joejonasnews

A Jonas Brother has strayed from the herd.

Joe Jonas, the middle Jonas, has released his debut record, “Fastlife,” and it’s not that bad. Promise.

This album is perfect for the average tween going into high school who grew up listening to the Jonas Brothers. Jonas’ sound and lyrical content has grown up and matured along with him, ushering the current age of pop music into a new stage.

It’s also perfect for the average college student who likes to pretend they’re an average high school student.

The first single off the album, “See No More,” is the guiltiest of pleasures, embedding itself into the part of the brain that doesn’t let you forget songs you don’t want to admit to loving.

Jonas’ second single, “Just in Love,” is just as catchy as his first, despite a not-so-spectacular chorus. The song gets many of its brownie points by featuring rapper Lil Wayne. By adding a fresh voice into the mix, the song is given the kick it needs to be put on repeat. There’s just something so exciting about seeing the “explicit” marker next to a Jonas brother’s song.

Songs like “Love Slayer” and “Not Right Now” are Jonas’ contribution to today’s pop genre, but he doesn’t do anything to differentiate himself from his competition. This is just one generic song that could have been sung by anybody and still have given the same effect.

“Make You Mine” is another example of a typical pop song, but this time it’s one that will leave the listener with the essence of Jonas. This is Jonas’ mark on the genre, creating a song that could easily be a No. 1 hit if it’s ever released. Jonas channeling his inner grunge at the end caps the song off nicely.

The album as a whole is worth a try, whether the listener stone-cold hates the tween pop singers or not. There are some legitimately good songs that are so catchy, they will be stuck in the listeners heads for days. Justin Bieber could never do that.

Grade: B-

source

Unlike his brother Nick Jonas, whose first solo album was an attempt to present Nick as a serious musician in the Stevie Wonder/Winwood tradition, Joe Jonas wholeheartedly embraces pop life on his own debut, 2011’s Fastlife. Filled with stomping R&B beats and smears of fat hands-in-the-air synths, aching vocals, and radio-ready production tricks, this is a record made for the clubs and the radio. Very modern clubs and radio, since unlike Nick, who looked to the ’70s for inspiration, Joe looks all the way back to the 2000s and Justin Timberlake for his main inspiration. They share the same spidery vocals, love of a slinky groove, and a producer — Danja, who worked with Timbaland on FutureSex/LoveSounds. Luckily for Joe Jonas, and anyone who buys the album, he’s not just a JT clone. Joe and his team of writers and producers put a lot of care into the sound of the record, making sure the uptempo tracks really have punch, the ballads have some grit, and the midtempo grooves have a believable amount of soul. Joe injects some personality into the sound, too, writing lyrics about heartbreak and other slightly more adult topics than he did with his brothers, and doing it with style, if not poetry. Most importantly, a large part of the album is made up of songs with big melodic and rhythmic hooks that will propel you onto the dancefloor or have you singing along. The first single, “Just in Love,” is almost on par with JT’s finest moments and certainly is near the top of the quality charts as far as pop music in 2011 goes. The rest of the album isn’t far behind and there are no embarrassing moments or weak tracks. In fact, the only jarring moment comes on the second version of “Just in Love,” when Lil Wayne drops by and earns the parental advisory sticker. It’s not bad, just a little unnecessary. Though in fairness, JT would have done the same thing had he deigned to make a record in 2011. It’s a minor blip on an otherwise immensely entertaining and enjoyable pop record — inspired, tons of fun, and positioning Joe Jonas as a worthy successor to Justin.

source

On October 11, 2011 Joe Jonas is set to release his first solo album titled Fastlife. Hearing that Joe was going solo admittedly made me a bit excited when I first heard the news. Joe is not only the best looking of the Jonas brothers but has noticeably the better voice. It wasn’t hard at all to picture Joe going solo and I was curious to hear how his music came out. Joe’s named people like Justin Timberlake as his musical and solo inspirations; he nabbed big-time producer and repeat-Britney Spears collaborator Danja to lead off the album: so obviously, Joe Jonas seems set for musical success. Well, hold that thought. While Fastlife definitely has it’s great pop and dance moment, it also suffers that first solo album territory of the artist not truly knowing where he wants to go and how he wants to define himself. Here’s a look at the tracks of Joe Jonas’ solo album Fastlife.

Track-by-Track
“All This Time” is an interesting way to kick-off the album. This track isn’t a club-banger, it isn’t a dance track, it’s a simple ballad that shows off Joe’s vocal talents. “All This Time” is an innocent love ballad though the lyrics are a little suggestive if you read in-between the lines: “I put it right in your face, girl, it’s yours all you gotta do is reach out and grab it.” Sure, he’s talking about his love though I couldn’t help but to snicker and think he was talking about his, ahem, “love” especially when he sings, “I know you took it hard …. it’s nothing to be scared of.” Moving on, “Just In Love” feels like old-school boy band material; it’s pop perfection with bubbly synths, a percussion beat that’ll have you nodding your head in rhythm and singing along quietly in your room while you’re all alone. It’s easy to see why this was already chosen as a single due to the fact that it’s so darn catchy and cheesy. “See No More” is supposed to be a power ballad and doesn’t work as well as the album’s first two tracks; his voice and vocals seem a bit stretched and strained and overall this feels a bit too cliché coming from a former boy-bander.

