Sorry, Lee, critics not living it up
Some artists who fail to achieve popular success can at least take comfort knowing their work is appreciated by the discerning eyes and ears of the professional critic.
Unfortunately, “American Idol” champ Lee DeWyze isn't one of those artists this week.
As his new album was setting record lows for first-week sales by an “Idol” winner, it wasn't faring any better with critics as most told listeners of ‘Live It Up' to “Turn it down.”
Though some critics spread the blame onto the record's producers for trying to fit DeWyze's rock-centric round hole into the square peg of a mid-tempo pop star, the early reviews are mostly scathing nonetheless.
Some of the remarks so far:
“Former paint salesman Lee DeWyze won the dullest season ever of ‘American Idol' and now he has a solo disc as exciting as, well, watching paint dry. He bends his formidable, husky croon to mimic John Mayer (‘Dear Isabelle'), Jack Johnson (‘Weightless') and even fellow ‘Idol' David Cook (‘Me and My Jealousy'). But he fails to reveal his own identity or leave an impression.”
Ian Drew, US Magazine I#8220;Lee DeWyze's debut album #8216;Live It Up' suffers from vague production that strips his Adam Duritz-y growl of all humor, anger and sexuality. It's also saddled with a batch of tunes that are so totally generic, the font color for this review should be beige. Only one song here, #8216;Me and My Jealousy,' truly showcases the coolly disaffected potential rock star who won what's widely regarded as the weakest-ever season of #8216;American Idol.'#8221; Entertainment Weekly #8220;We know enough about Mr. DeWyze to know that #8220;Live It Up,#8221; his major-label debut, is in no way a Lee DeWyze album. Not just because of the pair of small-label records he released before #8216;Idol,' which were rough and rocky and, sure, a little clumsy, and maybe betrayed an affection for the work of Adam Duritz. But because if tasked with singing most of the songs on this surprisingly pleasant, improbably innocuous album during his time on the show, Mr. DeWyze almost certainly wouldn't have made it to the end. Only the album's last track, #8216;A Song About Love,' feels true. His voice is serrate, his mood is foul, and the song is sturdy enough to stand up to both. It's the sound of Mr. DeWyze's then and now finally colliding.#8221; Jon Carmanica, New York Times #8220;DeWyze can wrangle a pleasant melody, particularly when he's favoring sunswept SoCal folk-pop, but he can't resist sabotaging his slight charms with a studied hamminess, adopting a gravelly growl whenever he wants to appear soulful and leaning so hard in his phrasing that he stumbles instead of shuffles. Ironically, these affectations are best heard on the least-produced moments on #8216;Live It Up'; sure, they're more apparent when the arrangements are simple, but the shellacked attempts at glassy modern pop dampen whatever personality DeWyze may have.#8221; Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music But not all hope is lost. While professional critics are finding little to like about #8216;Live It Up,' DeWyze fans who've bought the album at online sites like Amazon.com and iTunes are giving it high marks.With 605 ratings as of Wednesday, iTunes listeners were giving the album an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Over at Amazon, 38 of 49 reviewers have given #8220;Live It Up#8221; 5 out of 5 stars. Only four reviewers have given it a 1-star rating.