How the mighty have fallen...
On the heels of his successful acoustic re-recording of the classic
Enuff Z'nuff album Strength, lead singer/songwriter
Donnie Vie has delivered a digital only release of another 12 acoustic remakes, recorded in one take with the help of LA Smogg bandmate CJ Szuter on a couple of songs.
Short review: Big mistake!
Longer review: $8 and a pretty cool tracklisting was enuff to make me check this out. I was a bit hesitant as Donnie has been known to release some dubios material in the past but I had my hopes up for something spectacular. Unfortunately this takes the prize for being the worst and most embarrassing thing he has done yet. It seems to me he thinks that anything goes when you have a horde of hard core
Enuff Z'nuff fans craving new music.
Musically there is not much on display. It's Donnie and an acoustic guitar, which in another time would have been Heaven. Here it quickly comes closer to
Hell as he loses concentration after about 3 songs, starts forgetting lyrics and tries to make up for it by doing his own highly unprofessional improvisations.
Things start out very promising with enjoyable performances of
Innocence,
Right by your side,
Falling in love again and
I could never be without you. Though lyrics are occasionally forgotten the performance feels sincere and the emotion is there. Donnie's voice can still carry a song.
By
Fly High Michelle I got the impression that Donnie would rather be doing something else. Like taking shots of tequila.
Donnie's memory of performing
You and I at Chip's wedding is a funny re-collection but sadly he consequently ruins the actual song with an embarrassing performance, spitting included. If there was one song that deserved the full acoustic treat it is this one and Donnie completely wastes this opportunity as he loses touch with what works and what doesn't. He best describes it with his ending statement
"Oh well... Hey you know, what the fuck". From here on it seems like he doesn't care anymore. Things do go a bit uphill as he has some good passages during
Downhill and
Fingertips but by the end of
Goodbye any kind of integrity has gone out the window due to too many embarrassing improvisations.
When Donnie loses his concentration he starts fucking things up badly. He comes off as completely clueless as he rambles on. There are truly sad moments to be found on this release. The guitar playing isn't very impressive and the quality of Donnie's vocal delivery varies wildly.
Overall it is a sloppy but momentarily shining performance by one of my favorite singers. An amateurish and ultimately failed experiment that is not worth the asking price.
Let me stress: There is nothing wrong with the music. It is the unprofessional delivery that kills this release.
Written by
Steen Monday, May 26, 2008
Show all reviews by SteenRatingsSteen: 3.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
This article has been shown 2683 times. Go to the
complete list.
