Allison Iraheta and Orianthi – ‘Don’t Waste the Pretty’ – First Listen!

By On 06/02/2010 · 73 Comments · In Allison Iraheta, American Idol

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Check out the new single from Allison Iraheta, with Orianthi on guitar from Entertainment Weekly. That ultimate Allison Iraheta fanboy, Michael Slezak, writes the review.

  • Listen to Allison Iraheta’s ‘Don’t Waste the Pretty’ featuring Orianthi HERE.

This version definitely “pops” more. Let’s hope radio likes it. That this talented chica isn’t being embraced in a bigger way is really criminal.

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  • jobbix

    She was zero for two in the singles department. Part of the problem is the songs, part of the problem is herself. She just doesn’t have enough star quality, imho. Has Orianthi become the official guitarist for AI? :-) She is everywhere…

  • PRMari

    Allison doesn’t have enough star quality…right. And the songs? Can someone explain to me what the star quality in Ke$ha and her songs is?

  • jordison

    Rub:
    06/02/2010 at 4:39 pm

    Personally I’d like to hear a stripped down version of “Scars” with a bluesy guitar player like Casey James …. not a Satriani type shredder like Orianthi.

    Orianthi is more than that. After I learned a bit more about her, I changed my opinion. She’s something else.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5plU18_ukrY

    Thank you for the link, Rub. Also, check out this Going Down jam session. Ori is mind blowing.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noCVCbcECPs&feature=related
    And,with Santana…
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1ocn11VL8&feature=related
    Somebody please convince me that Casey James can play like this.

    And, for everybody who would like to hear Allison sing Papa Was a Rolling Stone again, check out, courtesy of Alliholics, the performances in Bali and Manila (Part 1 for PWRS).
    http://www.alliholics.com/2010/05/30/allison-iraheta-channel-v-special/

  • Reflections On Life

    thinking completely out of the box here… alli should get showcased in a hip-hop/rap song as the “guest singer”. seems to work for a lot of ppl to launch their careers guesting on a hip-hop song with a more-famous rapper.

    eminem’s launching his Recovery album this summer, and he’s used several female singers (pink, rihanna) on the tracks. this one’s topping i-tunes right now: airplanes feat hayley of paramore
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4SI3OrZUXE

    that particular song might not be the right fit for alli’s voice, but anything that pink can do alli can do better.

    (i know no one on this blog likes rap or hip-hop, so this is probably the wrong place to suggest this solution, but given the current landscape for pop & mainstream music, it seems like the best way to expose alli past the AI crowd.)

  • Rub

    Are you sure about that? I think it was more that the audio was out of sync with the video. And Orianthi herself was very impressed with Casey.

    I could be wrong, but I did check thoroughly. I guess I could’ve done more investigating. I always say there are guitar players(millions out there)rhythm, and then there are axeman, lead. Casey can do lead guitar but I need to hear some recordings and hear melodic solos, decent speed licks or even good cover renditions.
    Like this

  • Rub

    Jordison, good stuff right there. She convinced me and her album suffers though, too pop. The irony there is, that is a Geffen Records release. I don’t get it. She is managed by 19 – maybe they had a hand in it.

    Reflections On Life, I don’t mind a collaboration with a hip hop artist. I remember Eminem did one with Dido and it catapulted her into stardom, multi platinum artist. But that was back in the days when he was up and coming on strong. It has to be a jail-breaking artist coming into the scene. Count me in.

  • weareallinnocent

    I like this, and I adore Allison, but I’m not sure this song has what it needs to have (whatever that is) to hit big. The girl is dangerously talented, I just wish she could get better material.

    Also, I love hearing her live, but these recordings still seem to iron out her gravel too much. So she loses some of her uniqueness. Like, I wouldn’t know this was Allison singing, were it not for the post title and Slezak link. :-)

  • jlc

    Never did get into Allison. Acknowledge the talent– but can’t stand her voice or mannerisms.

  • http://twitter.com/cara_lee pj

    I heart Allison. I hope this is a hit for her. I wonder why Jive hasn’t pushed for radio play?

    As for hip/hop, I like it. Selectively. ;-) I wouldn’t mind her collaborating with a hip hop artist. While I generally like Eminem’s stuff, he wouldn’t be my choice for her.

  • LoveDaRocker

    I can totally see a hip-hop female sampling D is for Dangerous in a Hip-Hop sound, with Allison belting the chorus. Maybe that’s how that song should be released.

  • PRMari

    I heart Allison. I hope this is a hit for her. I wonder why Jive hasn’t pushed for radio play?

    Because they’re broke? ;)A lot of their artists aren’t getting a lot of radio play lately.

    The girl is dangerously talented, I just wish she could get better material.

    I see some people saying this and I honestly don’t know what “better material” means to some. In my(probably biased)opinion, her album is actually very solid. There isn’t a single song that makes me cringe due to silly lyrics. The closest one is FIBOU with the first verse including the phrase “we were cool” but other than that, it’s a pretty solid album.

