This is actually favorable from The Village Voice which is surprising....
Grading the iTunes Hits: David Cook, Rihanna, Coldplay
Posted by Tom Breihan at 2:51 PM, May 23, 2008
David Cook: "Time of My Life."
This is the song that won the annual American Idol songwriters' contest, and it's exactly the sort of overblown treacly silliness that always wins that thing. None of these songs are ever any good, and "Time of My Life" abuses nonsensical Hallmark-card cliches particularly vigorously. Cook actually has to sell a line about "looking for that magic rainbow on the horizon." Seriously, who, in 2008, sits down with a piece of paper and a pen and comes up with "magic rainbow"? And how does that song then go on to win a contest of any kind? The assembly line exists for a reason. The song is concerns the nebulous concept of living life to the fullest or whatever, just like all the rest of them, and so Cook gets to promise us that he'll "taste every moment and live it out loud," which is, at best, a mixed metaphor. The good news is that Cook's elegantly grizzled growl is uniquely suited toward making a mess like this work. He's shameless enough to treat a nothing like this like it was "Everybody Hurts," and the way he builds from the gurgley snarls on the intro to a big drawn-out lung-busting note at the end shows that he's already a pro. And the song's construction is time-tested big-payoff power-ballad; I especially like the backing-vocal ahh-ahhs on the chorus. That Cook can make anything of this song is a minor miracle, and it bodes well for what might happen if Clive Davis starts throwing actual good songs his way. This mess immediately shot to #1 on iTunes pretty much the minute it was released, but it's not for sale there anymore, which doesn't make any sense at all. 5.7
Full Version: Grading the iTunes Hits: David Cook, Rihanna, Coldplay
thanks John!
i'm not sure why it says that it's not on itunes anymore... it is... and it's still #1
i'm not sure why it says that it's not on itunes anymore... it is... and it's still #1
Awesome article!!
If David can do what he did with this song http://youtube.com/watch?v=akIFtZXauGs, then he will have a stellar CD, no matter what they throw at him. Bring it on!
If David can do what he did with this song http://youtube.com/watch?v=akIFtZXauGs, then he will have a stellar CD, no matter what they throw at him. Bring it on!
QUOTE (John C @ May 24 2008, 11:28 PM) 
The good news is that Cook's elegantly grizzled growl is uniquely suited toward making a mess like this work. He's shameless enough to treat a nothing like this like it was "Everybody Hurts," and the way he builds from the gurgley snarls on the intro to a big drawn-out lung-busting note at the end shows that he's already a pro. And the song's construction is time-tested big-payoff power-ballad; I especially like the backing-vocal ahh-ahhs on the chorus. That Cook can make anything of this song is a minor miracle, and it bodes well for what might happen if Clive Davis starts throwing actual good songs his way.
Well said. The song is cheesy in a way, but he totally sold it. Sometimes, a song makes an artist, but most of the times, the artist makes the song believable.
QUOTE (Nysz Cookie @ May 25 2008, 08:30 AM)
Well said. The song is cheesy in a way, but he totally sold it. Sometimes, a song makes an artist, but most of the times, the artist makes the song believable.
Wow...that's well-said. Yep, that's the thing with Cook---songs make him stand out but most of the time he makes the song great.
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