American Idol isn’t a hoax. Ask Jason Castro. Known for his candor and candid responses, judge Simon Cowell is prone to lash at contestants for their abysmal performances. So the night Jason Castro performed I Shot the Sheriff, with his dreads swinging a la Bob Marley, a vexed Cowell with no remorse stated for him to “pack your suitcase”. As fate would have it, the affable Castro was eliminated not because of his altruistic persona that the audience grew to admire, but because of his horrendous rendition. While Kanye’s “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” line may apply to the Louis Vutton Don, the same can’t be said for Castro and his American Idol Rendition CD.
The intro “I Don’t Want To Cry” starts a tad slow, but the overpowering hook clearly depicts the vividness and elusiveness behind Castro’s heartfelt lyrics. In “Traveling Thru” the song takes a slight country approach that displays some versatility from the young crooner. The background singers prove to be effective during the first two tracks as Castro did appear a bit weary and lackluster at times. The highlight of the CD comes in the form of the cogent “Fragile”. Castro takes a page from Mr. Usher Raymond’s book, and incorporates a Spanish girl to sing along with him, as he shows some fluency in the language himself. The song helped fans see that a creative bone did exist in the one dimensional singer. Sadly, things would go down hill from there. It appeared Castro was shooting air balls at the basket, as each track proved to be a no-go. For a huge portion of the cd Castro is vulnerable. The mellowness of the album drifts to utter boredom as every track after Fragile appears to be a snooze fest. Also, the addition of background singers goes to show his lack of taking over a song, as they carried him to make the track listenable. “If I Fell” has the effect of appealing to an older demographics, preferably senior citizens due to its lack of umph.
Jason Castro shows some upside, and potential as his vocal abilities is undoubtedly there. If Castro continues to demonstrate versatility, and experimentations with different sounds, he has the opportunity to be more of an opening act, rather than someone’s bathroom break.
The intro “I Don’t Want To Cry” starts a tad slow, but the overpowering hook clearly depicts the vividness and elusiveness behind Castro’s heartfelt lyrics. In “Traveling Thru” the song takes a slight country approach that displays some versatility from the young crooner. The background singers prove to be effective during the first two tracks as Castro did appear a bit weary and lackluster at times. The highlight of the CD comes in the form of the cogent “Fragile”. Castro takes a page from Mr. Usher Raymond’s book, and incorporates a Spanish girl to sing along with him, as he shows some fluency in the language himself. The song helped fans see that a creative bone did exist in the one dimensional singer. Sadly, things would go down hill from there. It appeared Castro was shooting air balls at the basket, as each track proved to be a no-go. For a huge portion of the cd Castro is vulnerable. The mellowness of the album drifts to utter boredom as every track after Fragile appears to be a snooze fest. Also, the addition of background singers goes to show his lack of taking over a song, as they carried him to make the track listenable. “If I Fell” has the effect of appealing to an older demographics, preferably senior citizens due to its lack of umph.
Jason Castro shows some upside, and potential as his vocal abilities is undoubtedly there. If Castro continues to demonstrate versatility, and experimentations with different sounds, he has the opportunity to be more of an opening act, rather than someone’s bathroom break.
16 comments:
What are you talking about? Jason Castro doesn't have an album. Why are you critiquing his AI songs as if he is releasing a full length album? This makes no sense.
Especially since the AI singers have no say on the studio versions of their AI tracks. They were recorded quickly during the season and often the arrangements were given to them the day of.
Try waiting until the singer in question actually releases some material to the public.
What in the hell are you talking about? Jason Castro hasn't released an album. Every song you've described is an iTunes single from the most recent season of American Idol. Every song is a cover song because that's what American Idol does. Castro's 'heartfelt lyrics' on 'I Don't Want To Cry' are Mariah Carey's lyrics. The song arrangements for the tracks weren't something Jason himself had a whole lot of control over as American Idol rushed each of the contestants through a Sunday recording session.
Ah, kids nowadays.