  • LoveDaRocker

    PRMari, maybe she should have gotten material such as:
    Wake up in the morning, feeling like P Diddy (Ke$ha #1)
    or
    I am gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket (Fergie #1)(stupid, AND bad grammar)
    or
    New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of (Alicia Keys #1)(cool song, but can’t get past the grammar)

    JLY is a solid album, start to finish (except BMU, which I could live without).

  • springboard

    I don’t think that this is very good except for the guitar. Rock is edgy, this is not, this is dirge disguised as rock.

  • Paulie

    I guess Jive’s strategy is remixing songs and parterning their artists with others? :)

    I like this version, though I can’t say which version I like more, since DWTP album version has a soft spot in my heart. Hehe. On the one hand, I love the intrumental, but on another, the chopped off lyrics are to be missed…

    Also to be missed: Alli’s “official” title font in the cover. Hehe! Well at least we still get her name “logo”. ;)

  • weareallinnocent

    Ok, well, when I say “better material” I mean, “better material for me.” :-)

    There’s just something missing, not there, not doing it for me. I’ve listened several times, yet have not been moved to buy. And, I’m a big music buyer, so that’s not it. Typically, I’m a big connoisuer of girl rockers too, and those artists of whom Alli reminds me – like Pink, Bonnie Raitt, even some Sheryl Crow. I’ve downloaded and really like Carly Smithson’s We Are the Fallen CD too. So, I dunno, can’t explain it — at least not any better than my opening line above. Heh.

    To each her own. Still adore Allison, and I’ll be checking out her next CD…

  • PRMari

    Fair enough, unfortunately, if people don’t check out and buy this one, there may not be a “next album” with Jive anytime soon.

  • BootStar

    Casey can do lead guitar but I need to hear some recordings and hear melodic solos, decent speed licks or even good cover renditions.
    Like this

    You’re comparing Casey unfavorably to Slash? Seriously? Okay, well, if we’re going to do that, then I’d say none of these kids compares all that favorably to the Greats. I mean should we be comparing Allison to Ann Wilson? And Casey is first a foremost a blues guitarist. Why compare him to hard rocker Slash at all?

  • jms

    I see some people saying this and I honestly don’t know what “better material” means to some. In my(probably biased)opinion, her album is actually very solid. There isn’t a single song that makes me cringe due to silly lyrics. The closest one is FIBOU with the first verse including the phrase “we were cool” but other than that, it’s a pretty solid album.

    Just because the lyrics aren’t dumb doesn’t mean the material is good. And by good, I mean good for top40 radio. The problem with the songs on Allison’s album is that musically they’re average. Nothing really hooky there. You don’t need something musically or lyrically complex to get good radio play. But if they’re going to market her for Top40, then she needs a sound that will both work on Top40 and one which grabs people by the throat and makes them hum or sing. One of my favorite songs this year was Young Money’s Bedrock because I loved the line “My room is the G-spot, call me Mr. Flinstone, I can make your bed rock”. It made me laugh and hum along at the same time.

    I like the remixed Don’t Waste the Pretty. And if she had a big fan following, I could see it easily getting to Top20 in radio play. But after a good nights sleep the song fades in my memory. If I heard it a lot, that would likely change. But without that immediate memory hook, she needs a fan base to push it. So..not optimistic about it going far on radio.

  • alli lurker

    I love the idea of this pairing and I think overall the song sounds better. I think it would be even better on a song like Still Breathing.

    The one thing that bothers me is that the guitar solo starts just when she’s starting to crank up the vocal. To me its disruptive, maybe I’m just too used to the other version…

    I hope she gets some good buzz from this. Either way, I think she’ll keep plugging away, doing her thing, and good things will happen. Can’t wait to see her live!

  • PRMari

    Just because the lyrics aren’t dumb doesn’t mean the material is good. And by good, I mean good for top40 radio.

    That explains why I like it. I hate Top 40 hooky meaningless radio music, I think it all sounds the same. Obviously, I’m not the target for Top 40.

  • weareallinnocent

    Fair enough, unfortunately, if people don’t check out and buy this one, there may not be a “next album” with Jive anytime soon.

    True, I suppose. She’s young though. I think we’ll hear more (and better) from her at some point, though maybe not with Jive. Who knows. But, I don’t see buying something I don’t enjoy, simply in hopes that her next effort will surpass this one. That’d be like buying Archie’s book, hoping that one day he’ll actually have something to say. ;-)

  • jujumagumbo

    Allison was so great on Idol, and while I like this song, her album is very. . . bleh. Can’t describe it, but it’s not like her.

  • tanigue

    this shoulda been the first single. friday i’ll be over u has contrived hooks and scars has corny lyrics (it’s like a 3rd rate p!nk ballad). beat me up, still breathing and holiday should then follow. i just hope jive gives her a second album. what she needs now is a cool music video for this like avril’s don’t tell me and not some crap video that was friday i’ll be over u.

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