Thread: My Review Of Jessica Simpson's "Do You Know" Album

This is the third and last of my three reviews; this one being Jessica Simpson's country debut album, "Do You Know?." I've been putting this off for a couple days (I wonder why...) it's time to finally review it.

The opening track is her current single, "Come On Over." Some of you might have read about my previous comments about her song on other threads. My opinion is still the same; this is in no way, shape, or form a country song. You can advocate it and say that it's a love song and that a chunk of country songs are love songs. While it is true, to some extent, the song just screams "booty call." In math, I learned that "all squares are quadrilaterals, but not all quadrilaterals are squares." Now what does this have to do with the song? "All songs about booty calls are love songs (no matter how...inappropriate it is), but not all love songs are about booty calls. That was a horrible example... Moving on! One good thing about this song is the intro. By the intro I mean the guitar. Where it goes "dun dun dun dun dun..."

"Remember That" isn't a bad song by any means, it just isn't country. The formula is simple: if you want to make a country album, make it sound country (Billy Bob Thorton got the idea, so why can't she?). To her and the song's credit though, the lyrics are great and she doesn't over-sing it, which is necessary for a song like this.

Then there is "Pray Out Loud." The intro made me jump for joy since it appeared that she got the formula. Thankfully enough, it showed through the whole song. If there is a saving grace for this CD, it would probably be this song.

The same can't be said for "You're My Sunday." The intro starts off just as nicely as "Pray Out Loud," and the same can be said with the verses. However, the chorus is just atrocious. She screams it out and over-sings the life out of it. And the flow of the chorus doesn't help it either as the tone shirts are basically the same. "Might As Well Be Making Love," has the same flaw, but it actually flows.

"When I Love You Like That," will seem like a slap to the face of Carrie Underwood fans. Why? Because the intro and verses are RIDICULOUSLY similar to "Inside Your Heaven". It was that uncanny resemblance that ruined the rest of the song for me.

The title track, "Do You Know," was a lukewarm surprise. I was looking forward to this song the most seeing as how Dolly Parton is in it. It doesn't disappoint vocal-wise as they are both on point, but it was really disheartening to only hear Jessica's voice through the whole track.

The whole album in general is a decent CD at best. It has its hits and misses and a lot of decent, forgettable songs. If this were a pop album, the score would be set to one, but seeing as this is a country album, it can't be as lenient. The lyrics are, except for a few songs (Come On Over, just to name one), good and her vocals on some songs are amazing. It's good to know that Jessica has her mind and heart set to country, but her voice just isn't fit for it. It's like going to a five- star restaurant for steak. You expect to get top quality, but end up getting a salisbury steak from any generic TV dinner. Not only that, but it seems like she's is trying way to hard to be country. It's like The Lost Trailers' new CD, except that they have been doing country songs for a while now.

The Good
-Great lyrics
-Good vocals on some...

The Bad
-...Bad vocals on others-
-Album isn't a country album
-Tries too hard to be something it isn't
-"Come On Over..."

Track Listing

1.Come on Over
2.Remember That
3.Pray out Loud
4.You’re My Sunday
5.Sippin’ on History
6.Still Beautiful
7.Still Don’t Stop Me
8.When I Loved You Like That
9.Might as Well Be Making Love
10. Man Enough
11.Do You Know” (w/ Dolly Parton)

3/10