• Voto:
Dopo l'uscita del primissimo "Unwritten" del 2004 la Bedingfield, con musica sincera ed appassionata, si è trovata catapultata nell'olimpo delle dive.
"Cosa fare ora che ho venduto 5 milioni di copie? Ma sì... incidiamo un disco mediocre con cinque o sei mega hits che venda uno o due milioncini di copie in più!"
Forse saranno passate proprio queste parole nella testa di questa venticinquenne quando nel 2006 incise "N.B.". Percarità, un cd carino, ma non ha alcuna differenza dagli altri dischi pop in circolazione, potresti ascoltare canzoni come "Backyard" e dirti "Mmh, chi è? Britney, Christina o Jessica?".
Il disco si apre con un assolo di chitarra, ma proprio quando state per abbassare la guardia e godervi la nuova perlina di questa cantante, immediatamente iniziano un paio di suonacci elettronizzati che ci fanno un po' arricciare il naso... riguardate la copertina del cd per vedere se non avete sbagliato disco ed immediatamente vi accorgete di questo cambiamento da capogiro. Già, da semplice ragazza neozelandese con uno spirito hippie e spensierato, si è trasformata in una di quelle bionde dagli occhi azzurri che basano una buona parte del successo sull'immagine. Peccato.
Ad ogni modo questa apertura "How Do You Do" non è proprio bruttissima, e forse ci fa quest'effetto perchè è seguita dalla simpaticissima "I Wanna Have Your Babies" (anche primo singolo estratto dall'album) che ci fa sorridere e muovere a destra e sinistra la testolina per il suo ritmo ammiccante e dal sottofondo molto "cartoneanimatizzato", quello che non vi aspettereste mai in una canzone.
Poi ecco che il cd rallenta improvvisamente con l'avvento della terza track "Soulmate" che, all'uscita, produttori celeberrimi come Timbaland (un nomignolo a casaccio) non ci hanno pensato 2 volte a definirla "Uno dei lenti più memorabili dall'inizio del 2° millennio"... merita davvero un tale complimentone? Non direi... sì, è carina, orecchiabile, ma niente di così impressionantemente bello.
E tantomeno lo è la track seguente, "Who Knows", una terribile canzone d'amore che ripete quasi fino alla noia lo stesso ritmo e quasi esattamente le stesse parole per 3/4 volte...si skippa immediatamente e ci troviamo "Say It Again" (che verso la fine presenta degli "uooo" e degli "ohyeah" di suo fratello Daniel, piuttosto celebre in Inghilterra, una specie di occhiello per i fan di famiglia...)
Andando avanti ci troviamo 2 tracks messe una di fila all'altra tanto per porre il "meno-meglio" assieme per non rompere il lavoro che fanno quelle cinque o sei buone canzoni. Si parla di "Pirate Bones" che proprio non convince nemmeno un pochetto e "Backyard", che tutti vedremmo bene in pubblicità come quelle della Muller (sorprende proprio non sentire alla fine della canzone la frase "Muller... fate l'amore con il sapore") e subito il disco inizia a perdere l'attrattiva che si cerca di far riprendere grazie a canzoni come "Tricky Angel", abbastanza convincente ma subito si perde a causa di un terribile pezzo intitolato "When You Know You Know": il pezzo giusto da cantare stonando in maniera inascoltabile durante una cena per i cento anni di un vostro parente.
Poi ecco immediata la nota R&B/Hip-Hop del cd con "(No More) What Ifs", in collaborazione con la celebre rapper americana Eve. In un album simile, diciamocelo, sembra messa lì per farsi scoprire in un gioco di "Trova l'intruso!"...o meglio è la prova immediatamente adocchiabile della svendita ormai immediata della diva.
Inizia poi "No Givin' Up", un pezzo pro-electro che però stranamente non risulta nè scontato nè insopportabile, anzi, il ritornello con tutti quegli "Ohohohoh" rimane proprio impresso come un chiodo fisso nella mente e non male lo sono anche le 2 canzoni seguenti, "Still Here" (già sentita nella soundtrack di quell'infimo ultimo capitolo di quell'infima serie di film intitolata "Rocky") e "Smell Roses", un inno alla felicità e all'ottimismo che, sottosotto, riesce bene nel suo intento.
