Review Summary: Not even a killer Afro could save this one.
Does God exist? I don’t believe he does if he did Would Angels Have Brought You Here? What would happen When Doves Cry? Will their tears fall until you Can’t Stand The Rain? So many questions, so little time.
Guy Sebastian is an Australian
Icon. Despite how much I dislike his music, there is no denying Guy has made an impact on Australian Pop Music. Most notably he was the first Australian Idol winner and had a trademark Afro.
What do you get when you step into ‘Just As I Am’? You get every bit of generic
poppiness you can stomach. Sprinkled in along the way is the occasional RnB occurrence, mainly due to Guys strong vocals and some attempts at
funky basslines. Guy had a hand in writing a couple of the tracks here, which I do appreciate but would appreciate more if they were good. He absolutely destroys 'When Doves Cry' its so depressing to hear...
I love cheese in my music, I am all for it in most cases. But the cheese must be applied correctly and in a way that it doesn’t stink up the place. Unfortunately for Guy, he has applied smelly blue cheese to all tracks, and they come across as a poor man’s Boyz 2 Men on most tracks. Guys voice is great, I won’t deny that. His got a fantastic range and great control, ‘So I’ being the only track here I can stomach purely because of Guys vocals. Everything else here, washes over me and down the drain never to return, even Splinter don’t want em.
In all fairness, this album was rushed to get out before Christmas because Australian Idol was such a hit. You can feel it in every note that is played. There is no feeling, no emotion despite Guy’s best efforts to convey anything through his vocals. The lyrics are dull and boring, and the backing tracks could have had anyone singing over them and no difference would be heard.
In 2003, I wasn’t the same person I am now. I didn’t like most of the music that I like now. I loved dumb Pop that was on the radio, and I wanted to hear it from a fellow Aussie. Guy bro, you and your afro let me down.
