Mandy Moore
“Coverage”
Sony Records
What a difference a couple of years can make.
1999 was a banner year for young, blonde, female, teen popstars. The year kicked off with Britney Spears releasing “Baby One More Time” in January and ended with the release of Mandy Moore’s “So Real” in December. In between you got offerings from Christina Aguilera (self-titled) and Jessica Simpson just to name a few.
In 2003, two of the four made out with Madonna and one became a TV star. Mandy Moore decided to leave the pop world behind in leau of becoming a serious singer/songwriter, and her latest offering “Coverage” lays the foundation for that change.
After bursting onto the turgid pop scene with her single “Candy,” Moore seemed destined for one-hit wonder-dom. “I Wanna Be With You” followed in 2000 — the release was essentially a bloated EP made into an album using poor remixes of her poor pop songs.
Another year, yet another album: Moore’s 2001 self-titled release varied the pop theme, and actually featured a couple of songs that shined through the pop-murk and showed promise …
Which brings us to today.
As I understand it (through various interviews I’ve seen her giving lately), Moore wanted to do an album that would distance herself from the pop she had done in the past. Without her label’s knowledge, she self-financed and self-recorded this album of covers while on breaks from her various other projects, and then handed the finished project over to Sony. She chose the songs she was familiar with while growing up (even though most, if not all, were recorded well before she was born) to try and introduce a new, younger audience to these classics�.
So how does it play out? Well, I’m not intimately familiar with the source work, although I’ve heard all but one of the songs at least once in their original form. Moore seemed, for the most part, to do straight covers varying little from the originals. Some of them are great, some are ok, some are annoying, not because of Moore, but just because the song wasn’t too great to begin with. Did most of these songs NEED to be redone? Probably not, but Moore’s more than capable of doing a good cover.
Here’s a rundown of the album tracks, along with the original artists and my thoughts on each:
“Senses Working Overtime” (originally by XTC) — This is a high energy opener, but I personally hate the song. It does give the listener a sense of the retro-feel the album takes on as a whole. Moore’s version at least sounds better than the original.
“The Whole Of The Moon” (originally by the Waterboys) — This is a great song, period. “Moon” was the only song I’d never heard before so I have no point of reference. It seems like a straight up love song that plays out like a story.
“Can We Still Be Friends” (originally by Todd Rundgren) — A great early-80s-sounding broken-hearted love song … it just has that vibe. I think it would’ve sounded better without the overbearing backing vocals that get pretty boring during the mid-song bridge.
“I Feel The Earth Move” (originally by Carol King) — This is one of those songs that you question if it needed to be redone. King’s version was rough and simple; Moore’s voice plays out better but she keeps the ’70s feel,
“Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters” (originally by Elton John) — Another song I’m not too familiar with. The piano is easily recognizable as something John would write. A nice slow sound, but again the backing vocals seem to ruin the song, it would have sounded so much better with just Moore and the piano. When I first listened to the disc, I played this song a couple of times in a row just to listen to the lyrics.
“Drop The Pilot” (originally by Joan Armatrading) — A fun, rockin’ track. Apart from the weird synth throughout the song, it�s pretty solid. The chorus is fun to sing along to, too.
“Moonshadow” (originally by Cat Stevens) — I was never too crazy about this song, at least it was kept short.
“One Way Or Another” (originally by Blondie) — This song makes me think of that Coyote Ugly movie. I could’ve sworn LeAnn Rimes had covered it in that case, but alas it was the original. Either way, I prefer Moore’s voice to Debbie Harry’s.
“Breaking Us In Two” (originally by Joe Jackson) — I wish I could put my finger on the vibe some of these songs have … I can’t tell if it’s early ’80s adult contemporary radio or old soap operas or something else. The song has that feel; the vocals seem newer but the music has a tinge of nostalgia … and how many songs have you heard lately featuring a xylophone solo?
“Anticipation” (originally by Carly Simon) — I’m pretty sure Burger King ruined this song with an ad-campaign a couple of years ago. The song kicks off with just Moore and an acoustic guitar, but flourishes after the opening to come across almost-county sounding. A nice cover nonetheless.
“Help Me” (originally by Joni Mitchell) — I’m pretty sure Moore completely changed the way this song comes across vocally. There’s a lot of horns on this songs, but again, a nice little cover.
“Have A Little Faith In Me” (originally by John Hiatt) — This is by far the best song on the disc. I’ve always liked this song, but the way Moore handles it makes me love it. I’m sure a female singer has covered this in the past, but this was the first time I’d heard it done. I can’t heap enough praise on this track alone, and it was a great choice for lead single.
So in the end we have a nice, inoffensive album. Moore can definitely sing, and here’s to hoping this is only the beginning of bigger things for this young singer. “The Whole of the Moon” and “Have a Little Faith in Me” are strong enough to make this a must-have album. My biggest complaint would have to be that most of the songs would have sounded a lot better stripped down. Obviously songs like “Drop the Pilot” or “I Feel the Earth Move” need the full band accompaniment, but songs like “Mona Lisas” would’ve have been so much better with just the simple vocals and a single instrument.
