Search - Matt Zarley :: Debut

Worth the Purchase

Gary Beck | Omaha, NE USA | 10/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Matt Zarley's Debut disk is awesome. The disk was recommended to me so I took a chance in buying it. Love it. Several songs are great pop tunes that have a great beat to them. Matt then does some impressive ballads that are simply heart-wrenching and beautiful. Two of the most incredible numbers on the disk are "The Day I Stop Loving You" and "You Don't Have to Tell Me." Given that Matt also co-wrote many of the songs thoroughly impressed me. I am looking forward to more from this amazing, talented artist."

Boy band sensibility

groucho | Chapel Hill, NC, USA | 06/08/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like many of those who posted here say, Matt Zarley's debut album is steeped in boy band sensibility and I agree with that assessment. I bought this album because it was recommended by amazon as similar to other contemporary pop crooners. Nothng could be further from the truth. The only connection between this present disc with the male pop crooners is the fact that this was released under the Fynsworth Alley label which is mostly synonymous with traditional pop singing. Other than thant, this album does not belong to that pantheon at all. If you are buying this album because with someone like Lee Lessack, Steven Davis, Matt Bogart, etc. in mind, you may want to look elsewhere.



However if one judges the merit of the album on the standards of the genre it rightfully belongs (dance pop with r&b stylings), it is actually a pretty decent album. The opener "You Always Want (What You Ain't Got)" is a propulsive and catchy pop anthem to the old Joni Mitchell adage that you don't know what you got until it's gone. The overdubbing of vocals in most tracks ("As Long As I Live", "Say Goodbye", etc) recalls most boy bands that employed the same technique and almost trademarked that sound but Zarley's efforts are up there with the best of them. His emotive vocals in "You Don't Have To Tell Me" point at his r&b strengths characterized by heartfelt if melismatic voicings. His duet with Lacey Kohl on "The Day I Stop Loving You" is every bit as effective as Oleta Adams' if a bit lacking in the needed soul. Kohl's voice complements Zarley's well.



This album, standing on its own merits as a pop/dance/r&b album, is a decent release if it is marketed as such rather than being compared to traditional pop, cabaret or jazz singing, of which it is not.

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Someone done him wrong!

Gary Beck | 10/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

""You Always Want" is a great pop song and could be a hit if it gets air play. Comparisons to the sound of other boy bands are accurate. If you like the better work of the other boy bands you will like this, if not, move on to something else. The production values on the CD are very good. Almost every song is about breakups and the "people" who have done the singer wrong. Based on how good this guy looks, I'd say there is something wrong in the cosmos or he was just in a bad patch when these songs were written. Good looking boy pop singer with his heart on his sleeve...and you stomped on his heart...you cad."