It has just been him and his guitar and sometimes another guitarist on most of his promotional appearances over the past year and he has sounded just fabulous. Also a testament to the strength of the song, Heart on My Sleeve, that it translates so well acoustically

And I tell ya if Michael had been able to do Never Tear Us Apart on American Idol, his acoustic version is gorgeous. Cannot believe the AI producers thought that song was less recognizable than Simple Minds. I bet NTUA is still on the list for potential first dance at weddings all across the English Speaking world.

Eddie Vedderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Into the Wildà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  as a an example of guy with a great rocker voice who made an album with a different (folksy, in Eddieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s case), stripped down sound. In my perfect world, that would be the template for an album for Michael.

Now I gotta check that album out, love Vedder’s voice.

While I like Michaelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vocals well enough on his new album, I realize what I really dislike is the overuse of the backing musicians. Michael has a great voice and, for me, with this kind of music, less is more.

Although the background singers don’t bother me so much in this album, as a rule I agree that less is more — I like songs like Turn to You and HBMH the best for that reason. Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild” as a an example of guy with a great rocker voice who made an album with a different (folksy, in Eddie’s case), stripped down sound. In my perfect world, that would be the template for an album for Michael. That being said, I think his album is pretty darn good and, with a one or two exceptions, the background singers are staying in the background and letting me enjoy’s Michael’s voice.

Now too early to say how Michael will fare but it is a gutsy thing because if it does fail you have no one to blame but yourself.

I agree. I believe that he wanted to fail or succeed on his own terms, and I respect that.

ETA: I would consider Kelly to be more akin to delta blues than country…maybe delta blues is the “country” side of blues. Anyhow delta blues is one of my very favorite genres.

By way of comparison, the title track of Kelly Joe Phelps’s album Lead Me On” is the free single of the day on Amazon. Go check it out (and listen to previews for his entire ablum if you’re so inclinded). The album is 15 years old and could be too far on the country side of the blues to appeal to many Michael fans, but this is the type of spare instrumentation and earnest singing that I was hoping for from Michael. Kelly’s album has a timeless quality to me (which is probably why it’s being re-released) and seems much more current than Michael’s new release.

While I like Michael’s vocals well enough on his new album, I realize what I really dislike is the overuse of the backing musicians. Michael has a great voice and, for me, with this kind of music, less is more.

I think Michael is fully aware of what Elliott Yamin has struggled with because he is using the same management team and same general set up but I think Michael wanted to go the same road as Elliott. The only difference is that the finished album did attract the attention of Downtown Records and if you read Hits Daily Double news, which is an music industry site, which I do daily, they are on a roll right now. If you had to pick an indie label, they are one of the better indie labels. [They also love one of Elliott's guys, Danny Buchman I think his name is.]

Now too early to say how Michael will fare but it is a gutsy thing because if it does fail you have no one to blame but yourself. You can’t say the record label wouldn’t let me do this or that, I was forced to sing this because you had total control over the musical content.

Yes MJ had his first incidence of losing his voice in a performance. I have always admired his stamina
-working in a band where you play several nights a week in smoky bars or like Adam working in musical theatre 8 performances a week give you a great advantage called vocal stamina. MJ has had some insane scheduling and I’ve been amazed that his voice has never been affected until this one time. I am sure he’s taken care of that and it will remain an aberration.

Michael should have a talk with Elliott Yamin about the hard road of an Indie artist, then make statements about how he never wanted to sign a major label deal. Or, you know what, wait a few months.
His album is barely available in common retailers, making it harder for fans to purchase it (and certainly harder for casual buyers to pick it up)

Actually, I got my copy at Borders. Granted, it wasn’t out in the open in the CD section (I asked an employee and he went in back of the store and found a copy. They just hadn’t been put out yet) but it was there.

He probably will, and will play himself on the show (like DA did i think).

Actually Downtown is a “major” indie label. Its affiliated with a major label and has a wide range of resources. Downtown isn’t like “HiFi” or other cheap companies, it’s a professional company. Gnarles Barkely and The Cold War Kids are just some of their artists.

So yes, they are promoting him. They have major label resources. Of course they don’t have the same amount of money that 19 has, but they can promote him well as they did with Gnarls Barkley. Gnarls Barkley single “Crazy” became a HUGE hit and was played everywhere.

Re the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“skipping of the process,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  I actually think the ones who did go through that process (Daughtry, Cook, Kris, and Adam) actually owe their success on the show to knowing exactly who they were as musicians, and what worked for them, before they entered the competition.

Oh I’m sorry, Bootstar! I understand now. I agree with this statement too… I think Idol works best for people who already have some idea of who they are vocally, whether they’ve ‘paid their dues” or not, but they need some good advice about how to get the rest of the way there. If you have a good grip on yourself, are a quick study, and are likable enough to entice idol fans, it can be a powerful springboard.

Jolene: I think he’s trying to say Downtown is an indie with major distribution.