New Music Tuesday: Jordin Sparks 'Battlefield' lacks Sparks of imagination

Every winning American Idol has their niche.

There's Kelly Clarkson (rock-pop), Ruben Studdard (mellow soul), Carrie Underwood (power-country), Fantasia (deep-fried R&B), Taylor Hicks (classic rock), David Cook (hand-me-down grunge) and Kris Allen (jazzy folk-rock) ...

Wait ... didn't I leave one out?

Oh, yeah: Jordin Sparks, winner of season 6, the youngest champ in the show's history (just 17 at the time), a gal who boasts a winning smile, a gleeful presence and the will to sing songs that sound like ... exactly what?

The question received no definitive answer on Sparks' self-titled, 2007 debut, which may explain why it ended up the second-worst-selling opening bid by an "Idol" champ in history. (It was saved from that ultimate place of shame only by Hicks' moldy bow.)

Now Sparks returns for her second attempt, "Battlefield," and while she has changed some key elements from her debut, we're still left scratching our heads over her ultimate style.

There's not a hint of rock, R&B, hip hop or any distinct genre in the mix. Nor are there any traces of them in the production or in Sparks' voice.

For material, the album's producers rounded up the usual radio-friendly song doctors — Ryan Tedder, Toby Gad and the vet of this crew, Billy Steinberg. But it doesn't sound like they penned the songs with Sparks in mind. They reek of off-the-rack pop, the kinds of pieces tailored to no one in particular, singable by all.

It's telling that the catchiest song they offered her comes from history, rather than from their own pens. "S.O.S." uses the nifty old Shannon hit "Let the Music Play" as more than just a sample. It's the song's central hook.

As her time on "Idol" made clear, Sparks owns muscular enough lungs to give even iffy songs some oomph. But her vocals have been so worked over, and multiplied, by the album's production that you lose any sense of her as an individual. It sounds like she's singing in a crowd.

The most striking difference between Sparks' first and second CDs has to do with pace. While ballads turned her debut into one long slog, this time there's more energy in the beat. If only the songs had equal motion.

Things don't quiet down until the last few songs, which, tellingly, are the ones she helped write. Unfortunately, even the process of personalizing the lyrics and paring away some of the music's noise can't lend the individual touch the songs cry out for.

Even if it had, there would still be a problem with Sparks' timbre. It's not just her lack of fidelity to a given genre that makes her seem vague, it's the lack of character in her voice.

Sparks' charismatic presence on the show masked that problem. But with two CDs out, it seems she has drifted into a woeful category: Singers we'd sooner watch than hear.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/07/21/2009-07-21_new_music_tuesday_jordin_sparks_battlefield_.html#ixzz0Msvcj6J6


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