Mandy Moore – Wild Hope
Artist: Mandy Moore
Album: Wild Hope
Release Date: June 19, 2007
1. Extraordinary
Mandy Moore opens her newest album with a laid-back acoustic track. I enjoy the simplicity of this song, and Moore’s vocal style for this song rather different from what I’ve heard from her before. Despite how simple this song is, the song goes on without feeling lengthly. I enjoy the light, floating tone the song has as a whole.
2. All Good Things
The light feeling continues with this next song, and the odd way she sings “All Good Things” is kind of interesting, although I find it a bit to harsh for this song. This song has a much fuller arrangement than the previous song, and I quite like it. I especially like the melody for the bridge, and how she starts sing out there.
3. Slummin’ In Paradise
This is a slightly more upbeat song than the previous song with more emphasis on the main beats, and a percussion running through the song. I really like the melody her again, and Moore has strong vocals throughout the track. The track tends to be a bit on the repetitive side, but I still really enjoy the melody, and the acoustic accompaniment.
4. Most of Me
I really like the picked acoustic guitar introduction here. It has a bit of a mysterious sound to it, while Moore sings with her chest voice over it. The melody for the verses don’t really catchy my attention much, but I enjoy the short chorus. The verses have a lot of breaks in between the lines, and there’s a bit of a detachment every time she stops singing. Unfortunately, this is probably one of my least favourites so far because I find too repetitive without making much development in the song.
5. Few Days Down
This next song has a bit of a unique keyboard sound with Moore’s strong vocals going on over it. I really enjoy Moore’s delivery from the beginning of this song. After the first chorus, the song gets a fuller accompaniment with percussion added to the mix. Again, it’s light, but very enjoyable. I really like the melody of the song.
6. Can’t You Just Adore Her?
The introduction has acoustic guitar and a hint of electric guitar, but once Moore comes in, the electric guitar drops. Moore’s vocals are gorgeous and add a bit of elegance to the already-elegant song. The song is just really smooth and gorgeous, while being a bit repetitive after awhile of the same kind of delivery. I really enjoy how he song ends though; she ends with the beginning lyrics.
7. Looking Forward to Looking Back
This is the second more upbeat song on this album, and it’s one of my favourites. The accompaniment has mainly acoustic guitar and piano. I especially like the chorus and the line “I’m looking forward to looking back on these days”. There’s just something very charming about that one line of the chorus. The combination of piano and acoustic is quite nice as the piano weaves in and out of the melody.
8. Wild Hope
This is possibly the most gorgeous song off this song. The acoustic guitar’s plucked strings have a light arpeggio pattern in the background, and Moore mostly whispers her lyrics here or she signs lightly. The song is extremely haunting, and I enjoy the soft cello in the background and the echoey voices in the background. I adore the bridge halfway through; it’s so absolutely pretty.
9. Nothing That You Are
Yet another upbeat song from Moore, and I enjoy the emphasis on the percussion at the beginning of the song, rather than the acoustic guitar. While the guitar isn’t absent, its presence isn’t as frequent as some of the other song at the beginning. I really enjoy the guitar work in this song as it’s not necessarily all straight strumming all the way through, and the melody and delivery of the song is infectious. I enjoy the build-up to the chorus.
10. Latest Mistake
The next song is still upbeat, but it has a bit more of mellow tone to it. The constant percussion sets up the upbeat tone, while Moore sings with her gorgeous tone in a somewhat legato tone. I love how she delivers this song emotionally. The delivery is what brings this song forward, and it one of the reasons why I adore this song so much. The melody is memorable, and enjoyable. Sure, the song gets a bit repetitive after awhile, but something about the way Moore sings this song really catches my attention.
11. Ladies’ Choice
I’ve never really liked this song all that much; the verses are unmemorable, but I enjoy the chorus quite a bit. It’s more upbeat and Moore emphasizes it a bit more in comparison to the legato verse of the song. However, it’s not enough for me to like this song. It’s kind of disappointing since this is the Rachael Yamagata song off the album, and I’m quite a fan of Yamagata. However, this song does not do it for me.
12. Gardenia
I adore the dark chords at the beginning of this song. It has sort of an omninous sound to it, but the song is rather bright. Moore sings strongly at the beginning and emotionally. The piano in the background is light, and very well played. This final song on the album is gorgeously sung and played with nice crescendos and decresendos at the right moments of the song.
Overall -
Favourite Track: Wild Hope
Moore’s fourth album, and her first album after her immense rebellion against Sony, produces some gorgeous music. Moore has, again, improved vocally and unlike her last album, does not oversing her music. Instead, she sings with such attention to detail and with so much emotion. This is by far, some of Moore’s best music to date. This subtle collection of folk-pop music is heartwarming, catchy and memorable. There are parts of this album were it gets a little bit repetitive in style and presentation. However, as a whole, this former pop princess has grown into a mature singer-songwriter. A beautiful album.
Mandy Moore | Megumi | June 17, 2008
I have to admit that i really love this album. I’m kind of dissappointed that it didn’t sell so well and because of that she’s going back into a more mainstream pop style. But as long as she keeps creative control and keeps co-writing her lyrics her next album should be wonderful.
^ I agree. I love this album, and I even went out and bought it *waves it around* XD. I’m kind of worried about her whole “going back to mainstream pop” thing; not sure what to expect, but at least I know she won’t be going back to the stylings of her terrible first album =/
- Megumi