Jesse McCartney "Departure"

A friend of mine asked me if I had heard the new Jesse McCartney CD.  I thought he was trying to be funny, but he told me to put my presuppositions aside and give it a chance.  I did.  It was so worth it.

"Departure" is probably my greatest guilty pleasure.  It's so good that it makes me feel ashamed to feel guilty about it.  Compared to "Beautiful Soul" (the only one of Jesse's previous songs that I've heard, "Departure" seems like an attempt at a more grown-up record (a departure from his more child-friendly music).  I still find it very easy to imagine most of this on Radio Disney, though.  "How Do You Sleep?" would sound perfectly at home on a High School Musical soundtrack, except that it's way catchier than anything I've heard in those movies and it has the d-word in it.

"Makeup" is the one dull spot in the record.  Despite it's cool urban feel it doesn't compare to the rest of the album.  I had a similar opinions of "Rock You" and "Freaky" after my first listens, but they kind of grew on me.  They're actually fun songs.  The rest of the album is so stellar, though, that being "fun" doesn't seem like enough.

Jesse's voice sounds very sharp on "Departure" and he succeeds in capturing the emotions of each song in his vocals (listen to "Runnin'" for example).  All the vocal success kind of overshadows the fact that Jesse is an extremely capable songwriter.  He cowrote "Bleeding Love" for Leona Lewis and actually recorded an even better version of the song himself.  "Departure" is a really special album, that deserves a listen for everyone.  I don't expect everyone to like it as much as I do, but some of you that don't expect to, will.

I finally finished rereading the His Dark Materials series (my favorite books during my junior high years). I wanted to reread them ever since the film adaptation of the first book of the series, "The Golden Compass," came out in last Winter. I went to see it on open night (by myself) because I was so excited to see the story that captivated my 12 year-old mind brought to life on the big screen (and no one else would go with me). I thought the film was average. I loved the casting (except Ian McKellen as Iorek was a little weird). I loved the way the daemons were brought to life. I didn't fall in love with the battle scenes though. Chris Weitz was chosen to write and direct the film. He directed one of my all-time favorites, About a Boy, but has never done anything close to a fantasy epic. I think that really showed during the movie. But I think another reason that the movie wasn't spectacular is because The Golden Compass is the weakest of the three books.

The Golden Compass took me about 4 months to finish (probably because I just watched the movie so nothing in it was new too me), but I finished the Subtle Knife (book number 2) in about a week. The Subtle Knife is the least epic of all the books, but easily my favorite. It introduces Will, a hero to accompany the heroine Lyra and it's the interaction between those two that make the book great. I think that is why Weitz was chosen for the series. He may not be great at big battles, but he will really shine in bringing the magic between Will and Lyra to life.

The Amber Spyglass is the most epic book, but slow at times. It did not captivate me the way The Subtle Knife did. Spyglass (as well as the entire series) did not have as many battles as I remembered. And when there were battles, they were in the background instead of center stage. The conclusion of the series gave me goosebumps even though I knew it was coming. Philip Pullman is a little awkward with words, but the he saves his best work for the finale. Pullman is an atheist and makes the Church the enemy in his books, but he really conveys some Christian themes in the series: free will, self-sacrifice, helping people in need, and love. I love the way that the series ends and how powerful it makes love to be. Especially how it values selflessness.

I think the books are very worth reading. I didn't even remember all the anti-Church stuff from the first time I read it so I don't think parents should boycott the books. The message of free thinking is probably pretty good for the kids. Also, I REALLY hope the Subtle Knife movie will be made (well). I heard that it might not because it didn't do well in the American box office, but Chris Weitz could really make that movie special with the great cast on board.