Will Young - From Now OnWhen Will Young won Pop Idol it proved that the general public shouldn't always be given the freedom to make their own choices. Despite the fact that I would fight on the streets for the right to free speech and a true democracy, when it comes to pop music the public shouldn't be involved until they dig in their pockets and hand the cash over. The cold hard facts are that Will Young simply doesn't have enough character to outlast the average life span of a TV Talent Show Contest. Take away the fact that he has a truly unique voice in Planet Pop 2002 and what is left to retain your interest? He's lived an average middle / upper class upbringing throughout his formative years and then went on to study politics at University. Nothing more than that with the exception that he happens to be an openly gay pop star, but doesn't like to campaign about it despite the fact that he studied politics. So essentially what the general public voted for was a Educated Political Pop Idol who doesn't like pop music and has no opinion on issues that affect him on a daily basis....and to think we gave you kids the vote as well!!!
Still despite whether you like Will or not, on paper the album "From Now On" has all the ingredients to make a fantastic record. With Cathy "Can't Get You Outta My Head" Dennis, Guy "Robbie Williams" Chambers and Burt Bacharach lining up to write songs for Will maybe they're seeing something that I don't. Much of the album veers towards Young's love of Easy listening and soul music which either immediately alienates you on the basis that you're too young to understand it or that you're old enough to better. While Young has a unique voice in 2002 it's not a million miles away from fellow white soul singer Mick Hucknall and when you listen to the passion of early soul records it can only pail in comparison. To his credit he does actually have a creative input, co-writing five of the thirteen songs on the album, but when you actually take time to listen to the lyrics such as "girl haven't you been around me long enough to know" on "Cruel To Be Kind" you realize he truly does mean it when he say's he's not going to campaign. How much self respect must Will have for himself to get on stage and sing love songs to an imaginary girl when every single of the member knows he should be singing it to the man of his dreams. It sounds like a small point, but when Gareth and Will duet on the Beatles ""The Long And Winding Road" there's a sincerity and honesty in Gareth's voice whereas when Will opens his mouth the only emotional reaction great singer.
By this time next year, Young will have released his second album to a universal panning and he will retire from the media spotlight. The worst thing is that while it will be no great loss for planet pop as a whole (we will still have the true Pop Idol Gareth after all), Will is that lacking in passion for the music industry then when his time is up he will simply go back to his country lifestyle without a care in the world. There will be no desperate struggles where Will desperately tries to regain public favour. It will simply be bye bye Will and for that alone he shouldn't even have got into the industry in the first place.
Alex McCann
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