mandy moore, "coverage"

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just curious

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Dud for the most part. I like her versions of "One Way Or Another," "Drop The Pilot," and "Senses Working Overtime," but overall the record is a little too bland for me. I have a lot of goodwill for Mandy Moore, though, so I'm pretty forgiving of the boring stuff. I think this record does good things for her reputation, for sure.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Sunday, 7 December 2003 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

well-intentioned dud. she brings nothing whatsoever to the songs. a mixtape of the originals would be way, way better.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I was more excited about the prospect of her covering all these songs than I was with actually hearing them. While I'd only classify about 25% of the album as "dud" (especially the dreadful Carole King song, which I hate to begin with), I think the remainder is a bit sweeter than it should be. What tempts me to call it "classic," though, is that she, unlike her other blonde/teen contemporaries, handpicked the material.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

What tempts me to call it "classic," though, is that she, unlike her other blonde/teen contemporaries, handpicked the material.

as if thousands and thousands of 21-year-old women around the world couldn't make a better '70s/'80s mixtape.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh, maybe. But Moore's only 19. I think I was digging through used records bins and buying Waterboys, Joe Jackson, and XTC albums when I was 19 too. We have something in common.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i find 'one way or another,' 'senses working overtime,' and 'i feel the earth move' to be the weak tracks - mostly because of some lame production tricks (needless fake record scratching, for example) that make it sound "modernized for the kidz!" - the rest of the record is great, and mandy sounds spirited on all twelve songs, regardless of fx. 'can we still be friends,' 'drop the pilot,' and 'help me' are my favourites. she does joni exceptionally well, i think.

as for reputation, yeah, nobody can look back and accuse her of flailing around with her tits out when she turned 20 or whatever, but i don't see the record appealing to a more sophisticated/adult consumer, either, as much as i like most of it. which isn't to say i'm a sophisticated adult or that sophisticated adults don't listen to tits out dirrty music, cuz everyone knows they do. just that coverage is a record without a market. i don't see it bridging any gaps, i.e. the mandy fans won't be buying joe jackson records in droves, and vice versa. it definitely succeeds on its own, though.

OR! maybe i'm entirely wrong and backward as usual. i think the chingy record is tons o' fun, etc.

ps. i'm really loath to disagree with fact checking cuz considering his/her reputation.

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i do understand and appreciate the effort. perhaps if she had also handpicked a producer and arranger who had something interesting to bring to her handpicked songs, she could've come up with a good album.

i don't think the album sucks. i think it's relentlessly average.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

ps. i have no reputation!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

you come with the facts!

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

75% is only a C grade anyway, i guess.

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

no no no - you come with the facts. i merely check them.

(and i believe 75 percent would be better than a C in the realm of pop music. give me a record where three-quarters of the tracks are great, and i'll give you 15 bucks in a heartbeat.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I'm more interested in seeing where her next album goes. Can she do her own writing? If so, will it be better informed? If not, will she pick better "original" material?

As it stands, she's setting herself up for a more substantial career than her counterparts (which, she's probably already got). How many of the other Britney/X-tina followups are you looking forward to hearing? Jessica Simpson? Puh-lease. Willa Ford? Who's that.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

dud. In once sense, she succeeded in making these songs her own, but in another, she made them so much her own, and since I don't really like anything I've ever heard from her, the songs seemed a little too fluffy for me.

― dleone (dleone), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

to be honest, i wasn't familiar with half the songs she covered so it likely sounds fresher to me than the rest of the board. but i made the original artists/original songs mix, and apart from some obvious individual improvements, it didn't grab me as a whole. mandy provided a real cohesiveness despite the lackluster backing music. i was never a big fan of vocal pop or whatever you might call mandy moore and her ilk, and was always more or less roped in by production values, so i'm a bit confused re: my coverage loverage. the way i see it, mandy took a mostly average batch of songs, sang them over mostly average production, and made me mostly like it. i doubt mostly counts for classic but it's far from dud in my book.

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't imagine her singing "Senses Working Overtime," I really can't. And something tells me I should avoid hearing it at all costs. Am I right?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 7 December 2003 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

'senses...' is one of the tracks i don't like. it strikes immediately with, idunno, a crazy town(?) type of tweaky-scratchy lameness and there's no question you'll find it greatly offensive, alex. i still say mandy makes the best of it and the studio knob twiddlers are the real ones at fault but, yeah, it's her fault for letting them twiddle the knobs...

and it's not really so hard to imagine her singing 'sense working overtime' compared to, say, 'cross wires,' or 'scissor man,' or etc, etc.