The line is not from Kayne West. The proper credit....Friedrich Nietzsche..." That which does not kill us makes us stronger".
WHAT ALBUM???????????????????
What "album" are you referring to? JasonCastro hasn't released an album. It seems you're referring to the songs he sang on American Idol. Please keep in mind that most of those songs were not the type he will do when he does release his first album. The Idol contestants were severely limited in the choices of songs they could sing. They were also at the mercy of the band/arrangers/backup provided by American Idol. Considering that they had only a week to choose, learn, arrange, practice and perform each song (sometimes 2 songs), Jason's performances did not accurately reflect what he will do when he has sufficient time to write, arrange and professionally perform his own music. If you attend any of the American Idol Live concerts, you'll see that Jason is being extremely well received by the crowds, and is getting rave reviews from the media.
He doesn't have an album out yet!!!!
When did Jason Castro come out with an album?
Maybe you should have your facts straight before writing a story.
How very clever of you to be able to look into your crystal ball and review an album that is yet to exist!
Hi, I'm a little confused by your critique of Jason Castro's "album". He hasn't yet put out an album and the songs you refer to are from his American Idol performances and I certainly wouldn't expect these covers to appear on any yet to be released CD particularly as he has much of his own original material to choose from. Can you please explain the source of your critique.
umm...what? I'm really confused by this seeing that these are all songs that Jason Castro did on American Idol and are not an album. Nor is the order correct in which you listed off the songs on the "album." Second of all none of these are his original songs and on American Idol everyone of the contestants were stuck with picking songs from a specific theme such as "Dolly Parton" and "Neil Diamond." I would hope that you would take a listen again to the songs and check out some of his originals, "So Fast," "Someday," "A song about stars," and "The other side." Also if you do listen again I would hope that you see that he has taken some creative liberties with the songs such as "Daydream," "Fragile," "Hallelujah," "If I Fell," as well as took some courageous risks with "Memory," "Travelin Thru," and "I shot the Sheriff" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." How many people have dared to sing Bob Marley and Bob Dylan on a show like American Idol? I actually disagree with your opinion on "I shot the sheriff." I thought it showed him as comfortable, confident, and really enjoying himself. I thought it was a great performance and I think maybe if you take another look you might see through the judges comments. However, if you don't change your mind its all good and I'm glad you can see the potential.
Hi, Carl. I think you may be a bit confused. Jason Castro has never released an album. You may have gotten a bootleg CD of the performances he did on AI, but it's not an album. The songs are no longer available on I-Tunes so nobody can buy or reject his music based on your review.
If you want to review an Idol album, I think David Cook's Analog Heart might be available. If you want to review a Jason Castro album, he's supposed to have that out around Christmas time, and then you can assess his skills as a songwriter as well as a singer.
I really do apologize for the misunderstanding. For all the fans of Jason, i'm sorry and promise this mistake won't happen again. Thanks for you honesty, i do appreciate it.
A journalism major Ugh? Well its a good thing your only a freshmen. When writing a story first and foremost 'GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT' or you won't make buddy!!
Apology accepted. :) I hope you'll keep Jason Castro in mind, so when his first album is released you can give it a listen and write a blog on it. Of course I'm hoping you'll like it From what we've seen and heard in the past, and from what Jason has said about the new songs he's writing and performing, it promises to be a real winner!
LOL, this totally cracked me up. Very funny mistake. Apology accepted :]
Castro recently recorded Hallelujah for the film "Tierra de Tigres" with International producer, mixer, and engineer Robbie Adams who flew in for the production. Adams is best known for his work with U2, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins, Leonard Cohen, Patty Griffin, Spoon, Fastball and numerous other artists.
Castro's own original material will be available soon and I predict it will be better than his AI stuff. Having said that, all his studio versions actually surpassed the others' I thought. He records very, very well. Almost all his arragements were 100% his own input- I Don't Wanna Cry for example - fantastic arrangement. He's a singer-songwriter, rock band drummer and manages to not only pull off a Mariah Carey but make it sound cool and authentic lol. The kid is awesome.
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