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| 3/6/04 - 3/7/04 |
Sightings: Lance in Vegas At the Palms' ghostbar Friday: 'N Sync's Lance Bass, having toddies with John Fogarty of Creedence Clearwater fame.
RED Magazine review: Schizophrenic Schizophrenic Yeah, that’s right. I’m reviewing JC Chasez. Me. Brent Sallay (rhymes with Chasez). Have I ever listened to *NSYNC? No. What are you going to do about it? Stop reading? (Please don’t stop—your dreams keep us alive.) Let’s just accept the fact that I’m reviewing JC Chasez’s solo album and get on with the review. First off, as JT (Justin Timberlake, not to be confused with JC) has already amply proven, *NSYNC solo projects need not have any of that crappy boy-band stigma attached. And while JC (not to be confused with “Home Improvement’s” JTT) continues in that vein, it’s also pretty much impossible to review his album without referring more than a few times to his fellow Mousketeer/friend-for-life. For example, JC is to KJQ as JT is to KZHT. Whereas JT’s production from the Neptunes and Timbaland felt more hip-hop, JC’s reliance on eccentric dance purveyors Basement Jaxx, Rockwilder and several unknowns yields a decidedly more new-wave feel on several tracks. I’m copying this from Entertainment Weekly, but JC is to Prince as JT is to Michael Jackson. Granted, several of the tracks on this very long album (come on, people, just because a CD fits 80 minutes on it doesn’t mean you have to use all of them) probably regress into *NSYNC style schmaltziness. (I wouldn’t know, remember?) And for an album so sexually charged, JC’s lyrics are uniformly PG-13— not “Whale Rider” or “The School of Rock” PG-13, but the kind of PG-13 that desperately wishes it had the balls to be R, the kind that is sure to please your mom, but not so much your girl. Still, as the album's title suggests, Schizophrenic is much more
varied than JT could ever hope to be, and more importantly, it’s
extremely catchy and listenable, only stooping to cringeworthy high
school-level libido pining on a rare few occasions.
The Coast: Schizo review JC Chasez, Schizophrenic (Jive)
Naughty Boy Sure, JC Chasez may also be a former member of the world's most popular boy band - the 40-million record-selling *NSYNC. And yes, he's also releasing his first solo album, hoping to carve out a new, grown-up image for himself. But unlike his Grammy-winning former bandmate Timberlake - who couldn't apologize enough at the recent music awards show for his breast-baring Superbowl stunt - Chasez is proudly pro-raunch. As a strategy, it's hardly surprising. But Chasez's just-re leased solo debut, "Schizophrenic," is actu ally gar nering strong reviews for its sensual sounds. It's even drawing comparisons to musical legend Prince. The record, says Rolling Stone's Joe Levy, "is edgy, sexually playful. Who does it bring to mind if not Prince?" And Chasez's personal life seems to mirror the album's subject matter. As opposed to his former bandmate, who's something of a serial monogamist, Chasez is a wild party boy who's regularly spotted with models and actresses at hotspots like Miami's Mynt and New York's Canal Room. One visit to the Upper West Side club Cream found Chasez and another bandmate, Chris Kirkpatrick, selecting women from the dance floor to gyrate for the boys in their VIP lounge - then piling them into an SUV to continue the party at the Trump International hotel. And while he may have ripped a page out of his ex-bandmate's stylebook - Timberlake ditched the color-coordinated outfits, fussy hair, and, most importantly, hired producing team the Neptunes, who have serious credibility as eccentric hitmakers - Chasez has gone one step further with his musical evolution, going for an even racier, more experimental sound than Timberlake did for "Justified" (which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, compared to the No. 17 position for "Schizophrenic's" first week). In contrast to coy anthems like Timberlake's "Rock Your Body," Chasez's songs - like "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" - leave no doubt about his favorite pasttime. When producing the album, Chasez boldly signed pioneering British house-music duo Basement Jaxx to work on his record - hardly a recipe for guaranteed commercial success. Chasez met the Brit prodigies when he appeared on their album "Kish Kash" - in the too-cool-for-the-room company of hip-hop upstart Dizzee Rascal and former goth queen Siouxsie Sioux. The Jaxx produced the most interesting song on the record - the tellingly titled "Shake It." The first track, "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," is a pure pop dance hall tune driven by choppy rhythms, while "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," is unabashed Manchester New Wave, replete with British accents and an irresistible hand-clapped beat. Chasez's channeling of Prince's funky experimentalism and sex-obsessed grooves works wonders on songs like "100 Ways," a clever seduction number, and the spirit also seeps into the songwriting - the album is rife with nightclub come-ons and one-night stands. Perhaps the ex-*NSYNC-er was emboldened by the success of his first single, "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" - a song he wrote in a few hours with hitmaker Dallas Austin. That track, which appeared on the "Drumline" soundtrack, was one of 2002's hot summer singles and went on to become a staple on MTV's after-school teen extravaganza, "TRL." Yet Chasez has one double-edged problem: How does he fully emerge from Timberlake's shadow? After all, it was just a little over a month ago that Chasez was dropped from the Pro Bowl's halftime show after Timberlake's Super Bowl incident. On the other hand, says Levy, Chasez shares a much better problem with his former bandmate-turned-superstar: "When Justin's record came out," he says, "no one wanted to believe how good it was. It's the same with [Chasez's] record, which is just very smart, very sharp dance music. In fact, J.C.'s made more of an underground record [than Justin] - and the surprising thing is how good it is."
