Pros: Sparks has a great voice, she fills these songs with sincerity.
Cons: She needs to find songwriters that will give her their best.
The Bottom Line:
It's a good pop album even if the songs aren't as dynamic as they should have been. Sparks, for the most part, takes lemons and manages to make lemonade.
Monnie1976's Full Review: Battlefield [PA] * by Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks, the winner of season six of American Idol, released her second album Battlefield in July of this year. Two season have come and gone since she was crowned the victor and she has one album under her belt for now. Her debut album was a young girl’s dream come true with plenty of girly pop songs to listen to and even a little better than I considered it initially. My daughter still enjoys listening to songs like “Tattoo” and “One Step At A Time” and I still appreciate the more urban cuts like “Freeze” and “Shy Boy”. Overall, there are many things that I’ve improved on this sophomore set; most importantly Sparks evolution as a singer. She’s far more confident and far less anonymous on this set. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the songs. While almost all of them work out okay simply because Sparks is a great singer she deserved a heck of a lot better in my opinion.
Most of the album is decent pop music but nothing that is going to blow you away. Most of the songs on here sadly come off as watered down versions of hits in the last couple of years. It’s absolutely criminal how badly “Walking On Snow” rips off tracks on Kelly Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted. I do like the song though and I love her very nimble vocals on the chorus. Jordin Sparks saves the song with her beautiful, girly vocals and effervescent delivery. “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head” seems like some kind of lost track from Leona Lewis’s debut but with considerably more investment. I like the song in spite of its generic melody, production simply because I feel like Jordin Sparks is truly feeling it. “Battlefield” is really “Apologize” version 3.0 with a little Pat Benetar nostalgia thrown in. The song is a booming, bombastic divalicious moment and when she wails desperately “you better go and get your armour” you most definitely feel it. This song and its performance is an impressive one. I think it would have had more impact if it had come out before “Halo”.
The uptempo cuts are definitely the weakest moments on the album. “SOS” is going to get some serious critiques from anyone growing up in the eighties since it rapes and pillages a classic dance track from an artist named Shannon called “Let The Music Play”. It’s not very well done and the sample ends up being out of place in the amateur production surrounding it. The distorted synthesizers dominating the song really make it annoying. “Emergency (911)” is a bit dated and hyper produced as well. It has a rock vibe that once again swagger jacks Kelly Clarkson on the verse, then switches to this slightly psychotic Pussycat Doll vibe before settling into eighties new wave hell. The whole song just is a jumble of styles and never really works.
There are some truly beautiful moments on the album. It would be easy to accuse Sparks of is over singing but that just isn’t true. For example, her vocals are soft and beautiful on love ballads like “Was I The Only One”. She is more than capable of employing dynamics to tell the story of the song. The fact is her vocal saves that song from the mediocrity it was destined for. So does a gorgeous string arrangement. The melody is likable but certainly not original, the production is pretty ordinary and the lyrics were best described as routine but her passion and amazing voice elevates it considerably. “The Cure” comes at the very end of the album and while it smacks of Leona Lewis (when she’s not impersonating old school Mariah Carey) I love the song. While Leona Lewis has a fantastic voice she seems to have troubles mustering up any kind of convincing emotion. Sparks doesn’t have that problem. I still think some of the heavy synthesizers leave something to be desired but overall the song is a great one. “Faith” is a nice moment as well as she has only a piano and some faint strings backing her up and the song really shows off her ability to control her vocals and still deliver some sincere emotion. Then in the end where it gets big and grandiose she still delivers nicely.
When you think about Jordin Sparks debut its always a bit surprising that some of the most memorable cuts are the ones that were more R&B influenced. For example songs like “Shy Boy” and “Freeze” were both keepers on that fairly average debut. So I was surprised there wasn’t more like those gems. The only song that truly can even come close to the R&B classification is “Watch You Go”. This song is probably most in line from the best moments of her previous album with its shuffling little beat and coy chorus as she discusses a love/hate relationship as croons “I hate to see you leave but I love…to watch you go.” Honestly though, at the end of the day its still pop/rock with a bit more rhythmic feel.
Finally, let's talk about two more songs on this album. "No Parade" with its dramatic piano opening and emotional delivery, ends up being far more than it every should have been. The song, as most on this album, is a rehash of something else but Jordin Sparks sings the crap out of it. So in the end I love it simply because I believe what she's singing. "Let It Rain" is one of the best songs on the album even if the organ is a little overpowering at first. The chorus is fantastic and shows off just how amazing her voice is.
Here’s the deal. Sparks is a vocalist with amazing potential that ends up getting lost in fairly ordinary production and songwriting. I think Sparks has grown considerably as a vocalist. Her ability to impart emotion and passion in the lyrics is often the albums saving grace. The other thing is she really needs to find producers who are willing to help her find her own sound. Much like Elliot Yamin, she needs someone who isn’t lazily giving her a watered down sloppy seconds of their last hit. While songs like “Battlefield” and “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head” have some potential they end up paling in comparison to massive hits like “Halo”, “Disturbia” or “My Life Would Suck Without You” Yet that isn’t from Sparks lack of trying . She sings her heart out on every song and while you can accuse the album of not measuring it up nobody could accurately say Sparks is phoning it in. That alone is what is going to keep her in the game for a third album. Until then there are some worthwhile moments to be found on her sophomore effort.
American Idol season 6 contestant Jordin Sparks follows her \Tattoo\-laden debut with Battlefield , a blend of rock and pop styles elevated by her pow...More at Christianbook.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![Battlefield [PA] * by Jordin Sparks](http://di2.shopping.com/images1/pi/6d/c4/35/2048754842-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.