 |
Jason Mraz
Waiting for My Rocket to Come
label: Elektra / Asylum
released: 10.15.02
our score: 2.5 out of 5.0
|
He
sits on a curbside, wearing a look of oblivion and a pin that
proclaims, "I love sex." Adjacent to an unbefitting
rooster, it's Jason Mraz on the cover of his debut album--not
so innocent of being a cock himself. The good majority of Generation
Y may find themselves gloriously bewildered, but for the remainder
Waiting For My Rocket To Come can be simplified to second-rate
snobbery with far more compositional skill than it deserves.
On
Rocket, Mraz draws influences from a sort of egg basket
of significant artists: Dave Matthews, David Gray and, less noticeably,
Ani DiFranco. But for as many songs that honor its inspirations,
cheap attitude fills the rest. When it's bad ("Too Much Food,"
"I'll Do Anything") Mraz's lyrics meander through foggy
introspection like a dimwitted high school student who thinks
they'd make a good columnist.
On
the arrogant "Curbside Prophet," he lends his lack of
rapping talent to the banjo-laden tune about being white and wearing
his hat sideways, or something like that. To its end it doesn't
have a brain in its hideous head, while gratuitous "cool"
remarks like "I'm a down home brother, redneck undercover"
and "raising a toast to the highway patrol" thrive.
Still,
there's no doubt that Mraz was equally responsible for some of
the disc's tastier offerings, which turn up as both more fun and
sincere. Indeed, here cliché, glossy poprock becomes much
less the artist's retreat than his savior. For hearts property
of John Mayer, "You and I Both" and top single "The
Remedy (I Won't Worry)" bring out Mraz's inner sweetie, whilst
"Absolutely Zero" and the striking blues jazz track
"The Boy's Gone"--both written by Mr. Jason alone--offer
an intelligence he loses in the company of his recording playmates.
Undecided and often too shameless for its own good, Waiting
For My Rocket To Come narrowly escapes a good thing.
07-Oct-2003 8:20 AM
If you
liked Waiting for My Rocket to Come...
|
Tracklist:
1.
You and I Both
2. I'll Do Anything
3. Remedy (I Won't Worry)
4. Who Needs Shelter
5. Curbside Prophet
6. Sleep All Day
7. Too Much Food
8. Absolutely Zero
9. On Love, In Sadness
10. No Stopping Us
11. Boy's Gone
12. Tonight, Not Again
|
|
