With a simple beat and a beautiful piano in the faint background of the first song, I?felt like I?didn’t know Lea Michele anymore.
The familiar voice no longer had a crackle of the “Glee” character Rachel Berry.
Michele’s first album, “Louder,” was released Tuesday by Columbia Records. It features 11 tracks, which have a definite pop sound.
Though the first track, “Cannonball,” has a catchy beat, it is overshadowed by the second track “On My Way,” which features the lyrics “Cause my heart is too drunk to drive / I should stay away from you tonight. / But in this blackout state of mind / Baby, all I want is you tonight.”
Despite the overly dramatic lyrics about burning in hell if the one you love doesn’t go to heaven, by the second listen through the album, I grew to like the track “Burn with You.”
But after “Burn with You” carried me into “Battlefield,” I was over it. After the third song, they begin to sound the same: pop music and lyrics that drown in the ocean that is Michele’s powerful vocals.
Sure, there are a few gems in the discography, such as “Cue the Rain,” but overall it is not impressive or surprising.
However, the album took a turn for the feels when I hit the final track.
The song is titled “If You Say So,” and is about the last words Michele heard from boyfriend and Glee co-star, Cory Monteith.
Though no tears actually fell from my eyes, I definitely felt the pain from reliving the sudden death of Monteith. The song resonates with the feeling of loss but incorporates the typical love story as well.
I commend Michele as a star who is able to step out of her role on “Glee” and show her own style and the overwhelming talent she has as a singer, but this album lacks the surprise I was looking for from Michele.
Story by Hunter Harrell, Features Editor