit — and what mom in their right mind would let a 14-year-old go on an airplane by himself? It’s just not a feasible possibility.
My point is, the lyrics are way too mature for him. They convey the feeling that he had nothing to do in writing the songs, which I think is important if an artist wishes to keep their own style.
Chance loses most of his originality when he mixes Justin Bieber vocals and Taylor Swift pop-country crossovers into 10 tracks of mainstream fluff. However, I’m not completely opposed to mainstream, so I have to admit some of the beats are catchy, and his voice still gets me. His range is what really helps make the album a little more satisfactory.
I just really wished that his first studio album (that I never even heard about until recently, even though it was released Aug. 2) would have been more of what I thought the young artist was. I miss the “Paparazzi” performance that he got his start with. I want to see more original stuff coming from such a natural vocalist.
