« * "things don't change...." | Main | * "covers and originals" »

* "try to place your superstar...."

We've had, so far, I believe, just one letter decrying our coverage of Mandy Moore in the July-August issue (we'll print that letter next issue, as we do value reader feedback of all sorts). This comes as a somewhat welcome surprise to me, I suppose, as I half-expected a solid flurry of them. Perhaps my brief comments on the piece in the Hello Stranger column went some ways toward addressing the matter, but in any event, I do think it's worth digging into the subject a little further, as noted in last week's blog.

I think what it boils down to, the way I see it, is that everybody deserves a second chance. Mandy Moore made some pretty bad decisions, musically at least, right outta the gate -- but who of us didn't make some pretty bad decisions during our teenage years? Probably every one of us turned out at least somewhat different than we expected to, different from what we envisioned our future selves to be in our mid-teens. That's OK; that's life, ultimately. As Nick Lowe so succintly reminds on one of the best tracks from his new album At My Age: "People change, that's the long and short of it."

So her first couple albums (released when she was 15 and 17, respectively) weren't worth the time of day. If she'd stuck with that same bubblegum stance for the rest of her career, obviously we'd not be paying attention in our pages; frankly, if that were the case, I'm not sure I'd even know who she was. Indeed, until a couple years ago I had only the vaguest notion of her identity; hers was a name I'd heard, lumped in with the post-Britney megapop slop, an actress or a singer or something, I didn't really know and I definitely didn't care.

My eyebrows were raised slightly in 2003, when Moore's Coverage album included songs by the likes of XTC, Todd Rundgren, Joe Jackson, John Hiatt and the Waterboys. Ultimately it wasn't all that good a record -- a nice try, but she didn't really connect with the material very well -- yet it was at least a smoke-signal of sorts that, hey, maybe this gal actually liked good music, and listened to good music, even if she didn't know how to make it herself yet. At that point, Moore was still not 20; she had plenty of time to find her own voice as an artist, if she so desired.

The hints started coming about a year ago. Talking with Steve Tannen and Deb Talan of the Weepies, who made one of 2006's best pop records, after a show in Seattle, I learned that they'd been recruited to write and record with Moore for an upcoming album. Later on came word that she'd also tapped the fine Boston songwriter Lori McKenna for collaboration. If the first step to success is surrounding yourself with good people, Moore seemed well on her way.

The end result, Wild Hope, plainly erases all doubt, and renders her past musical mistakes moot. If I had to ballpark it stylistically, I'd figure somewhere between Sam Phillips and Shawn Colvin; granted, Moore isn't as mature as either of those artists as a lyricist, but her sense of a fine folk-pop melody ranks right up there in their company. And if the lyrics aren't quite her strong point (yet), she never embarrasses herself, and most importantly, the words marry well to the music.

There may be better pure-pop albums released in 2007, but there won't be many. If Wild Hope is a career-changing moment for Moore, it's also a lesson for the rest of us: People change, indeed, and sometimes that can be a really beautiful thing to behold.

adios,
peter

Posted by peter on July 17, 2007 10:29 PM | Permalink