The sophomore slump is an uphill battle

YPRESS MEMBER LOGIN

PRINT THIS PAGE
EMAIL TO A FRIEND
RELATED STORIES
MOST COMMENTED
ARCHIVE
MOST EMAILED
RSS FEEDS

MEET THE AUTHOR

NAME — Allison Gardner
AGE — 18

THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP IS AN UPHILL BATTLE

“I've been all around the world /I've been a new sensation /But it doesn't really matter /In this g-generation /The sophomore slump is an uphill battle.” – Jason Mraz

When an artist has a successful debut album, it is sometimes difficult to follow up with music that is not only as good as the first album, but new and improved – music that people will enjoy just as much as before.

Jason Mraz’s first CD, Waiting For My Rocket To Come, was successful, selling 80,000 in the first week. While the world was waiting for his second album to mark his return to the music business, he was struggling with making a sophomore set that would bring “oohs and aahs and fa-la-las” from his audiences.

Congratulations, Jason Mraz – you’ve conquered the sophomore slump.

His newest album, Mr. A-Z, succeeds in doing that; the sound is more sophisticated and varied than the first album, but maintains the acoustic pop-rock feel. While the first album was strongly influenced by Mraz’s pop roots, he returns to the music world with an assortment of styles and genres. From “Geek in the Pink,” which has a more hip-hop-inspired feel, to “Life is Wonderful”, which is slow and thought-provoking, Mraz once again proves his talent, creating a successful medley of musical genres.

However, this varied arrangement of styles and beats can throw a listener off at first. The album sometimes goes so quickly from a slower song to a more upbeat one that it may be jarring to some. For example, the CD starts slowly with the philosophical “Life is Wonderful,” and moves rather quickly into his first single, the rather upbeat “Wordplay”. After a while, though, the listener gets used to the change of genres and styles and begins to appreciate the album’s variety. Although the strange order of the songs may catch one off guard initially, it is still effective and overall very entertaining.

This album has matured in many ways over to Mraz’s debut album. The lyrics are much more thoughtful and cause the listener to ponder the themes of the songs and their meanings.

The songs on this album are also more personal. Instead of the typical pop song with repetitive beats and meaningless lyrics, Mraz experiments with songs that have romantic and philosophic meanings, and the end result is a CD that reveals a lot about Mraz’s life. These personal lyrics appear to be more like poems than song lyrics, which gives the listener a chance to reflect upon the significance of his words. The song “Bella Luna” is a good example of the poetry of Mraz’s words:

“You're the ghost of royalty imposing love
You are the queen and king combining everything
Intertwining like a ring around the finger of a girl
I'm just a singer, you're the world
All I can bring ya
Is the language of a lover”

The cleverly titled 2005 release from Mraz is a set of songs with something for everyone and truly an amazing follow-up to his debut album. Mr. A-Z may not be full of No. 1 hits, but it is one of the most musically varied albums out right now.

Yank Rachell became a blues legend the hard way
	By Allison Gardner, 15 The blues is an expression of feeling, therefore something you should respect. It came out of hardships most of us can't imagine. The first to tell you this and many other fact-filled stories is legendary blues mandolinist Yank Rachell. Children's Express recently interviewed Rachell in his Indianapolis home about his life and his music. Rachell was born on a farm in Brownsville, Tenn., 85 yea
Musicians put their bands above all else
	By Allison Gardner, 15 It's dark. It's loud. The crowd is going crazy. For two local bands, DizeAzeD and the Hooligans, this is a typical Saturday night. Y-Press talked with Nicole Anderson, 19; Macey Frank, 18; and Dannie Frank, 15; from DizeAzeD and Jonny Nagel, 20, from the Hooligans about their lives in the music circuit. The punk-rock Hooligans were created about two years ago when Jonny's older brother, Mike, met
Band contests push teens to their limits
	By Allison Gardner, 15 No one doubts that high school football players work hard: They practice most of the summer despite the heat, preparing for a season culminating (they hope) in regional and state contests. Not everyone realizes, however, that marching bands work just as hard and are just as competitive as football teams. Casey Turner, 17, St. Peters, Mo., described a typical marching band contest: "It's just teena
For some children, music embodies hope for future
	By Allison Gardner, 15 Standing on a street corner in the United States, you might hear music reverberating out of a nearby car window or see someone listening to a song on headphones. If you asked a teen what music is, the response probably would be that it is a form of entertainment. In Brazil, you are likely to see groups of kids on the streets using their hands as drumsticks to keep the beat on tables and chairs. If
Downloading music is cheap, but is it right?
	By Allison Gardner, 15 Some say it is right, some say it is wrong, but everyone agrees it's a way to save money. For people who download music, it's a matter of thrift and convenience to get music from many different Internet sources. For people opposed to it, it is stealing or pirating copyrighted material. Teens who download music have used the argument "one more person won't hurt" many times since Shawn Fanning, crea
Singer takes story of peace to children
	By Allison Gardner, 15 Singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow is best known for his role in the popular folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary. However, music is not his only passion. He has participated in the civil rights movement, performing at such events as the Selma-Montgomery peace march and the rally in which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. More recently, he founded a program directed at school-a
Political music can teach and move listeners
	By Allison Gardner, 15 To musicians, the goal of making music is to get a message across to listeners and affect them, whether by brightening their day with a joke or changing their views on the United States' two-party system. Making people think about politics is what artists like Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Eminem and U2 do every day. But does music with political overtones face more obstacles than music wit
It came from the garage!
	By Allison Gardner, 15 "I honestly don't care if their music is on tune or off tune; all I care about is if they're having a good time." Tom Vornholt, owner of Franklin's Club Logos, which caters to an under-21 crowd They've come and gone for more than 40 years, but these risk-takers are still cool, original and evocative, according to music experts. In Indianapolis, they have names like The Naked Neighbors, Unikque and
Trio transforms everyday sounds into 'beatboxing'
	By Allison Gardner, 15 Ronald Craig Jr., 17, is clear about where his love of music comes from. "I've known music before I came out the womb. I am married to music," he said. But Ronald doesn't dream of Carnegie Hall. Instead, he works to transform everyday sounds into his own unconventional art. Ronald, aka "DJ Xcel," is a beatboxer in the group MOB, which stands for "mind over body" or "master of beatboxing." Joined b