Subpar lyrics mar debut of JC Chasez's solo CD
Whether he likes it or not, JC Chasez, and any other member of *NSync who embarks on a solo career, will always be compared to their former boy band and to Justin Timberlake. While Timberlake took the surefire route and hired hot R&B/hip hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland to ensure he'd have some hits, Chasez took the road slightly less traveled, turning his aptly titled Schizophrenic into a mashup of styles from Jamaican rock steady to '80s new wave, pop and contemporary R&B, even enlisting dance music duo Basement Jaxx to provide an extra dose of hipness. Like Timberlake, Chasez is heavily influenced by Michael Jackson, but he also has a Prince fetish and he sure wants to be sexy. But anyone not already under his thrall will roll their eyes at songs such as All Day Long I Dream About Sex, which sounds like an outtake from '80s dance-pop group Dead or Alive's debut album. The lead single Some Girls (Dance With Women) is a sparse, slinky, syncopated slice of electronica with Chasez stacking his vocals nicely as he sings silly lines such as ``Some girls dance with women, knowing that it gets them attention, I want to get in with them so pass me the drink and let's go.'' Elsewhere, Chasez's mission to exude sexiness mars otherwise pleasant material. On Come to Me, he uses the bass line from Corey Hart's Sunglasses at Night and atmospheric synthesized squiggles as foundation for well-arranged harmonies, but removes any sensuality with more bad lyrics, including ``When I'm all alone, I lie awake and masturbate, I love to hear the sounds you make.'' From a woman that may sound intriguing or at least a little titillating, but from a man, it's just creepy. He does a better job on the straight-ahead ballad Dear Goodbye, which shows off the range of his thin but malleable voice. Chasez's built-in fan base should be satisfied with Schizophrenic, and subpar lyrics aside, Chasez should be commended for sticking his neck out a little and not simply trying duplicate his former bandmate's solo success.
Moving beyond teeny-pop JC Chasez, "Schizophrenic" *** First of all, dumb title. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Why is it that whenever dopey pop stars want to convey just how c-r-r-r-r-aaazy they are (or gosh, so uncommonly eclectic), they choose a name like "schizophrenic"? Maybe the equally trite "Chameleon" would have been a more apt title for NSYNC-er JC Chasez's solo debut. Because over the course of 17 tracks (all of which he co-wrote), he's stylistically all over the place. You can track his inspirational sources pretty easily, too. On the first single, "Some Girls Dance With Women," he's George Michael. On the reggae-inflected "Everything You Want," he's The Police circa "Synchronicity." On the rock guitar-driven "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," he's Prince. Like band mate Justin Timberlake, he works hard to leave his teeny-pop past behind -- partly, by being lewd (although not enough to merit a warning sticker). In one song, he goes so far as to mention his masturbatory habits. Dude -- too much information. Way too much. Unlike the suaver J.T., however, Chasez makes moving ahead seem too much like work at times. And the album kind of lacks a personal center -- who is this guy? I vote for the protagonist on "Dear Goodbye," a touching breakup ballad with some mind-blowing singing. His beautiful tenor, most of all, is what makes "Schizophrenic" worth your 15 bucks. Chasez is a consistently amazing vocalist, and his album is entertaining and even engaging if you're willing to put some time into it. "Schizophrenic" is good enough to give us hope that the next NSYNC album may even be something to look forward to -- if J.C. is smart enough to accept his role as J.T.'s second banana.