“Love Slayer” goes into a euro-pop direction; it sounds very much like a track David Guetta or Justin Bieber would do. It gets a bit monotonous and feels soft in spots. Having heard remixes of the track, such as the one by the Jump Smokers, it’s more than clear this track can be a true “slayer” and head banger given a better instrument backing. It’s not bad but it could be better. “Fastlife” gets interesting around 3:07 with the breakdown that has producer Danja’s signature beatbox and Timbaland-inspired musical twists and turns. “Make You Mine” is another track that where the voice doesn’t seem to match or meet the needs of all that happens in the musical backing.

“Sorry” slows things down and is obviously the track that’s supposed to provoke the question, “Is he talking about …?” It’s not terribly interesting, and feels like a watered down Justin Timberlake, “Cry Me A River.” You know how this song goes probably just by the title: Joe spends roughly 5 minutes asking, “What can I do to tell you I’m sorry?” and describes the demise of a relationship that was once upon a time good. “Kleptomaniac” is quick paced, has a nice beat but the lyrics leave much to be desired. This is one track that feels like it needed something special in terms of some autotune or vocal tricks and tweaks. Sure, it has moments but there are others where Joe’s voice is completely untouched and it feels out of sync with the rest of the track that’s overly produced and busy. “Not Right Now” is another one of those monotonous songs where the song’s title is on constant repeat, the music feels like something from the 1990s and nothing remarkable at all happens lyrically or vocally worth commenting on. In other words, it’s complete album filler.

“Take It and Run” is probably one of the album’s better tracks: it’s definitely a dance track, equipped with a nice slowed-down interlude. Here, Joe isn’t attempting or struggling to keep up with the backing track nor is he competing to be heard; he’s very cool, calm and gives a good vocal performance.  ”Lighthouse” closes out the album’s original track; it’s downtempo, slow, stripped down and rather simple. It’s a rather expected, quiet, non-fussy way to close out the album. The album ends with a remix of “Just In Love” featuring Lil’ Wayne. Again, this is probably the album’s catchiest tracks and Lil’ Wayne’s rap doesn’t necessarily add much to the track other than giving it a slight bounce .

Final Verdict
Not bad for a first solo showing but there’s room for improvement. What struck me about Fastlife is how, well, lacking the album is lyrically. In many of the songs it feels as if Joe relies more so on the beat to make the song rather than his own personality and style. I still have no clue as to who Joe Jonas the solo artist is, even after sitting through almost 50 minutes worth of music. In some spots he sounds like he’s gunning for Justin Bieber’s corner of the market; in others, he  tries to be the second coming of Justin Timberlake. In the end, you have an album that doesn’t really go anywhere terribly new or impressive musically. The lyrics are often repetitive and monotonous; the beats at times feel like they’re recycled from discarded Backstreet Boy or 98 Degrees songs; in the end, a bit of a disappointment considering this was overseen by Danja.

source

Breaking away from his famous brothers and distancing himself from the House of Mouse, Joe Jonas goes full speed into adulthood with his first solo album Fastlife.

Taking a note from Justin Timberlake‘s solo career (Joe considers JT an “insipiration“) and led by super producer Danja (Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Usher), the 22-year-old’s LP features upbeat club bangers and ballads that chronicle his much publicized love life.

Joe’s taken the Taylor Swift (the two dated back in 2008) route and let it all out! A few weeks back, the sexy singer dished to Ryan Seacrest that his latest single “Just In Love” was about an ex-girlfriend:

“This is a song I wrote when I was going through a relationship with somebody. She [was] arguing with me, and all I could do was say ‘Listen, I love you, but we don’t need to go through this.”

But will airing his dirty laundry earn the former boy bander’s album rave reviews? Well, so far Joe’s got nothing to worry about! Entertainment Weekly‘s Mikael Wood gave the middle JoBro a solid “B” for his first effort:

“Produced in large part by Danja, who worked on Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, the club-friendly Fastlife largely favors the FutureSex — ‘I’m loving that frame,’ Joe drools on ‘Make You Mine’ — yet it’s the LoveSounds, as on gorgeous ballad ‘Sorry,’ that most impress.”

In their fall music preview, Idolator praises Joe for stepping out on his own and dubs his opening track “All This Time” “instantly likable”! Though they feel he fell short of Justin Timberlake’s signature style:

“With constant drum beats and longing falsetto, we think he was aiming for a Justin Timberlake vibe, and instead got Jesse McCartney/Chris Brown. Still, a solid effort for a first LP.”

Joe might be longing to be the next party starter, but it’s the ballads on his album that have everyone craving for more. Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe says the album is full of “solid pop tunes”, but he calls “Sorry” an “essential” track. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post agrees:

“Fastlife works best when it stays mild (like ‘I’m Sorry,’ which sounds like a great lost Backstreet Boys ballad).”

Fastlife comes out tomorrow, Oct. 11.

source