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foxmonkeyThree reviews from overnight. The first two from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
charlidos' journal, the last from the JJB, via Jayne and orlandosentinel.com.
Interview from the JJB, via Jayne and orlandosentinel.com.
From Accessatlanta.
JC Chasez
"Schizophrenic." Jive Records. 17 tracks.
Grade: C
The first solo release by 'N Sync's JC Chasez is appropriately titled. He might also have added "Interminable."
It's all over the place and much too long. Variety can be a good thing, but long-windedness rarely is. We're five songs into the disc before there's a believable moment.
And that song, the ballad "Build My World," would have worked better with a lighter production touch.
Things do pick up from there, but even some of the album's best tracks never achieve greatness. The handclaps and acoustic guitars make "Something Special" sound like a sketch for George Michael's "Faith," but it never takes that idea and runs it into the end zone. The synth-pop nostalgia of "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" is an entertaining trifle.
There's just too much going on and not enough of it is truly interesting. One spectacular exception is "Shake It," a track provided by London duo Basement Jaxx, masters of everything-and-the-kitchen-sink dance music. It's payback for Chasez's guest spot on the pair's latest album "Kish Kash."
Chasez's reach is admirable, but it does exceed both his grasp and the average listener's attention span. Just because you can put more than an hour onto a disc doesn't mean you should.
-- Shane Harrison
SYNC INTO JC
By DAN AQUILANTE
JC CHASEZ
"Schizophrenic"
Jive Records
3 1/2 stars
With today's release of his debut solo, "Schizophrenic," *NSYNCer J.C. Chasez's is looking for the same success and reinvention that his bandmate Justin Timberlake enjoyed with "Justified," the solo effort that transformed him from pop boy-toy into a soul man.
On "Justified," Timberlake molded himself into Michael Jackson for a new generation - on "Schizophrenic," Chasez takes his lessons from Prince, especially on the fast, urban dance tracks.
A solid disc that lives up to its title, "Schizophrenic" has multiple personalities.
You can't help liking and moving to the Latin-influenced "Some Girls (Dance With Women)." Chasez's nod to electronica, "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," is musically infectious with simple lyrics and an easy melody that sticks in your brain like an advertising jingle. And his "Everything You Want" deserves to be locked up in the Police songbook.
But all the musical personalities of "Schizophrenic" aren't as welcome as those forays into rock, reggae and soul. When Chasez falls back on his boy-band upbringing and bellows ballads, it comes off as sappy mush. The worst of the slow-poke, touchy-feely songs is "Lose Myself," which should have gotten lost from this 17-track disc.
There is strong sexual content throughout the tunes, but it isn't explicit or obscene. For the most part, Chasez treats his audience with the kind of respect that Marvin Gaye gave his fans when he was delving into sexual healing.
MUSIC REVIEW
Solo effort gets down and dirty
By Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted February 24, 2004
These songs go out to the ladies in the house.
JC Chasez can't get you off his mind. He's been watching you dance together. He's burning for you, going crazy, learning how to fly, loving all night strong, coping with a fire inside, which might account for all that burning.
"All day long I dream about sex," he says in the song with the same title, from his solo debut, Schizophrenic. "All night long I think about sex. All the time I think about sex with you."
That's a mission statement on Schizophrenic, which makes you think that maybe the wrong 'N Sync guy was dancing with Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl. Chasez sounds so horny that you wonder whether he might have ripped off part of his own wardrobe too.
"Don't want the animal inside to be contained," he sings in "100 Ways," a passion trip with stops at the shower and the kitchen counter. "I'll be your Superman, you play Lois Lane."
Flames and burning desires are everywhere on these 17 songs, which include the not-fit-for-the-NFL "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)." There's nothing subtle about "Come to Me," with its reference to self-gratification, or other come-ons:
"I lust for you, electric lady," Chasez confesses on "Mercy." "All of my fire, all of my burning desire is for you." He also reminds us that it's not easy being so hot all the time: "It's the insanity eating at the man in me."
The theme is one-dimensional more than insane, but at least the music approaches the craziness the title suggests. Uncluttered accompaniment bounces effectively enough from pop and sanitized rock to R&B and electronica to make Schizophrenic more sonically ambitious than Justin Timberlake's Justified.
What's best about Schizophrenic? The arrangements, which feature a pleasing amount of real instruments. Guitars figure prominently into a few songs that take Chasez out of the 'N Sync mold, whether it's the insistent introduction to the R&B workout "She Got Me," the rock riffage in "100 Ways" or the chunky acoustic rhythms behind "Something Special" or "Right Here (By Your Side)."
It sounds like Chasez and his raft of producers (Alex Greggs, Rockwilder and the Basement Jaxx, among them) had fun taking turns from 1980s New Wave influences into unexpected territories. Perhaps the oddest moment is when "Something Special" downshifts into a twangy country interlude. Is someone channeling Kid Rock?