Sadly, none of them can sing JC Chasez, Schizophrenic
Charleston review: Schizophrenic I have a confession to make, and for some it might threaten to blow my music critic credibility right out of the water. But I really don't care. Okay, here it is. Remember Justin Timberlake's solo album, "Justified," from 2002? Loved it. Well, all right, maybe not the entire CD, but I have to admit that tracks such as "Rock Your Body" and "Cry Me a River" really struck a nerve. This is coming from a guy who was considered weird in high school for trying to force They Might Be Giants and XTC on his friends, who all generally just wanted to listen to Skynyrd. But I digress. While I never had any love for Timberlake's less than humble, boy-band beginnings in 'N Sync, there was no denying the pop genius at work on the better parts of "Justified." Well, guess what? It seems that ol' Justin isn't the only 'N Sync-er with his own pop agenda. On "Schizophrenic," the debut solo effort by JC Chasez, it looks as if Timberlake has found some friendly competition. Again, not all of this new CD is great, but what works seems to work quite well. Take the album's first single, the dance track "Some Girls (Dance With Women)." This is pure dance-pop gold dusted with confectioners sugar for good measure. There are also a few '80s new-wave throwback tunes ("100 Ways," "All Day Long I Dream About Sex") and a few power ballads thrown in for good measure ("Build My World," "Dear Goodbye"). The various musical styles definitely live up the album's title. Chasez's soaring voice is the one thing that ties them all together. So there, against every hip musical gene in my body, I've actually gone and recommended an album by a member of a boy band. I need to go listen to something truly different for a bit of balance. (B+)
Long Beach Press Telegram review JC CHASEZ: "Schizophrenic" (Jive/Zomba)
Out of sync, but in tune Look. I like N'SYNC. Deal with it. I don't like N'SYNC in a trucker-hat wearin', irony-drippin', "that Justin is a dreamboat" sort of way, either. I genuinely think the group is one of the most legitimately interesting things to happen to pop music in a long time. Provided, its songs are simple, inorganic and vapid, but so what? Those kids can sing. And those vapid songs are higher caliber vapid songs than most others. Plenty worse things could be that popular. But I've never really been big on JC Chasez. He's certainly not a fearless leader like Mr. Timberlake; he's got no interstellar ambitions like Lance Bass, and he's not the fat one like Joey Fatone (citing the "if you can't say anything nice" rule, we'll leave Chris Kirkpatrick out of this). JC has always just been the workhorse, the one you could count on for a verse not quite as good as Justin's. And when J.T. emerged as the de facto star of the group around the time of its ambitious Celebrity, it seemed as though Chasez would be doomed to a life in the shadows of his fellow Mouseketeer. But JC, it seems, had more up his finely tailored sleeve than we thought. After a lauded jam from the Drumline soundtrack and a guest vocal spot with Basement Jaxx, JC veered a little closer to the cutting edge than his former bandmates' hip-hop aping Justified. And, on the vast majority of his solo debut, Schizophrenic, JC presents himself as a forward-thinking dance artist with a lot to say. Schizophrenic kicks off with "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," a clattering bass-heavy jam that sets up the rest of the record's bustling grooves. "100 Ways" is Prince-lite in the best way, "Something Special" is a bright, easygoing pop-rock number and "If You Were My Girl" is devastatingly funky in ways Justin could never be. The Basement Jaxx-produced "Shake It" is predictably amazing, pairing sadistic carnival music with JC's low-key vocalizing. JC's melodies are startlingly subtle, and athough I can't say I spent a lot of time caring about the lyrics, his over-amorousness with the ladies never seems too much. Even "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," which could've been a disaster, isn't at all; the disco beat and that Chasez charm carry it through its extra-long running time. You won't even mind that he screwed up the acronym. What you will mind, however, is 10 tracks in, Schizophrenic falls off, big time. "One Night Stand" is just sort of goofy, and the space-obsessed, new-wavy "Come to Me" and the aimless funk of "Everything You Want" are both terrible. There's at least one too many unexceptional ballads, and it's really not till "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" and the Dirt McGirt-laden "Some Girls" remix that Schizophrenic gets back on track. Five or six lousy cuts in a row put a bit of a damper on things, but if you're quick with the skip button, Schizophrenic remains a pretty tight little dance record. So, even if JC didn't come up with another "Tearin' Up My Heart," you might still be willing to hear what he has to say, right? I hope so. His Schizophrenic isn't a classic, but it's surprisingly good, and, yes, even better than Justin's record. I'm hoping the N'SYNC juggernaut gets back together soon, because in that group's case, the whole will always be worth more than the sum of its parts. And, if there is another N'SYNC album, after Schizophrenic, I bet I'll pay a little more attention to JC. |
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