Seguono poi un remix del suo maggiore successo commerciale, "Unwritten" (altra prova della sua mente ormai ipercommercialista: il pezzo fu inserito appena la Pantene lo scelse per farne il motivo del proprio spot), una buona "Lay Down" con cui la cantante si è esibita più volte negli Hard Rock Cafè di mezzo mondo e "Loved By You", un pezzo di dolce e rilassante pop acustico.
Seguono una poco riuscita cover della mitica "The Scientist" dei Coldplay ed un altro remix, questa volta del brano che l'ha lanciata nell'universo discografico, "These Words" (non aggiungo altro).
Insomma un album non male, ma un pochetto mediocre, molto più in basso del precedente album di debutto.
Una nuova Barbie? No, molto meglio, ma, aihmè, è sulla strada giusta...
Elenco tracce testi e video
03 Soulmate (03:34)
Incompatible, it don't matter though
'cos someone's bound to hear my cry
Speak out if you do
You're not easy to find
Is it possible Mr. Loveable
Is already in my life?
Right in front of me
Or maybe you're in disguise
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
Here we are again, circles never end
How do I find the perfect fit
There's enough for everyone
But I'm still waiting in line
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
If there's a soulmate for everyone
Most relationships seem so transitory
They're all good but not the permanent one
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told
Somebody tell me why I'm on my own
If there's a soulmate for everyone
If there's a soulmate for everyone
06 Pirate Bones (03:50)
What if I squeeze myself into any shape?
And, I still don't fit
What if I bend myself so much that I break?
And, I can't mend it
What if I burn so bright that the fire goes out?
And I can't stay lit
What's the point in it?
I could get good at crying crocodile tears
Just to get along
I could carry on telling you what you want to hear
'til my voice is gone
But if I finally get to the place that I think is home
And I don't belong
What's the point in it?
Where's the benefit?
When I'm gaining all but I'm losing it
It's not worth having
If it's too much to hold
You can dig so deep
That you're left with a hole
Thirsty in the desert with a bag full of gold
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones
What I thought was treasure
Is just a pile of stones
I might have the treasure
But, I'd be lying alone
Just a pile of pirate bones
If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having
If it's something I stole it ain't worth having
What if I stake everything I am on a dream?
And, it's counterfeit
If I reach the end that justifies the means?
Could I live with it?
And if it's true that I having too much of any good thing
Can only make me sick
What's the point in it?
Where's the benefit?
When I'm gaining all but I'm losing it
It's not worth having
If it's too much to hold
You can dig so deep
That you're left with a hole
Thirsty in the desert with a bag full of gold
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones
What I thought was treasure
Is just a pile of stones
I might have the treasure
But, I'd be lying alone
Just a pile of pirate bones
Pirate bones
If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having
If it's something I stole it ain't worth having
It's not worth that much to me
If losing out is what it means
To swim in shallow victory is empty (empty)
It's just not worth the prize
It's only a fool's paradise
If it's draining every drop of life
'til I'm dry like pirate bones
(It's not worth having)
IIt's not worth having
If it's too much to hold
You can dig so deep
That you're left with a hole
Thirsty in the desert with a bag full of gold
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones
What I thought was treasure
Is just a pile of stones
I might have the treasure
But, I'd be lying alone
Just a pile of pirate bones
(If I forfeit my soul)
If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having
If its something I stole it ain't worth having
(Pirate bones)
Pirate bones
(While the thought was treasures)
(Just a pile of stones)
Pirate bones
07 Backyard (03:27)
It's been too long
Don't think I've seen you smile
At me for quite a while
And we're too busy doing things
We haven't noticed what's missing
Where's the fun we used to have?
My childish ways and your sarcasm
Silly jokes and fairy tales
Where did we leave them?
