Clay Aiken - On My Way Here Review

Thank you for your review Laura. I think this CD is for everyone not just Clay fans.

I find the more I listen to this CD the more I love it. That's hard to do because I loved it from the start. My son who is a musician and a sound engineer loves Clay's voice in this CD. He was never a Clay fan so the fact he listened is amazing in itself. He loves the music behind the voice. No wonder since Steely Dan provides the music for all but one song.
He said the sound engineering is 100% spot on!

The producer Kipper has produced some Grammy winning albums, including one for Sting. This album is superb in every way.

BTW, have I mentioned that I LOVE this album!

I enjoy listening to Clay. He has a surprisingly broad range. Nicely written.

Good review Laura! I look forward to listening to this one.

Laura, you seem to be stuck in AI mode. Clay was great then but this music is so much more evolved and sophisticated. The arrangements are exquisite. The depth of his vocals are beginning to unfold. This CD is everything I had hoped Clay's artistry would grow into. Does seeing him live enhance the music? Absolutely. Because you get the added dimension of his charismatic personality. But this CD is a complete work on its own. If I saved it for introspective moments I'd be missing the fun of Ashes, Falling and Everything I Don't Need. Yet I love the meaning I take from the Real Me and As Long as We're Here. This CD has it all, from smoldering torch songs to rockin uptempo. It is by far his best work to date.

First, the production on this CD is superb -- Kipper found the perfect balance of Clay's vocals and the instrumentation -- something that was not up to par on previous releases. I really didn't like his covers ATDW, MOAM had great songs but over-produced, but ABSOLUTELY LOVE this one. I find it sad that there's not a place for this genre of pop in the music industry. Totally refreshing, pure and vocally better than anyone in the industry. The maturity and honing of his vocal skills since AI actually keeps me from thinking of AI as much.

I do agree with some of the review,but I could not possibly put it away for my more retrospective moments. I need Clay's CD with me all the time, because he sings, not only of heatbreak, but of a beautiful love affair, of regret, and also redemption, of identity loss, but also discovery of his potential. I start the cd and go on this divine five-year journey with him, and what's so great about that, is he sings to me each step of the way.



icame4themusic

Glad you gave the album 4 stars, Laura. I agree about something of the magic of Clay's live performances being missing in most of his RCA recordings, but I think this album goes a long way toward fixing that. (I just miss him singing more in lower keys.)
By contrast to your preferences, mine are for the faster, more rocking songs on this album - well, those plus Lover All Alone (for which Clay wrote the lyrics).
Aside from that one, my favorite tracks are Ashes, Weight Of The World, Everything I Don't Need, and Falling.

Genie

Girl, I can totally relate. I think On My Way Here is Clay's best work yet! It also helps that the words were in there for me to learn them faster.
Don't worry about losing your Claymate No.! If so, then I better be careful or I wil no longer be Head of Aikenology! LOL!

You can't please everybody. Clay is Clay, & whatever he sings is better than all of the other singers? around.I I have yet to hear anyone top him.have ALL of his cd's & love ALL of them.

I think Clay Aiken is not who people portray him to be. What I do know is that he has a fantastic voice and a big heart for kids and does a great deal to help the planet in that regard. His talent is diverse as evidenced by his recent success in Mike Nichol's/Monty Python's Spamalot. I love his new CD. I didn't like his others nearly as well but have always loved his voice. Anyone who enjoyed Clay on Idol should pick up a copy of this CD. He is the real deal and this is the CD that comes closest to who he is as far as possibilities. Great job for a guy who deserves more credit than most critics give him. Oh yeah, they really don't care much about talent or ontegrity but the gal who wrote this review is apparently a fan. Even if you are not a fan, this one is worth the money.

Well, I CAN get into his personality. He is funny and smart and hard-working and charismatic and simply delightful. Clay has come a long way since his American Idol days. That was five years ago, and he has moved on. Why do people only want to associate him with Idol? He is a spectacular live performer. Songs are much, much better when he sings them live. Don't tell me that no one here saw the Juke Box tour in 2005!! Plus, his run on Broadway in Spamalot was fantastic. He has wonderful comedic timing. I am certainly enjoying all of the songs on On My Way Here, since he is a great interpreter, but my choice of music for him is always the more traditional style, like his Christmas songs or the big power ballads. Others prefer more uptempo songs. The good part about it is that Clay can sing them all. I don't think the songs on this album sound anything like Measure of a Man. So I guess my question is this: what do you want him to sing? Build Me Up, Buttercup is a song from the 60s. Why would you want him to sing that? This particular CD is more thoughtful and inspirational, but I don't hear 'peaceful' at all. I do hear challenging and uplifting, however. That's the theme of it. He has been through a lot of difficulty in his life and has emerged as a stronger person. Haven't all of us seen some tough times? We call all relate to the lyrics on this album. That's what he's doing here, giving us all songs that make us feel and think. They are not lazy songs at all. Perhaps at another time he will make an album of just fun songs. One of the strengths of On My Way Here is that it shows his versatility. It has uptempo songs and contemplative songs and slow jazzy romantic melodies. I am confused about your statement about how he has avoided becoming a caricature of himself or why that would have been "easy" to do. I have never thought of Clay in that way at all.

You say that 7 out of 10 songs have a faster pop beat yet you say its for winding down and peaceful times. Um yeah. Whatever.

I have not been able to get into Clay. I'm not sure why. I think it's the whole package. Jo

He does have a good voice, although I'm not crazy about his personality. Nice review.

Clay Aiken is incredibly gifted and I voted for him all the way through season 2. I still like listening to him sing. Great review!

I don't watch the show but enjoy a good singer, notwithstanding. ;>