Rating:   12 Ratings     12345  

Kai Brown Better Now How Now Brown Cow

      The album, Better Now (How Now Brown Cow Records, 2005) is scheduled to be released July 26. Typical yet enticing, the record begins with current single, The Pain, complete with a crash beginning of a drum breakdown, eager guitarwork and a surprisingly much deeper voice than expected. Brown provides a healthy, mature-sounding mix of uplifting country and alternative rock.

      You've got another thing coming if you think he's taking a side saddle to Toby Keith. Brown, who has acquired those twangy vocals, seems more appropriately compared to the likes of an adult version of an American Idol finalist. This is both good and bad.

      First and foremost, Brown has talent -- there is no denying his ability to hit the perfect pitch.

      But, he does take the dramatic holds, pauses and higher notes that stereotype his skill into the Idol category, what with their overdramatic singing and hand gestures.

      So his placement arguably remains borderline until he can break away from this pre-measured role and become comfortable with his own productions and ideas. Until then, the music seems too instructed; sighing violins, excitable drums, and guitar chords to coincide with the song's expressed emotion.

      Although, in his defense, lyrics are relatable and down-to-earth, as in "Everyday," where he sings, overjoyed, of a newfound love: "Hey hey/Can you please be with me everyday/Since I found you/Never let this go away." For those who hold dear those everlasting love songs, the closing track, "Always" pulls it off, as Brown sings of his one-and-only love, and all the memories that go along with it.

      Brown is simply remarkable talent in the wrong place. He has the ability to do very well, but is held back by the graduated pop sound. Young girls who grew up on listening to the brigade of boy bands in the mid nineties, now older, may take an interest in Brown, due to his similar style, but with more maturity and tactfulness. The man will do just fine on his own, just as long as Lou Pearlman doesn't find him first.

-Arie Musil 07/13/05