Lost in the backyard
Your lasso
My tiara
My wand
Your plastic bazooka
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
Your cowboy hat
My tutu
You hide and seek
I catch you
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
In the backyard
Simple days of hand in hand
And drawing our names in the sand
Somehow life just complicates
Our buried treasure it just waits
Lost
In the backyard
Your lasso
My tiara
My wand
Your plastic bazooka
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
Your cowboy hat
My tutu
You hide and seek
I catch you
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
In the backyard
Lost you in the backyard
In the backyard
You can still meet me in the garden
You and I
And hide behind the rosebed
You and I
You and I
Lost in the backyard
Again
Your lasso
My tiara
My wand
Your plastic bazooka
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
Your cowboy hat
My tutu
You hide and seek
I catch you
Why can't we be how we were
In the backyard
In the backyard
08 Tricky Angel (03:14)
I like to think I know how to look out for myself
I've got ways and means to filter wrong guys out
When the B.S. meter is slamming into the red
I just walk away 'cause I'm not interested
I've never met a boy who didn't hit on me
I did not suspect reverse psychology
You know, if you'd knocked I wouldn't have let you in
How'd you get the code to my security system
I think some tricky angel
Just knocked me on the head
Made me look at you different
Made me see some sense
Tricky angel got me falling
Without my consent
And I'm so glad he did
'cause I didn't know you were heaven sent
I was writing you off, making a huge mistake
His intervention rescued us from fate
I don't know how, but somehow you got me down
You just broke into me and ignored that it wasn't allowed
Someone's being sneaky, sneaky
'cause I'm so hard to please
I was so picky, picky
So cupid take the boxes for me
I think some tricky angel
Just knocked me on the head
Made me look at you different
Made me see some sense
Tricky angel got me falling
Without my consent
And I'm so glad he did
'cause I didn't know you were heaven sent
Under the radar
You slipped into my heart
You gave me a taste for
What I didn't know that I wanted
When I wasn't looking
You did what I least expected
Tiptoed in while I was sleeping
And I'm wide awake now
I think some tricky angel
Just knocked me on the head
Made me look at you different
Made me see some sense
Tricky angel got me falling
Without my consent
And I'm so glad he did
'cause I didn't know you were heaven sent
I think some tricky angel
Just knocked me on the head
Made me look at you different
Made me see some sense
Tricky angel got me falling
Without my consent
And I'm so glad he did
'cause I didn't know you were heaven sent
Tricky angel got me falling
And I'm so glad he did
11 (No More) What Ifs (04:08)
All the could-be's buzzin' 'round
My mind a thousand-timely cloud
And now I can not see the sun
All the worries on my list
Rush like lamings off a cliff
I'm powerless to save even one
All my friends tell me I'm thinking too much
It's not over 'til it's over
Because today is trouble enough
Live tomorrow, 'til tomorrow
I'm not jinxing what could be
Second guessing what I see
There is you and there is me
No what if's
My crossing fingers knocking wood
'cause worrying about we could
Spoil the moment when it's good
No more what ifs
Could-be's
One day's
If only's
That intro's looping on and on
Don't really get to feel the song
When it's only playing in my head
If I don't listen with my heart
Trust my instincts from the start
Then I'm as done, as done can get
So I'm not
I'm not jinxing what could be
Second guessing what I see
There is you and there is me
No what if's
My crossing fingers knocking wood
'cause worrying about we could
Spoil the moment when it's good
No more what ifs
Could-be's
One day's
If only's
If the sky falls down
What if it don't work out
What if a black cat crosses my path
Does that mean you and me, we're not gonna last?
What if Mr Right turns out to be wrong?
What if there's no happy ending for this song
What if the one for me is the one that's she's with
When my heart feels love, or will my head believes it?
I'm thinking too much.
It's not over 'til it's over
'cause today is trouble enough
Live tomorrow, 'til tomorrow
I'm not jinxing what could be
Second guessing what I see
There is you and there is me
No what if's
My crossing fingers knocking wood
'cause worrying about we could
Spoil the moment when it's good
No more what ifs
Could-be's
One day's
If only's
Carico i commenti... con calma