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

senses, i mean.

― brian badword (badwords), Sunday, 7 December 2003 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I like SWO a lot, the tweaky-scratchiness is an irritant. It shortens the song a bit, the extra half-chorus on the end is removed (you know, the bit with the slightly different lyrics and the seven drum hits just before it ends), but it's perfectly decent.

Annoyingly, that scratch effect is on the live version floating around too. Grr.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 7 December 2003 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

i do like the first seconds of "senses working overtime," where they start with a bit of the chorus that's in a different key than the verse. it's a cool effect. i don't like the rest of it.

and i'd agree that it's more the producer's fault than mandy's fault. but if we're going to give her credit for picking the songs -- and who knows if that's true or not? -- we've also got to give her credit/fault for everything else.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 7 December 2003 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I forget where I read it (I think Onion A.V. club) but someone noted the oddity of an American like Mandy Moore saying the world was football-shaped.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 7 December 2003 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, do you not think of "Senses..." as a straight-up pop song?

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Sunday, 7 December 2003 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, do you not think of "Senses..." as a straight-up pop song?

I think of it as an XTC song, as in "DON'T FUCK WITH IT, YOU SOULLESS REPLICANT!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

where does anger start
and self-parody finish?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

that's my koan of the day thank you

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

alex did max martin fuck your wife or something?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

i like mandy moore. i dont care about this album though

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I think of it as an XTC song, as in "DON'T FUCK WITH IT, YOU SOULLESS REPLICANT!

alex, are you saying that all white people are robots?

*ducks*

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 8 December 2003 01:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I wasn't aware of this album until pretty recently. It seems a bit of a lame idea, sort of like a reverse Liz Phair. It's not as if "Senses Working Overtime" is as good as "Candy", anyway, and I speak as an XTC fan.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Monday, 8 December 2003 01:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I resent the implication that a nineteen year old woman is incapable of making a good mixtape.

― Sarah Pedal (call mr. lee), Monday, 8 December 2003 02:44 (twenty-one years ago)

That's not what I was saying. But, for most people who end up getting into music, the years between 19 and 21 are fairly revolutionary. You're bound to make a much different mix at age 21.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 8 December 2003 02:46 (twenty-one years ago)

at this rate her 2009 album will be a suite of current 93 covers.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 8 December 2003 07:58 (twenty-one years ago)

is she really only 19 though? wow.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 8 December 2003 07:58 (twenty-one years ago)

alex did max martin fuck your wife or something?

Watch your step, please.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I quite like to hear that cover. 'senses...' is a very good song and I'd like to see how someone from that 'background' would tackle it.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 8 December 2003 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

Hahah, I love this Amazon review...

Please disregard the tactlessly ignorant fools who speak against this album. They are faceless cowards, among the many brainwashed drones on this earth that eat up every bit of commercial popularism society throws at them.

This is not a perfect album, but one created with love, passion, and authenticity - the exact things that this world hates. They say Mandy can't be real, she's too good to be real. But the truth is; she's too good for this world. She's too good for the idiots who are unknowingly slaves of the society which dictates their minds; their likes, dislikes, ideals, intelligence. Mandy is a martyr for a hopeless cause. She is a martyr for all that is real; all that is of worth; all that is of morality; all that is of talent. She bravely offered this brilliant work of art to a world which does know not art; does not know truth; does not know beauty. So they shoved it in her face and threw it back at her. The 235,000 people whom have bought this art of rarity knows its beauty, its truth, its superiority and cherish it. Those who are without will disadvantage from it.

― babyalive (babyalive), Sunday, 2 January 2005 09:35 (twenty years ago)

is that by her stalker?

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 2 January 2005 17:47 (twenty years ago)

i think amateurist wrote that!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 2 January 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

"which does know not art"

"The 235,000 people whom have bought this art of rarity"

that was a very grammatically ambitious review

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 2 January 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

I just found this used at Reckless for $5! It's even the Deluxe Edition with 30 Minute Bonus DVD ("exclusive interview footage, track-by-track discussion of songs on the album, 'Have a Little Faith in Me' music video")! I'm excited.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 08:01 (twenty years ago)

The bonus DVD should be 30 minutes of Moore apologizing for Chasing Liberty.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 08:09 (twenty years ago)

eleven years pass...

i was inspired to seek out her cover of "senses working overtime" on youtube (for reasons i can't recall) and it is... absolutely bloodless. poor mandy.

― wizzz! (amateurist), Thursday, 24 March 2016 04:42 (nine years ago)

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mandy moore, "coverage" - c or d?