Striking gold by signing Canadian Idol
Billy Klippert to their roster, the Orange Records label was hoping to re-create their success. Of course, they would need to find another rock-oriented reality television protégé to process in order to hit it big again. What could be better than
Tara Slone? After all, she's a rocking Canadian beauty who's known not only for being the former lead singer of Juno-nominated band Joydrop, but she was also a finalist on the hit reality television show Rock Star: INXS, where she was known for her angry edge and gritty low voice. What more could the executives want? Ultimately, the results spawning from this whole
Slone-as-a-bitchy-rock star concept are only mediocre. The album,
Just Look Pretty and Sing is a collection of mildly angry rock songs only half-fueled by
Slone's instrument. What's working for and against the album at the same time is, ultimately,
Slone herself. Because she's the main songwriter on the album, she displays lots of artistic merit with her mature, well-developed writing skills, and shows creativity by penning so many of the tracks (including one in French, a really cool feature). However, at the same time, many of the songs, which try to play up on spit-in-your-face pop circa
Kelly Clarkson's "My December," don't ever cross into angry territory. They just stay stuck in a mean domain, never really reaching musical breaking point. Thus
Slone, who is a good writer, doesn't really let go on the album, and it unfortunately also shows in her voice. Her cool sound is stifled at points;
Slone never truly reaches that boiling point that she needs to in order to achieve that enraged image she tries to put on. Quite ironically, her strongest points on the album are when she takes it slow and just jams out her feelings, such as on the poignant "For Kate." In an interview published about
Slone, she states that the title of her album, "Just Look Pretty and Sing" was a comment that was made about her that really hurt her. Oddly enough, after hearing this album, that's exactly what
Slone should do. She has a natural creative talent, seen through her vocals and her writing; however, the menacing image she puts on during this album doesn't truly reflect it. On her next album,
Slone should worry less about aspiring an image that was set for her and truly make music that reflects her. ~ Matthew Chisling