Like his 'N Sync bandmate Timberlake, Chasez is capable of doing a credible Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson, which surfaces on "She Got Me." But he's also versatile enough to sound like Sting on the reggae ballad "Everything You Want" or like Seal on the big chorus of the melodramatic "Lose Myself."
Unfortunately, that doesn't leave much room for Chasez to his assert his own style, whatever that might be. He's a fine singer in a technical sense, but he'd be a lot more appealing if he had a distinctive sound -- and more than one thing on his mind.
Jim Abbott can be reached at jabbott@orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-6213.
Hot, not bothered
Laid-back JC Chasez puts out a steamy CD his way -- for fun.
By Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted February 24, 2004
If JC Chasez hadn't called his debut solo album Schizophrenic, he might have gone with Spontaneous.
What else would you call a project that began with no particular goal in mind?
"When we first started the record, we didn't know we were even going to put it out," says Alex Greggs, who produced seven of the songs at his Riprock 'N' Alex G Studios in Winter Park.
Greggs and Chasez are neighbors in Winter Park and had worked together on albums for 'N Sync. Both say that Schizophrenic was different.
"I just did this record for me," Chasez says. "I just did it for pure fun, you know? It was just like I had it inside me."
Greggs and Chasez worked informally on the songs that would become Schizophrenic for months before Jive Records heard the material and sensed a hot commodity. Chasez (pronounced Sha-ZAY) agreed to the idea but only on his terms.
"I said, 'You know, if I'm going to do a record, I basically want to go ahead and do it on my own, and I just want everybody to kind of leave me alone.' That's what they did."
The result is an album charged with sexuality in songs such as "Some Girls (Dance With Women)"; "All Day Long I Dream About Sex"; "One Night Stand"; and "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)." Chasez says that wasn't a conscious decision, just a reflection of the material that was most memorable out of the 30 or so songs in consideration.
"I mean there's a million records that have a million songs about sex on them," he says. "Not every song on the record is about sex. The funny part is, you know, that's just what people gravitated to."
He knows that the timing is tricky for sexually oriented songs in the wake of Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." The fallout from that controversy already cost Chasez his halftime spot at the NFL's Pro Bowl. He agrees that Jackson's halftime flash was ill-advised but is worried about overreaction.
"The only thing I'm worried about are the censorship issues," he says. "I just don't necessarily agree with maybe some of the things that are going on. I don't think you should inhibit artists. . . . If something is on their minds or if they think something's fun, I don't think they should second-guess themselves because they're worried whether somebody's actually going to physically give them a chance to be heard."
In the wake of Justin Timberlake's successful solo debut and other highly visible pop albums by Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears, at least one industry observer says prospects are good for Schizophrenic.
"It's not a bad pure-pop moment," says Sean Ross, a radio-industry analyst at Edison Media Research in Somerville, N.J. "There's a whole generation of former teen acts from Justin to Christina [Aguilera] to Pink to arguably Kelly Clarkson who have all found success and semi-respectability. It's a pretty good mix."
Chasez doesn't want to compare his album to Timberlake's Justified, which yielded two Grammy Awards, favorable critical response and new credibility for his 'N Sync bandmate.
"Justin's Grammy Award-winning now and he's a superstar, there's no question about it," Chasez says. "My goal with this is just to have a successful record. At the end of the day, I can only do what I do. I feel like I've made a really good record, and I'm proud of what I've done."
When Chasez talks about Schizophrenic, it's not about commercial expectations. It's about the loose, friendly atmosphere behind its creation. In a recent teleconference interview, he went on excitedly for more than five minutes about the genesis of his collaborations with London electronica duo the Basement Jaxx, first on the Jaxx's "Plug It In" and then on Schizophrenic's "Shake It."
"I actually don't think about collaborations very often, and I don't go out of my way to formulate them," Chasez says. "The one thing you have to bring to the table is that you have to kind of let your inhibitions down with the people that you're writing with.
"If you really want to be at your best, you know, you have to be willing to show your worst. You have to be comfortable."
With Schizophrenic, Greggs says, that comfort level took Chasez into unexpected directions in almost every session.
"In the 'N Sync recording situation, it was always really planned out," Greggs says. "Jive would say, 'We need a song like this or a song like that.' This time, it was just 'What do you want to do today?' and we did it."
Now that it's done, Chasez is promoting the album like a newcomer. He's doing magazine interviews, hitting TV talk shows and visiting radio stations to chat with DJs and fans. When he starts his expected tour this spring, he'll play theaters rather than arenas.
