'Believe (II)'

(CREDIT: goes to owner, which is not me.)

My Rank: 3.75 out of 5 <-- ah, nostalgia...

Once you're exposed to something, it's almost impossible to fully get rid of it. Because of that, I'm slowly standing down from my position of bashing every pop act in existence. Though I still find Kesha (I refuse to add that stupid dollar sign) and Justin Beiber to be utterly embarrassing to all music everywhere, pop rock remains to be fairly tolerable. Or in this case, very enjoyable. Rock-driven pop always appealed to me, and chicks with guitars are no exception. Even Orianthi.

I won't go preaching pure blasphemy against bands I listen to a lot, but Orianthi's guitar playing makes a few others sound look like children playing Guitar Hero on easy. Not to say she's the best guitarist ever, but it makes me wonder if SOME BAND I KNOW would fire their guys and hire her. *cEoPuIgChAs* Sometimes it gets annoying that I have to hear a solo on every track, but they're not half bad. I think of it as a break from Deathstars or Breaking Benjamin's lack of guitar solos.

Granted, her songwriting doesn't impress me too much, but the lyrics are fairly decent. Can't expect too much from pop rock, folks.

In terms of singing, she's better than a good chunk of the pop-rock singers I used to love, and I indulge in sometimes. Smoother and less shriek-y than Avril, and more mellow and way more "restrained" in language than P!nk. Though not guilty of it, I'm fully aware that metal heads would laugh at me and dismiss me as one of them.

I really don't know what to say about this, but after a few decent listens, this album gets a safe 3.75. A few tracks I love are "Courage," "Suffocated," her cover of "Missing You," and the totally epic "Highly Strung." I strongly recommend "Highly Strung" (though maybe the title is far too corny...)

Maybe once I think of reviewing Unbeautiful, I might have a longer post...