Forever linked to Jesse’s Girl and General Hospital’s Dr. Noah Drake, Rick Springfield has spent the bulk of his career trying to find his way out from under the shadows of his early eighties success. Springfield has managed to release a number of albums over the years since his eighties heyday and is now out promoting his new release, Venus in Overdrive
. Recorded over 32 days, Springfield along with longtime bassist Matt Bissonette, crafted a contemporary sounding album complete with a pet peeve of mine, the dreaded autotune. I’m not exactly sure why Springfield used the vocal enhancer but its tell-tale digital artifacts are all over this record. From what I’ve seen, Springfield can in fact sing in tune so my guess is that the “autotune effect” was used to give the record a modern sound, sort of akin to all the other autotuned bands on the radio (i.e. Nickelback, Paramore, Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne). I’m fine with minimal and tasteful use of autotune to correct for pitch imperfections, but in cases like this where the artist cranks up the autotune setting and leaves it on for the majority of the songs, it’s simply NOT acceptable. Springfield’s vocals just don’t sound natural to me on this album and really brings down the level of enjoyment here. But autotune isn’t the only problem on Venus in Overdrive. At the beginning of several songs, Bissonette and Springfield chose to use sound effects i.e. gunshots, news reports, clock ticking, children playing, like it’s 1985 or something!??!?! adding sound effects to albums have long gone out of style since the Fairlight sampler days back in the mid-eighties. Plus, the sound effects aren’t even essential here and the songs would have been better without them. I mean, come on, Rick, if you’re going to use a sample of a clock-ticking, you should at least match the ticking of the clock with the tempo of the song!!!??!! That’s simple common sense in my book! The opening song, “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” is great but for most of the time listening to the album is like playing “guess the influence” game. For instance, “Oblivious” sounds to me like Springfield doing Coldplay. “Time Stand Still” and “Mr. PC” are essentially Foo Fighters. “She” and “Nothing is Ever Lost” are homages to the Beatles, and so on. So what this all amounts to is Rick Springfield trying desperately to sound relevant. In fact, Venus Autotune in Overdrive is basically the musical equivalent of “Extreme Makeover: Rick Springfield edition”.
retroGrade: C-
Listen to Oblivious by Rick Springfield
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Rick Springfield – Venus In OverDrive
released – July 2008
record label – New Door, AngelMilk Records
TrackList:
1. What’s Victoria’s Secret? 3:15
2. I’ll Miss That Someday 3:20
3. Venus in Overdrive 2:48
4. One Passenger 4:29
5. Oblivious 3:52
6. 3 Warning Shots 3:25
7. Time Stand Still 4:16
8. God Blinked (Swing It Sister) 3:31
9. Mr. PC 2:41
10. She 4:18
11. Nothing Is Ever Lost 1:40
12. Saint Sahara 3:58
all tracks written by Matt Bissonette and Rick Springfield
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Filed under:
music, reviews by retroDan
that's exactly my point. Rick doesn't need autotune. I'm pretty sure he's capable of singing in tune. it seems to me that he utilized it here just to jump on the autotune bandwagon.
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LikeDon't most singers use autotune these days, especially in country music? Why hold that against Rick Springfield? He's still a darn good singer, and this is clear especially if you see him in concert.
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LikeA little harsh, but the comments about albums needing to stand on their own etc a very valid one. I like this and the new TR album, but cannot see either really appealing to anyone who was not already a fan of both.
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LikeYou're welcome. :) I just re-read my post and realized I came off sounding almost snappy! I didn't mean it that way.
I do see what you're saying though about albums standing on their own. I guess this is the glory of music lovers having various opinions...we all have one. And for myself, I suppose time will tell if this CD of Rick's is one I come back to later on and play again and again. As for now though....I'm still playing it daily without skipping any tracks. :) Although I do love VIO...I must admit, it has not moved into first place for me in his catalogue of music. My faves are still Shock Denial Anger Acceptance, Working Class Dog and Living In Oz. :)
As for the autotune thing with his voice....?? Hmmm. I'm not a musician, only a music addict, so I guess I did not catch that. In fact, I wasn't even aware of such a device. Rick can definitely hold a tune though...so that one...I'm not too sure about. I've always been taken by his vocals and always will. He has definitely still got his vocal chops! I've seen him live several times and he sounds awesome!
Kelley
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Likethanks for the feedback Kelley. I understand where you're coming from and I'm sure long time Rick Springfield fans love the new album. But albums don't come with a prerequisite to know and love the artist's previous works. albums should be able to stand on their own. and in this case from an objective point of view, the album doesn't succeed. I gauge it this way - is this an album that I will continue to come back and listen to several years from now? and my answer is - no.
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LikeUm...excuse me? Sound effects & Beatles-influences have ALWAYS been Rick's style. You just haven't been listening, apparently. This is nothing new for him. It is his STYLE & a huge part of his musical taste. ALL artists are influenced by "someone" at some point, and Rick is no exception. I guess it's all a matter of opinion on what sounds good or bad to us, but for myself (and yes...I'm a fan of Rick's and have been since '81)...I think this is a great record all the way through. The songs have depth & meaning and the sound flows beautifully throughout imo, even with the mentioned sound effects. Time Stand Still is one of my favorite tracks, ticking clock and all.
So it's okay for some artists to pay homage to a favorite band in their music...but it's not "okay" for Rick??? For instance, Kid Rock (who I am also a fan of), loves to drag in the sounds of Lynryd Skynyrd to his tunes...and it works for him. Rick brings in some Beatles-nostalgia in the song She, which also works very well. It's really okay. It's not a rip-off, but more of a nod to a band that most of us know and love. BUT...the lyrics to that song are pure Rick. Take it from a Rick fan who "knows" him! In my humble opinion, She is one of the best tracks from VIO. Rick is long past Jessie's Girl and has been for some time now. Do yourself a favor and pick up Rick's CD from '04 called Shock Denial Anger Acceptance, and be prepared to be blown away. :) If you don't care for VIO, check that one out. You will be surprised...:)
Kelley68
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