"This isn't an 'N Sync record, so I can't automatically think that I'm going to have 'N Sync success. I wanted to push it like I'm a new artist, because I am essentially."
charlidos' journal, the last from the JJB, via Jayne and orlandosentinel.com.Interview from the JJB, via Jayne and orlandosentinel.com.
From Accessatlanta.
JC Chasez
"Schizophrenic." Jive Records. 17 tracks.
Grade: C
The first solo release by 'N Sync's JC Chasez is appropriately titled. He might also have added "Interminable."
It's all over the place and much too long. Variety can be a good thing, but long-windedness rarely is. We're five songs into the disc before there's a believable moment.
And that song, the ballad "Build My World," would have worked better with a lighter production touch.
Things do pick up from there, but even some of the album's best tracks never achieve greatness. The handclaps and acoustic guitars make "Something Special" sound like a sketch for George Michael's "Faith," but it never takes that idea and runs it into the end zone. The synth-pop nostalgia of "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" is an entertaining trifle.
There's just too much going on and not enough of it is truly interesting. One spectacular exception is "Shake It," a track provided by London duo Basement Jaxx, masters of everything-and-the-kitchen-sink dance music. It's payback for Chasez's guest spot on the pair's latest album "Kish Kash."
Chasez's reach is admirable, but it does exceed both his grasp and the average listener's attention span. Just because you can put more than an hour onto a disc doesn't mean you should.
-- Shane Harrison
SYNC INTO JC
By DAN AQUILANTE
JC CHASEZ
"Schizophrenic"
Jive Records
3 1/2 stars
With today's release of his debut solo, "Schizophrenic," *NSYNCer J.C. Chasez's is looking for the same success and reinvention that his bandmate Justin Timberlake enjoyed with "Justified," the solo effort that transformed him from pop boy-toy into a soul man.
On "Justified," Timberlake molded himself into Michael Jackson for a new generation - on "Schizophrenic," Chasez takes his lessons from Prince, especially on the fast, urban dance tracks.
A solid disc that lives up to its title, "Schizophrenic" has multiple personalities.
You can't help liking and moving to the Latin-influenced "Some Girls (Dance With Women)." Chasez's nod to electronica, "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," is musically infectious with simple lyrics and an easy melody that sticks in your brain like an advertising jingle. And his "Everything You Want" deserves to be locked up in the Police songbook.
But all the musical personalities of "Schizophrenic" aren't as welcome as those forays into rock, reggae and soul. When Chasez falls back on his boy-band upbringing and bellows ballads, it comes off as sappy mush. The worst of the slow-poke, touchy-feely songs is "Lose Myself," which should have gotten lost from this 17-track disc.
There is strong sexual content throughout the tunes, but it isn't explicit or obscene. For the most part, Chasez treats his audience with the kind of respect that Marvin Gaye gave his fans when he was delving into sexual healing.
MUSIC REVIEW
Solo effort gets down and dirty
By Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted February 24, 2004
These songs go out to the ladies in the house.
JC Chasez can't get you off his mind. He's been watching you dance together. He's burning for you, going crazy, learning how to fly, loving all night strong, coping with a fire inside, which might account for all that burning.
"All day long I dream about sex," he says in the song with the same title, from his solo debut, Schizophrenic. "All night long I think about sex. All the time I think about sex with you."
That's a mission statement on Schizophrenic, which makes you think that maybe the wrong 'N Sync guy was dancing with Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl. Chasez sounds so horny that you wonder whether he might have ripped off part of his own wardrobe too.
"Don't want the animal inside to be contained," he sings in "100 Ways," a passion trip with stops at the shower and the kitchen counter. "I'll be your Superman, you play Lois Lane."
Flames and burning desires are everywhere on these 17 songs, which include the not-fit-for-the-NFL "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)." There's nothing subtle about "Come to Me," with its reference to self-gratification, or other come-ons:
"I lust for you, electric lady," Chasez confesses on "Mercy." "All of my fire, all of my burning desire is for you." He also reminds us that it's not easy being so hot all the time: "It's the insanity eating at the man in me."
The theme is one-dimensional more than insane, but at least the music approaches the craziness the title suggests. Uncluttered accompaniment bounces effectively enough from pop and sanitized rock to R&B and electronica to make Schizophrenic more sonically ambitious than Justin Timberlake's Justified.
What's best about Schizophrenic? The arrangements, which feature a pleasing amount of real instruments. Guitars figure prominently into a few songs that take Chasez out of the 'N Sync mold, whether it's the insistent introduction to the R&B workout "She Got Me," the rock riffage in "100 Ways" or the chunky acoustic rhythms behind "Something Special" or "Right Here (By Your Side)."
It sounds like Chasez and his raft of producers (Alex Greggs, Rockwilder and the Basement Jaxx, among them) had fun taking turns from 1980s New Wave influences into unexpected territories. Perhaps the oddest moment is when "Something Special" downshifts into a twangy country interlude. Is someone channeling Kid Rock?
