The Farr Side: Sparks ready for battle with new release

Where there’s Sparks, there’s bound to be fire.

Jordin Sparks, the “American Idol” Season 6 winner turned-fiery-pop songstress, is back, and this time she’s ready to do battle.

Sparks’ latest set, “Battlefield,” is in stores now.

Like other high profile Idols, Sparks has a lot riding on the release. Both Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood followed their debuts with even bigger sophomore sets. I believe this will also ring true for Sparks.

Sparks’ first album went platinum with a boost from massive hit singles “Tattoo,” “One Step At A Time” and the perfectly matched duet with Jive Records labelmate Chris Brown on “No Air.”
That album had enough fuel to ignite the start of what I’m sure will be an amazing career.

“Battlefield” is the perfect next step. It explodes with potential singles while also showing a more mature vibe and growth as an artist. Sparks co-wrote four of the album’s 12 songs and also enlisted the production efforts of industry heavyweights Dr. Luke, T-Pain and Harvey Mason Jr. to help facilitate the album’s sound.

I was excited to hear the new music, since I’ve been a fan from the start. I remember watching her on “AI” and being blown away by her vocal abilities.

This record has a slightly edgier variance, which works to her advantage. Pop music with a rock flair is “in.” Cases in point: Clarkson, Pink and Rihanna.

“Battlefield,” the lead-off single, is already ablaze on the Hot 100. It gives Sparks the rough edges to compete against other contemporaries. You’d better listen to her and get yourself some armor. I think the girl means business.

Speaking of the Rihanna influence, “S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)” (not a cover of the Rihanna song, either) sounds like a song Rihanna would do. It’s an excellent upbeat dance number energized by Shannon’s ’80s dance floor epic “Let The Music Play.” It’s by far the best track and easily the next single.

“No Parade,” “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head,” “Watch You Go,” and “Let It Rain” continue to please the eardrums, but then something magical happens. The beautiful voice that made you fall in love with her on “AI” returns on the ballads “Faith” and “The Cure.”

“Faith” is a perfect inspirational anthem. Sparks’ incredible vocals wrap around the song’s lyrics as if she’s singing them just for you. Maybe she is!

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Sparks' sophomore CD reveals new range, depth

Jordin Sparks

(19 Recordings)

Two years of life experience since her self-titled debut album and a more relaxed studio schedule this time around have served Glendale's Jordin Sparks well on her second CD.

Although her first effort showed Sparks starting to move to a more mature sound than she displayed in winning the sixth season of "American Idol," Sparks has added power, edge and soul to her delivery on "Battlefield."

Part of it is no doubt due to Sparks' ability to stretch out and try multiple studio takes on songs for this new CD, as opposed to the rushed recording of her debut.

The "Idol" machine requires swift recording of a winner's debut, with a shrewd eye toward cashing in on that newfound stardom.

This time out, Sparks also had more time to spend on songwriting, earning four co-writing credits. Three of those four songs succeed.

As her 20th birthday approaches in December, Sparks is touching upon more mature subject matter in such songs as the synthesizer-heavy R&B workout "Watch You Go."

"I'm seeing daylight, and I'm still alone in my bed," she sings in the song, which turns out to be an ode to codependency.

Her solid cover of Fefe Dobson's "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" finds the singer wanting to "kiss from your toes up to your lips." It's quite a contrast to the message of the pop-tinged "One Step at a Time" in 2007.

Underlying those lyrics is a voice that has become fuller as well as more capable of emotional shadings.

Sparks takes command of the power-ballad title track, which has been released as the CD's debut single, with soulful vocals that alternate between bittersweet resignation and aggressive indignation.

She mixes rich vocals and gentle falsetto on another power ballad, "No Parade," and she sells the vulnerability at the heart of the midtempo rocker "Let It Rain."

Sparks goes into finger-snapping Norah Jones mode on one of the songs she co-wrote, the heartwarming "Faith," pushing her fragile vocals ever higher over piano and strings.

She follows a similar vocal tack on another ballad with a co-writing credit, "The Cure."

That song contains one of the better phrases coming from Sparks' pen: "So consider this a moment that's defining who you are / And I can fix what's broken, and here's how I'll start."

She also shows a nice touch with lyrics on "Faith," singing, "You don't have to be so hard on yourself / I know the world can be a brutal place / Please don't let it steal your smile away."

In other spots, the material shows there is still room for growth.

Although "Watch You Go" is dramatic and hummable, its chorus contains the cliche "I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you go."

And as she and her producers did two years ago, Sparks insists on taking a few pages out of the Britney Spears dance-club book on the CD's weakest tracks, "Emergency (911)" and "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)."

Sparks is a much stronger singer than Spears could ever hope to be. She should keep exploring where her maturing voice can take her and leave the disposable dance tracks to Spears.

- Larry Rodgers

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