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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Room On The Bus, 5 Mar 2008
Is there room on the bus for another young female singer/songwriter ?
On this showing I can only give you an unequivocal "YES".
In this quite extraordinary debut album Amy Macdonald delivers 11 songs demonstrating a depth of musical and lyrical sensibility which belie her nineteen years on the planet.
Her vocal delivery displays obvious limitations but the strength of the melodic content and a winning way with words carry the material into a realm not matched by many of her peers.
It's hard to choose a favorite from such rich pickings but I would have to say that the truly wonderful 'Run' is as good as anything that the late, great Roy Orbison wrote in his entire lifetime.
The sympathetic production manages to wrap up a rootsy home-grown feel with the potential for a hugely successful transatlantic crossover.
Where she goes from here will be dependant on supportive and sensitive management. The careers of too many bright young things have been stifled or crushed by a business which often demands too much too soon.
Well done Ms Macdonald I will eagerly await your next offering with bated breath.
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44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This will certainly be the life for Amy...........after releasing this cracker!, 7 Aug 2007
This is the debut album from much talked about Amy MacDonald. Currently the female music scene is full of `The Streets' equivalents such as Kate Nash/Lilly Allan, and then there's Rihanna who seems to be on the radio 24/7. So when this 19 year old from Bishopbriggs came onto the scene with her catchy folkish acoustic pop songs; it felt like a breath of fresh air.
The album title `This is the Life' is appropriately named as it reflects the theme of the album as a whole. The songs give you the impression, she never had any doubt about what she wanted to do with her life and that she has always had the drive and ambition to achieve it. You can almost picture her when she was younger sitting in her bedroom with her acoustic guitar dreaming of making a career out of music. Unlike many who continue to dream, she did something about it and penned her thoughts about her dreams and ambition in to her songs. In fact the tune, `Lets start a band', is like seeing Amy's thought process in how she decided to make music. The song starts off with trumpets, singing about dreaming of being in a successful band and appearing in Rolling stone magazine. Furthermore she would only enter a band with someone if they wanted the same things as her. The middle section of the song goes into a kind of opera style singing which acts as a good build up because it gathers the momentum of the song leading to its climax; chanting "Let's start a band", repeatedly, you can feel the excitement.
Another song which echoes the theme of dreams is the joyful `Barrowland Ballroom'. For those of you who don't know `The Barrowlands is a legendary venue in the East end of Glasgow. Its one of those venues many artists aspire to play and from this song, it shows Amy is no different as she sings; "I wish that I was on the stage". In this song, Amy captures the essence of `The Barrowlands' brilliantly, "The lights outside are as bright as the sun, their much brighter than everyone". To me the song also implies that Amy's influences are from the 70s and 80s rather than more modern music through the lyrics:
And I wish that I saw Bowie, playing on that stage,
I wish that I saw something, to make me come of age
However her `My Space' page shows that most of her influences are modern, with bands like Guillemots, Kings of Leon and Arcade fire, to name but a few.
As well as the feel good chirpy folk/pop songs; Amy gives an insight into the other side of her song writing through `Youth of today' and `Footballers wives'. These songs are lot more scaled down, as if Amy is making people hone in on the lyrics because the issues covered are ones she feels more strongly about. In `Footballers Wives', Amy vents her annoyance about footballers wives getting lots of press coverage just because they are married to a famous footballer, e.g. `she thinks she's some kind of star, yes you know who you are, I don't think so'. While in the `Youth of Today' she sings about the older generation not giving enough respect to the younger generation, e.g. `It's just your one sided opinions that keep getting in my way'. These songs show that MacDonald is not afraid to say what she thinks and turning them into songs which convey powerful messages.
Having not even mentioned the superb hit single `Mr Rock n Roll' and her great take on Dougie MacLean's `Caledonia', which reflects well on the strength of the album as a whole. From this effort, it is more than apparent she has an abundance of talent, and at just 19 years old; I get the feeling the best is yet to come...
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
girl wise beyond her years, 21 Feb 2008
great album - sparky production, intelligent lyrics that actually say something wrapped in catchy tunes that stay in your head - you will be humming these songs long after you've listened to them. The perfect mix of style and substance. As long as we can listen to stuff like this the future of popular music is safe in young hands who play and write for real instruments, not a loop or sample in sight. This young woman has a great future if she doesn't do a Joss Stone and get too far up herself.
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