Like his 'N Sync bandmate Timberlake, Chasez is capable of doing a credible Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson, which surfaces on "She Got Me." But he's also versatile enough to sound like Sting on the reggae ballad "Everything You Want" or like Seal on the big chorus of the melodramatic "Lose Myself."
Unfortunately, that doesn't leave much room for Chasez to his assert his own style, whatever that might be. He's a fine singer in a technical sense, but he'd be a lot more appealing if he had a distinctive sound -- and more than one thing on his mind.
Jim Abbott can be reached at jabbott@orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-6213.
Hot, not bothered
Laid-back JC Chasez puts out a steamy CD his way -- for fun.
By Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted February 24, 2004
If JC Chasez hadn't called his debut solo album Schizophrenic, he might have gone with Spontaneous.
What else would you call a project that began with no particular goal in mind?
"When we first started the record, we didn't know we were even going to put it out," says Alex Greggs, who produced seven of the songs at his Riprock 'N' Alex G Studios in Winter Park.
Greggs and Chasez are neighbors in Winter Park and had worked together on albums for 'N Sync. Both say that Schizophrenic was different.
"I just did this record for me," Chasez says. "I just did it for pure fun, you know? It was just like I had it inside me."
Greggs and Chasez worked informally on the songs that would become Schizophrenic for months before Jive Records heard the material and sensed a hot commodity. Chasez (pronounced Sha-ZAY) agreed to the idea but only on his terms.
"I said, 'You know, if I'm going to do a record, I basically want to go ahead and do it on my own, and I just want everybody to kind of leave me alone.' That's what they did."
The result is an album charged with sexuality in songs such as "Some Girls (Dance With Women)"; "All Day Long I Dream About Sex"; "One Night Stand"; and "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)." Chasez says that wasn't a conscious decision, just a reflection of the material that was most memorable out of the 30 or so songs in consideration.
"I mean there's a million records that have a million songs about sex on them," he says. "Not every song on the record is about sex. The funny part is, you know, that's just what people gravitated to."
He knows that the timing is tricky for sexually oriented songs in the wake of Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." The fallout from that controversy already cost Chasez his halftime spot at the NFL's Pro Bowl. He agrees that Jackson's halftime flash was ill-advised but is worried about overreaction.
"The only thing I'm worried about are the censorship issues," he says. "I just don't necessarily agree with maybe some of the things that are going on. I don't think you should inhibit artists. . . . If something is on their minds or if they think something's fun, I don't think they should second-guess themselves because they're worried whether somebody's actually going to physically give them a chance to be heard."
In the wake of Justin Timberlake's successful solo debut and other highly visible pop albums by Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears, at least one industry observer says prospects are good for Schizophrenic.
"It's not a bad pure-pop moment," says Sean Ross, a radio-industry analyst at Edison Media Research in Somerville, N.J. "There's a whole generation of former teen acts from Justin to Christina [Aguilera] to Pink to arguably Kelly Clarkson who have all found success and semi-respectability. It's a pretty good mix."
Chasez doesn't want to compare his album to Timberlake's Justified, which yielded two Grammy Awards, favorable critical response and new credibility for his 'N Sync bandmate.
"Justin's Grammy Award-winning now and he's a superstar, there's no question about it," Chasez says. "My goal with this is just to have a successful record. At the end of the day, I can only do what I do. I feel like I've made a really good record, and I'm proud of what I've done."
When Chasez talks about Schizophrenic, it's not about commercial expectations. It's about the loose, friendly atmosphere behind its creation. In a recent teleconference interview, he went on excitedly for more than five minutes about the genesis of his collaborations with London electronica duo the Basement Jaxx, first on the Jaxx's "Plug It In" and then on Schizophrenic's "Shake It."
"I actually don't think about collaborations very often, and I don't go out of my way to formulate them," Chasez says. "The one thing you have to bring to the table is that you have to kind of let your inhibitions down with the people that you're writing with.
"If you really want to be at your best, you know, you have to be willing to show your worst. You have to be comfortable."
With Schizophrenic, Greggs says, that comfort level took Chasez into unexpected directions in almost every session.
"In the 'N Sync recording situation, it was always really planned out," Greggs says. "Jive would say, 'We need a song like this or a song like that.' This time, it was just 'What do you want to do today?' and we did it."
Now that it's done, Chasez is promoting the album like a newcomer. He's doing magazine interviews, hitting TV talk shows and visiting radio stations to chat with DJs and fans. When he starts his expected tour this spring, he'll play theaters rather than arenas.
"This isn't an 'N Sync record, so I can't automatically think that I'm going to have 'N Sync success. I wanted to push it like I'm a new artist, because I am essentially."
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Date: 2004-02-24 05:31 am (UTC)