Suomi
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- Joined
- Jun 16, 2004
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Here is an EXCLUSIVE album review
1. Don’t Want You Back- one of the greatest songs of all time. Being Britney Spears was too aspirational and being Mandy Moore wasn’t aspirational enough, so Ellie Campbell fell into that comfortable place in the middle. This is the gold standard for how a pop song should sound. To the untrained ear this might be accused of simplicity, but it is a superb example of a song resting at the intersection of both the minor and major key. My heart stills gasps when I see Ellie and her girls at the window of her cheating spouse.
2. Say What You Mean - and MEAN WHAT YOU SAY! This a defiant command for clarity, and has that cheap casio background that has adorned many a Eurovision national final circa 2000.
3. Never Gonna Give Up On Love - long before Atomic Kitten bagged “The Last Goodbye” Ellie Campbell birthed this thoughtful Y2K ballad into the world. One of the most emotional songs I have ever heard (on this album)
4. Sweet Lies - the career-killing debut single. Ellie only sang 3 lines of a song in front of Pete Waterman before he felt compelled to sign her up, but his ear for a hit song is not as good as his eye for talent. Unlike later more successful signings (Rosie Ribbons) Ellie’s debut single was a bit of a damp squib and broke the cardinal rule of releasing your ballad moment as your third winter single. To Ellie’s horror, worse career management was to come.
5. Suspicion - Not since Angela Lansbury have I ever been so convinced by someone’s need to find out the truth. Put this in a playlist alongside Marie Serneholt’s Calling All Detectives, Allstars Things That Go Bump In the Night, Jeanette Biedermann’s Go Back and Britney Spears’ Don’t Go Knocking on My Door and you’ve got the makings of a very empowering, and slightly spooky, car ride.
6. So Many Ways - that this is Ellie’s biggest hit is a travesty. Songs as frothy as this require a great deal of goodwill on behalf of the listener, and so as one Ellie Campbell’s biggest fans I am willing to submit to its charms, but what an ill-thought out commercial venture.
7. I Love How I Feel - at nearly 5 minutes long this is the album’s strangest detour into a potential 90s RnB moment. This would not sound out of place in the hands of an early Louise album, and I am enamoured by how effortlessly this song luxuriates in a state of being. In the modern era where songs are purposely made shorter to fit a TikTok moment and album tracks are ceasing to exist, there is something so heavenly about this indulgent mid-tempo moment, particularly from 3:00 on where Ellie just starts to freestyle her thoughts on love. I don’t want to go too crazy and make The Miseducation of Lauren Hill comparisons, but we are not a million miles away from The Miseducation of Ellie Campbell here.
8. My Heart Will Find No Home - an incredibly accomplished, intelligent track that any of the major pop giants at the time would have been lucky to have had on their albums. Ellie’s vocal delivery is a convincing portrayal of a woman near the edge, and the lyrics offer an unusual spin on an affair and broken relationship. “There’s no use in pretending, one of us is to blame/but my heart will find no home/until you’re back in my arms again” suggests that the maturity of rising above her partner’s indiscretions will win out over the blame game. However, with the music left to play out the song without much vocal accompaniment, it feels like - despite the best will in the world - the problem will never really get resolved.
PART II (tracks 9-13 in next post!)
1. Don’t Want You Back- one of the greatest songs of all time. Being Britney Spears was too aspirational and being Mandy Moore wasn’t aspirational enough, so Ellie Campbell fell into that comfortable place in the middle. This is the gold standard for how a pop song should sound. To the untrained ear this might be accused of simplicity, but it is a superb example of a song resting at the intersection of both the minor and major key. My heart stills gasps when I see Ellie and her girls at the window of her cheating spouse.
2. Say What You Mean - and MEAN WHAT YOU SAY! This a defiant command for clarity, and has that cheap casio background that has adorned many a Eurovision national final circa 2000.
3. Never Gonna Give Up On Love - long before Atomic Kitten bagged “The Last Goodbye” Ellie Campbell birthed this thoughtful Y2K ballad into the world. One of the most emotional songs I have ever heard (on this album)
4. Sweet Lies - the career-killing debut single. Ellie only sang 3 lines of a song in front of Pete Waterman before he felt compelled to sign her up, but his ear for a hit song is not as good as his eye for talent. Unlike later more successful signings (Rosie Ribbons) Ellie’s debut single was a bit of a damp squib and broke the cardinal rule of releasing your ballad moment as your third winter single. To Ellie’s horror, worse career management was to come.
5. Suspicion - Not since Angela Lansbury have I ever been so convinced by someone’s need to find out the truth. Put this in a playlist alongside Marie Serneholt’s Calling All Detectives, Allstars Things That Go Bump In the Night, Jeanette Biedermann’s Go Back and Britney Spears’ Don’t Go Knocking on My Door and you’ve got the makings of a very empowering, and slightly spooky, car ride.
6. So Many Ways - that this is Ellie’s biggest hit is a travesty. Songs as frothy as this require a great deal of goodwill on behalf of the listener, and so as one Ellie Campbell’s biggest fans I am willing to submit to its charms, but what an ill-thought out commercial venture.
7. I Love How I Feel - at nearly 5 minutes long this is the album’s strangest detour into a potential 90s RnB moment. This would not sound out of place in the hands of an early Louise album, and I am enamoured by how effortlessly this song luxuriates in a state of being. In the modern era where songs are purposely made shorter to fit a TikTok moment and album tracks are ceasing to exist, there is something so heavenly about this indulgent mid-tempo moment, particularly from 3:00 on where Ellie just starts to freestyle her thoughts on love. I don’t want to go too crazy and make The Miseducation of Lauren Hill comparisons, but we are not a million miles away from The Miseducation of Ellie Campbell here.
8. My Heart Will Find No Home - an incredibly accomplished, intelligent track that any of the major pop giants at the time would have been lucky to have had on their albums. Ellie’s vocal delivery is a convincing portrayal of a woman near the edge, and the lyrics offer an unusual spin on an affair and broken relationship. “There’s no use in pretending, one of us is to blame/but my heart will find no home/until you’re back in my arms again” suggests that the maturity of rising above her partner’s indiscretions will win out over the blame game. However, with the music left to play out the song without much vocal accompaniment, it feels like - despite the best will in the world - the problem will never really get resolved.
PART II (tracks 9-13 in next post!)
