A Sheryl Crow with drum programmers as the motor of her dreams, singer-songwriter Leona Naess delivers an affecting second album. I Tried to Rock You could be an answer to the many listless Sensitive Guys clogging 2001 air... more »waves; Naess's vulnerability sounds not like a ploy to land her on teen-flick soundtrack albums, but like an honest reaction to the love troubles she's encountered since her debut. Open-hearted but never at a loss when it comes to tapping her own strength, Naess is arched-eyebrow funny when dissing and dismissing a lover in the title track, happily puzzled when admitting in "Sunny Sunday" that "I didn't mean to like u so much." Now that the press has lost interest in focusing on her beauty and privileged background (she is the daughter of Diana Ross's ex-husband Arne Naess), the field is clear for Naess's sensible love songs to resound--as it does perhaps most clearly when she reconfigures a pop-culture watchword to read "boys like you never cry." --Rickey Wright« less
A Sheryl Crow with drum programmers as the motor of her dreams, singer-songwriter Leona Naess delivers an affecting second album. I Tried to Rock You could be an answer to the many listless Sensitive Guys clogging 2001 airwaves; Naess's vulnerability sounds not like a ploy to land her on teen-flick soundtrack albums, but like an honest reaction to the love troubles she's encountered since her debut. Open-hearted but never at a loss when it comes to tapping her own strength, Naess is arched-eyebrow funny when dissing and dismissing a lover in the title track, happily puzzled when admitting in "Sunny Sunday" that "I didn't mean to like u so much." Now that the press has lost interest in focusing on her beauty and privileged background (she is the daughter of Diana Ross's ex-husband Arne Naess), the field is clear for Naess's sensible love songs to resound--as it does perhaps most clearly when she reconfigures a pop-culture watchword to read "boys like you never cry." --Rickey Wright
"After hearing Charm Attack just over a year ago, I managed to get hold of Leona Naess' first album in a second-hand store and was slightly disappointed. Whilst it had a few great cuts - Earthquake, Chase, Anything - it felt a bit rushed, but showed a lot of potential. On her second album, Naess has produced the kind of album that most female singer/songwriters can only dream of: heartfelt, intelligent, fragile vocals and catchy. Marking a vast change from Comatised in a lot of ways, this album applies a drum loop and electronic beats to a lot of songs, whilst also retreating to the softer love songs familiar to the first album.Perhaps most important is the fact that there isn't one duff track on here. Each one is good in its own right, although Boys Like You (a clever hark back to The Cure's classic), the title track, All The Stars and Hurricane stand out. Of course, the question becomes why isn't Leona Naess more popular than she already is? An artist of this quality usually receives their fair share of hype, but Leona has received comparitively little. Whilst it's easy to compare her to other female chanteuses out there she's more upbeat and less poetic than Sarah McLachlan. And she's certainly a lot better than a great deal of the Lilith group following in Sarah's wake. For one, she's cleverer. She knows her relationships inside out and she isn't afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve but, unlike Alanis Morissette per say, she doesn't seem so jaded about love that she can't sing soft tracks that carry you along with her, such as Mexico or Serenade. If comparing Leona to anyone it would probably be as a cross between Amanda Ghost (who also employs dance beats) and Nerina Pallot (vocally they're very similar), which is a high compliment indeed.In short, this is a brilliant album, and well worth buying even if you were disappointed by Comatised. From reviews of her third album though, Leona shouldn't need much help getting the hype she deserves sometime soon."
The next wave of solo female artists starring LEONA NAESS
Andrew Piddington | Darien, CT United States | 10/10/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a fan of hers since her debut a few yrs ago..Her 1st album was beautiful..The only gripe i had with it was possibly the lack of flow with the album..it went from slow song to fast song to slow again and so on and so on..
This album is quite a jump forward..She mixes 80's music sounding like Blondie with britpop sounding, hand clapping pop and the result is simply beautiful..Her lyrics are simple but poignant..Alot of songs about love and lost love..but the real star of the show is Leona's voice..it's very versatile..
I'm so impressed by this album..the whole album is just AWESOME..every song..
My favourite so far is Track 11 "Serenade"..The music sounds like something right out of the 50's movie High Society..The whole album reminds me of something i'd want to listen to if i were on a beautful tropical vacation and laying on the beach..Not the beach in an MTV Springbreak kind of way, but in a sitting alone on a secluded beach sipping pina coladas kind of way..Let's hope radio finally gives female artists a break and starts playing someone other than Michelle Branch.."
Engaging & Addictive
Thomas Tracy | Northern GA, United States | 10/26/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have become totally addicted to this CD since I bought it 2 weeks ago. Not since Heather Nova's "Siren" have I heard a female vocalist whose voice is so engaging. Leona Naess's vocals on this CD are incredible. I bought this CD before I bought her first release "Comatised". While I like "Comatised" also, I like "I Tried To Rock You..." much more. Leona's vocals are more prominent on this album, and I find the songs themselves more "catchy", if you will. There is not a song on the album that I do not like. Great hooks with amazing vocals have had me listening to this disc daily for the last two weeks, not tiring of it yet. I'm seeing her in concert in 10 days & can not wait. Highly recommended if you like Heather Nova or Natalie Imbruglia."
First rate, fantastic
inhighspeed | Orlando; Washington DC | 02/21/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Something about Leona Naess's music grabbed hold of me and won't let go. This was as good or better than her most recent effort; she makes it seem effortless to create such memorable music; breezy, ingenuous pop at its best. Especial favorites are "Hurricane," "All The Stars," "I Tried to Rock You," "Sunny Sunday," "Mayor of Your Town." An instant classic. Needless to say, wish I'd given this five stars instead of four. That happens to me a lot ..."
Why This CD is the Best of 2001 (that I listened to, anyway)
Timothy Horneman | Aw heck, I'm just around | 01/07/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Why "I Tried..." is the best CD of 2001 I could find:A: Naess's voice. She has a certain realistic quality to her-you can believe her when she sings "Mexico" in her certain, soft quality. No, she won't blast your eardrums, even if you turn the volume to airplane-noise level, but that's a good thing-her voice is undeniably pretty and genuine, unlike the teen pop singers who keep her from getting on the radio.B: The quality of her sound. Let's throw in the Human League reference-heck, maybe Stevie Nicks's "Edge of Seventeen" when we describe Leona's '80s imitations, which, since these are the, um, oughts(?), sounds new again (see Strokes, The). "Mayor of Your Town" is perhaps the coolest song of the year, with weird twinkling sound effects and the quicker pace of the song. "I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (that's the song, not the whole album) is a catchy song with an easy-to-sing-to refrain (I had it the first time listening to the song!).OK, those are only two reasons, but still-these are pretty powerful reasons, and I have to give Leona quite a chunk of praise-she has released the most refreshing album of the year."