Come On, You Can Do Better Than This

By Geoff Liang • UrbanWire
email reporter • email story • printer friendly version

This guy can sing, but to sing well is a completely different story, and singing to the right tunes is somewhere slightly further.

Give It All Away is Ben Jelen’s (pronounced ‘yellin’) debut album. A display of his musical talent, Jelen describes his pop album as music that’s “organic and emotional”. What’s most impressive however, is that Jelen produced, wrote and performed every song on his very first album. A self-taught musician, Jelen led a nomadic life moving from Scotland to England, then to Texas and New Jersey. His current location, New York, is where he joined the ranks of Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch in Maverick Records.

The Good

To his credit, Ben Jelen boasts original lyrics in his first shot at stardom. Hardly the typical lyrics commonly used in pop music, the words are rather well chosen and distinctively divide him from terrible pop trash. You’ll know it’s pop, but the lyrics are slightly off from the stereotype.

The Bad

However, listening to the tracks one by one could be quite a killer. For one, they sound mostly the same.

Every artiste should have a style, but the manifestation of style in Give It All Away is simply overwhelming. Who has done it well? Names like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sugar Ray and even Suede, would roll of the tongue instantly. You know it’s them the instance the song is played. That’s good brand recognition. Unfortunately for Jelen, he didn’t quite pull it off right.

Jelen’s music, though radio-friendly, is rather empty, weak and impact-less. He wouldn’t catch your attention the first time you hear him. His songs are too common, something easily forgettable; something radio will try to blast in your head, stay there for a while and when the next one comes, it’s gone. If Perfect 10 started playing this album all day, trust me, you’ll tear your hair out after hearing it for the third time in 2 hours.

Give It All Away is one of those albums that almost become dead by the time you reach the tracks in the middle.

After listening to the album for the third time, I was close to smashing my speakers. All You really hear is Jelen crooning, or should I say whining his way through the album. As singles, the songs would be pretty good, and might even make a good entry in a soundtrack. But when packaged together, it becomes a sheer monotony.

This album ain’t anything great. But there’s potential in this rising star. Give him a few years and let’s pray that he’ll do better the next time round.

The Verdict
At the end of the day, do what the album tells you to: Give it away, give it all away.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars