Kris Allen – AOL Music Sessions – VIDEOS!

YES, Finally!!!!

Yay! AOL Sessions are always great (live performances with decent sound techs). Nice that they are finally seeing the light of day.

I can’t see them! I couldn’t see Allisons either!!
What do I do?? Will it be on youtube as well? HELP!

finally!!!! off to watch

The O Holy Night is so damn can’t even find the words.

Yesss! Merry Kris-mas!

Are these all of them? Can’t got to AOL atm.

If so, then what was the dang hold-up?? You don’t need a release to sing O Holy Night.

I only can handle one song at a time then I have to take a break. O my was Red Guitar so damn fantastic. He was so into that song. Took my breathe away.

I can’t see them! I couldn’t see Allisons either!!
What do I do?? Will it be on youtube as well? HELP!

Okay…if you click on any of the interview links MJ provided, that will take you to the AOL Sessions site where you can watch the videos (link will be on the left).

Finally!

Aha.. no Heartless? :p

Link to MP3s

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=1344855bb6d3d8df61d4646c62b381cbabd0890f286006fdf85d402b9fc3640c

Is it only those five songs?….what was the hold up. I thought he’d done Heartless…could that have been the issue…

yay! finally. wow. the kris-fest continues! gah!

Oh Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song and now I have a new favorite version. Words cannot express how beautiful that is!!!!

ross-

Thank you so much!

Wow- I was starting to fear it was going to be another one of those sites my country can’t view- like Vevo- but I did what you said and it WORKED! And great quality too!

I’ll actually watch it when I get home from work… but thanks again!

finally.

bummer that he performed some of my least favorites, though.

the O Holy Night instrumentals are gorgeous.

Love RG and CSA. Did they slowed down IIO or am i just getting used to IIO being rocked out live?

O Holy Night… wished this one came out last Christmas.

Andrew closing his eyes during RG and close ups of his guitar playing.
Ryland looking young … (how old is he?)
Chris Torres… well, he’s always been cool.
Cale and Kris… gaah!

Thank you for posting these… A nice surprise before I go to bed.
Have a good day everyone.

mr, you’re welcome!

I’m watching these full-screen and they look and sound great.

OMG, FINALLY!!!! I started with ‘O Holy Night’ because that is my favourite Christmas carol and it’s darn hard to sing. Stunningly beautiful – both the singing and the videography.

Now I’m off to watch the rest of them.

OK…I’m slowly becoming a Kris fan, which is what hanging out on these idol boards will do to you (I blame whoever posted that Balut-eating video). Anyway, I just love that song Red Guitar. It seems to be the only song that he penned alone. Did he write it pre-idol? They should really release it as a single. Hey…even CVS pharmacy already has it on rotation…I did a double-take when I heard it on the overhead speaker, but yes, it was definitely Red Guitar!

O Holy Night is my favorite song (not just my fav carol), and it’s just amazing. Hard to believe they worked out that arrangement the night before they recorded it (according to the interview). Just WOW!!!!

Hopefully Jive/19 releases an AOL sessions album (like they did with Daughtry, Archie) soon. Are the videos also available for purchase? These videos are Gah!-able.

Wow, so glad they put up O Holy Night. Just beautiful. Kris has a way with Christmas tunes.

I can’t stop watching Oh Holy Night! Its absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

I really enjoyed all of these. But wow O Holy Night is absolutely gorgeous. The band supposedly came up with that arrangement just hours before they recorded it, too.

There is a poll on the website about which performance is your favorite, so go vote (poll is on right side of page, with photo link)

http://music.aol.com/video/is-it-over-sessions/kris-allen/bc:65126557001

These are good. Kris sounds very country. Maybe if he had gone country album sales would be better. He seems to have that sound that country is embracing now with a bit of rock/pop. His voice is very country leaning.

Some of these songs are not bad but OHNight was soooo painful for me! I really disliked it and is one of my Christmas favorites! Just goes to show how we all are so different in our likes and dislikes.

I can’t watch all these right now but I am so glad he’s getting a good reaction. Cant wait to sit and watch when I have the time.

These are good. Kris sounds very country. Maybe if he had gone country album sales would be better. He seems to have that sound that country is embracing now with a bit of rock/pop. His voice is very country leaning.

Nope. Don’t see it or hear it.

I’m so excited to see these videos! Thanks MJ!

I love, love, love the bottleneck guitar on O Holy Night!

Kris sounds very country.

I do think Kris incorporates some country techniques in his singing–the little strain he uses for emotion, and emphasizing his break (sometimes almost like Dwight Yoakam does).

I love how he blends so many different influences, rock, pop, country, soul, but I don’t think he should have gone mainstream country.

I loved O Holy Night as well, with Is It Over as a close second… Kris’s voice is just beautiful.

At the AOL Sessions site be sure to click on ‘The Story’ to the right. It has the transcripts of the interview.

It starts with:

In one of the closer ‘American Idol’ final votes, Kris Allen pulled out a victory over Adam Lambert to earn the Season 8 crown. Afterward, he got right to work on his self-titled debut album, writing and recording around the clock over the summer. Usually, a host of professional songwriters are hired to flesh out the ‘American Idol’ winner’s record, but in Allen’s case, he was heavily involved in his debut. He contributed to nine of the album’s 12 songs, including lending an original tune from a few years ago, ‘Red Guitar.’

As you’ll see in Allen’s Sessions performance, his songs are chock full of big hooks and occasionally draw on his southern heritage by mixing in a bit of slide guitar. If anything shows promise for the newest Idol, watch ‘O Holy Night,’ which Allen and his bandmates arranged just hours before the taping.

(Note – I think they took liberties guessing how close the votes were for the finale since all we heard was ‘It wasn’t even close’ from TPTB)

This was the most interesting question and answer to me.

AOL: ‘Idol’ is a single-driven entity. Is writing and making full records, in a start-to-finish way, important for you?

Kris: That’s the most important thing to me and throughout the rest of my career I plan to focus on that completely. Growing up, I remember listening to albums and being like, “wow this album is incredible.” Obviously there are great songs on certain albums but for me, I love sitting down and listening straight through to every song. It becomes more of an art when it’s like that. It’s not just about one song or “is this song gonna be on the radio?” For me, it’s always been about that.

The band came up with several Christmas songs over the holidays, and they are ALL awesome. Please put out a Christmas EP this year so we can hear studio versions!

Kris is now the featured artist on the main AOL page. Allison is also there under Browse All Sessions.

http://music.aol.com/sessions/

Loved, loved, loved, O Holy Night!

“O Holy Night” is my favorite carol, and it would have never crossed my mind to put that modern a spin on it. But that was beautiful. I’ll start hoping now that it hits the airwaves this December.

Oh em gee indeed! Thanks MJ.

After the shows this weekend and now seeing these (finally!!) I have to say how impressed I am with his performing, singing, the whole dang band! that here Kris is, in what, just a short nine months, he’s gone from “AI Season 8″ to the leader of a great band, a star and musician in his own right.

And man, I love Andrew’s guitar playing on Red Guitar. And on CSA! Yeah! I’m becoming a huge fan of his, what a fantastic lead guitarist to have in your band, man. Cale’s keyboards, yeah, even Ryland’s drumming (tho sometimes I think he veers too much into hard-rock volume, esp. with the cymbals, but maybe it’s the sound mix). And Torres…he’s really getting into it! Love his supporting vocals on LLWD.

I’m going to watch them more closely at home (sneaking peeks at the office right now and keeping it on headphones while i work!)

Lovely Holy Night… kudos for arranging that a few hours before.

the interview is good but i wish it would have been Yong Chavez

I can just imagine how stressful it could have been for Kris the creation of this album. He’s use to write all his stuff and of course had to heavely participate in the process. And the time frame was so short given his other engagements. He did so well in my book!

And regarding the country thing… I tend to see this as related to his southern accents in his singing but no, he’s no country singer

aa618892
02/08/2010 at 11:31 am
These are good. Kris sounds very country. Maybe if he had gone country album sales would be better. He seems to have that sound that country is embracing now with a bit of rock/pop. His voice is very country leaning.

I don’t know what your background or musical leanings are, but I hear it too. I actually think he could do well crossing over from pop to country. Maybe it is because I have zero background in listening to country, but to me it has country leanings. Just my opinion of course, this is just how it sounds to me. Then again, despite Taylor’s success in pop, she sounds country to me too. I don’t think there is anything at all wrong with this & it is actually a great opportunity in the future, should Kris decide to market to that route.

he’s no country singer

He has a hit song on POP and HAC radio right now. I think that indicates what kind of singer he is.

Then again, despite Taylor’s success in pop, she sounds country to me too. I don’t think there is anything at all wrong with this & it is actually a great opportunity in the market to that route.

But Taylor IS a country singer. (If you call that singing.)

To me, the whole “Kris should be a country singer” thing is getting way old, now. But that’s just me.

Kris is from the south and has said he grew up listening to a lot of counry music. So it’s not a surprise that tere would be some of that influence in his music and/or snging.

However, he’s also said multiple times that he isn’t interested in pursuing country music. Just like he’s said he isn’ gonna go the christian music route. He is a pop/rock guy.

Kris’s “Is It Over” and Kelly’s “Already Gone” sound very similar context wise. They complement each other well.

I just wanted to add: of course Taylor and other country or country-pop artists have HAC and pop hits, also. But they identify themselves as country and their songs are supposedly country. LLWD is not country and Kris doesn’t sound like a country artist on the track, and it’s a hit, so I kind of think the point is moot.

I think he has some country influences, some folk, some r & b (see his interview on the AOL site), etc. But as girlygirl said, he’s pop/rock.

I think he has some country influences, some folk, some r & b (see his interview on the AOL site), etc. But as girlygirl said, he’s pop/rock.

Yes, this is true. I do remember Kris saying in a TV interview, though, that he thought people who listen to country music might like his album.

Despite what people may think we southerners may speak/sing with a southern accent but that doesn’t mean we can only be country singers/music lovers.

Kris doesn’t want go to country and I think he’s a gr8 pop singer anyway
anywy,OMK!!!! these are fianlly up!!!!!

Wait,why were the aol sessions delayed so long?

I’m confused. What is wrong with sounding country-ish? You can market yourself as a pop artist.. that is fine & I wouldn’t argue with the type of music that speaks to Kris. But if his marketing machine decides to market him in country too, what is the crime in this? I think by saying that Kris is only an HAC or pop artist is limiting to him. If it is good for Taylor to go country and then pop, who is to say that Kris shouldn’t be marketed pop -> country at some point in the future? I for one think he has a really good future and I’d like to not pigeon hole him.

ETA: LLWD is one song on the album. To my non-country ears a good portion of the rest has some country influence. YMMV

Wait,why were the aol sessions delayed so long?

I thinks Kris did the Heartless mash-up with Gangster’s Paradise and it didn’t clear. I don’t know why AOL wouldn’t of released O Holy Night as a teaser for the AOL session. It is so beautiful. Krios really need to make a Christmas album.

I thinks Kris did the Heartless mash-up with Gangster’s Paradise and it didn’t clear. I don’t know why AOL wouldn’t of released O Holy Night as a teaser for the AOL session. It is so beautiful. Krios really need to make a Christmas album.

That doesn’t explain the delay in posting Allison and Adam’s sessions. Plus, I don’t think that Heartless/Gangster’s Paradise was listed in the songs that the contest winner gave us.

Kris is from the south and has said he grew up listening to a lot of counry music. So it’s not a surprise that tere would be some of that influence in his music and/or snging.

Kris grew-up listening to a lot of different music, everything from country to R&B, rock, soul, and hip-hop, and you can really hear it in his music. He is definitely a student of all different types of music, which is something that will help him have a long career.

Wow, these are really nice – will have to take a listen later when my kids are quiet, right now we’re all going nuts being cooped up and snowed in (no plow yet in my neighborhood – snowed in since Sat – gah!). I like this guy

Stupid computers. grrr on having to type this all over again. Anyhew, thrilled that this is finally out! And yay for these being released in the order they were made, which lessens any potential fan resentment.

I can’t wait to hear high quality live versions of Kris’s music, well beyond LLWD. I mean the fan YouTubes are great and some are of high quality…for YouTubes, but the sound isn’t going to be as good. Not to mention that the venue itself might have crappy acoustics and/or bad mixes, so this will be able to avoid that.

And hee to O Holy Night in February. It’s almost xmas in July! Okay, not really.

As to whether Kris is country? He’s pop/rock, that’s who he is and what he does. Though he does those breaks and does have a ‘whine,’ sometimes with his voice that people may associate with country. Eh, I don’t think it necessarily it. I’ll just say, it’s not always my favourite thing he does with his voice, so if he’s overdoing it (well to me) it will lessen my enjoyment of the song. But that’s me, MMV totally varies there, and it’s cool.

I don’t know why AOL wouldn’t of released O Holy Night as a teaser for the AOL session.

that’s a major fail….. ‘holy night’ in December was a great pick. In mid-February, those not aware how belated it was could wonder why it’s there

Thanks sunny2

sorry about that tierbee this snow sucks(plus if we hav a snow day on wednesday(my bday) I may have to cut an innocent soul…)

ETA: LLWD is one song on the album. To my non-country ears a good portion of the rest has some country influence. YMMV

Not to my ears, I guess. Hey, I agree he sang well with Keith Urban and he can do a semi-country thing if he wants to. So can a lot of singers who aren’t country. But that music is like a whole different sound, and even mindset.

If you go to the Billboard country charts and listen to some of the top songs there, that’s country. I just don’t think that is Kris’s style.

Look at some of the songs Kris covers if you want to know what influences him. Or his playlist that just came out the other day.

Like a lot of other people here, I like O Holy Night a lot. I can see a lot of influences there, maybe some country, some jazz, some gospel, and some folk, even.

I can’t wait to be able to watch these when I get home! Christmas in February is ok with me. I love his voice with all of the different nuances that it holds. I don’t hear country at all, but that is just my opinion. I think his music fits perfectly in with the pop/HAC route that he is in.

AOL sessions–yeah!!

Just listened to Red Guitar—dayum, the ending! What an explosion!! Awesome! And Cale doing double duty playing piano and guitar. All the guys in Kris’ band are such good musicians and this format really showcases their talents. Loving the camera angles so we can see them playing (especially Andrew who frequently gets cut off in all the concert videos).

O Holy Night…what can I say that hasn’t been said already? They’re creative geniuses to come up with that arrangement! So impressed. I agree with posters who think Kris should do a Christmas album/EP.

Not done listening yet…but on a shallow note, Kris looks gorgeous! Liking the clean shaven look for a change and I approve of his shirt/vest choice. He’s easy on the eyes (as is the rest of his band). LOL and I’m old enough to be his mother–gah!!!

I’m just counting down the ticking of the clock until my lunch hour when I can listen to this…music to eat lunch with! So happy these are finally out!

Done! Loved them all, altho LLWD is probably my least fav, but I think it’s just that I’ve heard/seen it to death.

I think if I were a college student I would start a drinking game where every time Kris raises that kicky foot—shot!! It’s so cute.

I don’t care if Kris goes country or stays in the pop/rock genre. I’ll follow him anywhere!

Sorry about all the snow tierbee and luv. It’s so pretty, but enough is enough. Oh, and Happy early Birthday, luv–you’re a fellow Aquarian (btw thanks ross for your good wishes–I saw them!)!

Wow AOL timeliness fail on O Holy Night. Just listening now. I’m not liking the mic. Further he and the band sound much better now.

ETA: “O Holy Night” Oh Em Gee, that was awesome! — MJ

I agree. Very, very cool. Just “out of the box” originality. Amazing stuff there. The band’s background vocals work well on these songs. Must depend on sound stystems, venues, et al. Case in point, Carrie Underwood and Roger Daltry — nothing is perfect.

Red Guitar and Is It Over are not my top fave, but Kris’ live performances of these songs can’t be denied.

“O Holy Night” gave me chills. These are definitely meant to be savored. Kris’ eye closing helps draw the viewer in and really works for these intimate performances.

As hoosiermama wrote, I too, will follow him wherever his musical muse takes him!

If I had to speculate, I would say that with Cale and Andrew there (as talented collaborators), he may feels more creative freedom to explore his bluesy/R&B side. They seem to have especial talent in that evidenced by if “Is It Over” and these new Christmas song arrangements. That song has a very mature sound. A lot of Kris’ influences are extremely talented old-school and new-school R&B singers/musicians. Anyways, just feel so lucky to have someone on my radar like Kris, as he has really helped me get back in touch with why I love music of all genres.

I love Kris, but I doubt I would follow him into country music. Not a huge fan. He can go just about anywhere else though, musically, and i’d be interested.

Fortunately, I doubt i’ll ever have to worry about this

These are beautiful. “O Holy Night” is awesome. I’m so sad that it did not come out before Christmas but maybe the favorable response will encourage Kris to put out a Christmas album.

Finally got to finally hear these, for some reason I wasn’t being able to load them from this site.

I liked O Holy Night, interesting version of it, though not very similiar to the original song, like it was unrecognizable to me. And yes, it was pretty Country like. Which is fine, Country doesn’t have to suck, I like some traditional Country, which this seemed to what was done in this, along with some rock. It was very much a country/rock song to me, lighter on the rock part, than the rock part. Which is cool.

I didn’t bother watching LLWD, because I’ve resigned myself to not liking the song itself, so why bother?

I didn’t like CSA the way I have in the other times I’ve seen it, which sucks, because it had been my favourite of his songs when done live, and one my faves from his album (though his live version used to kick the ass of the album version). Too much of that whine and breaks in his voice, and it didn’t work for me with this song. Maybe BWCU will take it’s place as my new fave? hmmm.

I liked Red Guitar a lot here, and it’s not one of my faves oh the album. And with this song I liked the voice and instrumentation did work for me.

Now I’ll try and watch the interview videos.

Oh last negative comment, not feeling the black leather vest at all. Nice to see him clean-shaven again (well before) though, so that’s a good thing.

ETA: That sneaky Is It Over was not with the other music parts of this, so just watched that. It was nice. I enjoyed it. Now terribly excited or moved by it? No, but it was nice. Could I remember how to sing it or Red Guitar later? Hum it, think about them? Not really, but it’s a nice song, done well.

Any day with more Kris songs is a good day! Two very obvious observations: first that the band is much tighter almost three months on (or maybe that’s just because I GOT TO SEE THEM LIVE on Saturday), and second that his interviewing skills have improved a lot in that same time. I liked Red Guitar here much better than any other version.

These are such good quality. I wasn’t sure how I would like Kris’s O Holy Night as I usually like the traditional version but once again he & the band surprised me & made this their own. I loved it . I think the only reason this sounded a bit countryish was because of Andrew’s slide guitar – not Kris’s singing!!
So glad this has finally been posted .
I hope Kris is made aware of how popular a Christmas album would be!!

I love, love, love “Is It Over”, “Red Guitar” and “O Holy Night”! Love the others, too, but those 3 are my favorites. They were worth waiting for.

BTW, there must have been different takes of these, because there’s a video of Kris being interviewed and some clips of these AOL Sessions are playing. He has on a different shirt for “Red Guitar” in that clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVsy6D7VcLk

I haven’t watched these yet, got home a little while ago and I’m kinda savoring the anticipation!

Has anyone seen any kind of indication whether or not the world traveler, himself, knows these are up yet?

I agree with those who say they’ll follow Kris regardless of the musical direction he goes.

I love Kris, but I doubt I would follow him into country music. Not a huge fan. He can go just about anywhere else though, musically, and i’d be interested.

Fortunately, I doubt i’ll ever have to worry about this.

ITA, and amen.

Just watched Kris’s Malaysia performance of Come Together, again, with the crowd surfing, etc. Somehow I can’t picture him doing that at the Grand Ole Opry.

These are great! “Oh Holy Night”, I had no problem listening to this in February whatsoever. It’s simply beautiful. The instrumentals are gorgeous! Wow! Kris sings it with such passion too, lovely!

So here’s my order from most to least faves:
“Oh Holy Night” -Is this because it’s new and I’ve never heard it before? IDK.
“Red Guitar”/”Is it Over”
“Can’t Stay Away”/LLWD

They’re all wonderful though!
Thanks for posting these mj. For some reason I couldn’t access IIO and OHN from here, but your link(s) worked well to get me to them! Someone posted this morning in the Manila thread that they were up and I could hardly believe it, but I couldn’t listen then. I knew I’d find them posted when I got home.

I can’t stop listening to “O Holy Night” over and over again…

Yay, AOL Sessions…. Well done Kris Allen & band.

I love O’ Holly Night and Red Guitar the most.

I must say, I’m so jealous of Kris’ skin. I mean is that even real ?
That close of a close up, and barely any pores at all ? Must be all the water he drinks.

.

I don’t think Kris wants to go country, eventhough I don’t really know what that means sometimes. I went to a Keith Urban concert just to see Carrie U 2 years ago. I’ve never listened to his music before and I was like” This is country ? It was really pop to me”.

Maybe Kris will sell more cd as a country artist, but what is the point if he does not enjoy it. And I think he is the type of artist who doesn’t really care about top selling cd, etc.

Maybe there is a certain criteria on how to write country music. Maybe the narrative is different. More story-like ? I’m sure he can sing any country song written for him, but he wants to write his own music. So, I don’t know how it is going to work.
Having said that, I think Red Guitar can be released to country radio. But, who knows. I guess I have no clue what constitutes country.

These videos are soooooo worth the wait. Merry Kris-mas everyone!!!

This man is so attractive it takes my breath away. He sounds great and the band is stellar. Good job Kris.

Thanks mj for posting these videos. Better late than not.

I agree with judes- it was the fret in the guitar that made the song sound countryish.

As of the ‘whine’, if you happen to listen to Sir Elton John’s songs earlier in his career such as ‘Skyline Pegion’ or a Brian Adams song, they too have that whiney touch in their voice.

After watching Kris live with ‘Red Guitar’ and on AOL Session, I must say that it was for me his signature song. Listening to the album is good. Watching him live is great! Soulful rendition of O Holy Night was excellent.
He has a long way to go and with such talent and he is just starting.

Kris can do almost anything that is music related. He can be a David Foster, he can do voice over in an animated film (as we all know, he has good talking voice, if he says he is not good in front of the camera, he can be great behind with his soulful voice), etc.
He is such a good kid and hope that the people managing him do their job properly and point him on the right direction.

He has mentioned that he is not into movie songs but he may change his mind later hopefully.

I can imagine him singing ANS while watching ‘Nottinghill’ movie staring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

mj, I have a question for Kris, Would you consider writing the coronation song for this season if asked?

Kris can have a guest apperance on ‘Glee’ singing and strumming his ‘Red Guitar’ (just my imagination).

Still replaying OHN, RG, and IIO. Sooooo good!

mj, thank you so much for keeping this posted at the top, because it makes it easy to come back and listen!

In order of my favorites: Can’t Stay Away, O Holy Night, Is It Over, LLWD, and Red Guitar.

I just watched these again. I love to watch Kris sing. He is so into the songs – you can see it on his face. The band is fantastic. They are real musicians and are becoming quite a force with the arrangements. O Holy Night – so beautiful and original. Red Guitar – the end scream – GAH! <3

I am so proud of the work Kris is doing. I love his music, but he is also a good person (and very, very easy on the eyes).

Good Luck tonight in NYC with your friends. And thanks for so much pleasure from the sessions and the SE Asian tour videos. It was a KA week for sure. The Singapore Come Together was just wild! I watched that one many times and from every angle. They all made me LAUGH, LAUGH, LAUGH OUT LOUD! Hands everywhere!

Very Nice

These are great! “Oh Holy Night”, I had no problem listening to this in February whatsoever. It’s simply beautiful. The instrumentals are gorgeous! Wow! Kris sings it with such passion too, lovely!

So here’s my order from most to least faves:
“Oh Holy Night” -Is this because it’s new and I’ve never heard it before? IDK.
“Red Guitar”/”Is it Over”
“Can’t Stay Away”/LLWD

Very Nice