10/21/03 MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS

[Marilyn]

Pamela
Assistant Webmaster
 MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS
« on: October 21, 2003, 12:06:32 AM »   

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Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" album generates enormous sales but mixed reviews
By Wade Paulsen, 10/20/2003

The first CD from American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken, entitled Measure of a Man, opened on October 14 with huge sales despite mixed reviews from critics. According to WRAL.com in Raleigh-Durham, NC, an RCA executive estimated that sales during the first two days of the CD's release had totaled 230,000 -- already equivalent to the total sales of the #1 CD on the Nielsen SoundScan Album Sales chart during the prior week.

The sales, which another industry indsider described as "unreal," make it almost certain that Clay's CD, like American Idol 1 winner Kelly Clarkson's first post-Idol CD, Thankful, will debut at #1 on the album charts. In addition, the fact that Clay's hit single "Bridge Over Troubled Water" doesn't appear on the album has increased sales of the single, which hopped back into Amazon.com's Top 25 -- and it may even regain the top spot in the Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Singles Sales chart. For the week ended October 12, the single, in its 19th week on the chart, rose from fifth place to fourth.
 
Sales of Measure of a Man appear to be unaffected by the mixed reviews that the CD has received in the popular media. Critics have ranged from strongly positive (Billboard) to mixed (Washington Post, which calls the CD a "likable album even without being a particularly good one", and Knight-Ridder), to negative (Associated Press, which refers to the song selections as "insipid"), to scathingly negative (the New York Daily News).

Opinion (and differences thereof) are, of course, the stock-in-trade of the critic, so the (surprisingly anonymous) Daily News critic who claims that Clay's album "spews … pablum" and is "a refuge for the deeply out-of-it" is just expressing a legitimate opinion. However, when a critic journeys from opinion into fact, and then gets the facts very wrong, such comments are fair game and may reveal a deep-seated bias. Such is the case with the Daily News review, which makes this factual comparison of Clay Aiken to a figure from the past:

"Ultimately, [Clay's] album harks back to the '50s, when the cultural threat of stars like Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis created the need for a reactionary figure. Aiken has simply become this generation's answer to Pat Boone."

Is Clay Aiken another Pat Boone? Pat Boone became famous for remaking overtly sexual songs from black artists, such as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally," using his clean-cut image to "de-sexualize" the songs for white suburban consumption. In retrospect, Pat Boone's contribution to music was a bowdlerization of the sexuality inherent in "race music" (as it was originally called) of the time – and the reason most of Pat Boone's recordings have disappeared into the mists of time is because later generations didn't need the sanitizing effect of Pat Boone to make the original versions acceptable.

By contrast, Clay's CD explicitly rejects the sexuality in modern music and performs not a toned-down, "safe" version of someone else's vision, but his own vision – as discussed in this article and most clearly seen in the title song, "Measure of a Man," which is openly a religious song about Jesus – something that would have been anathema to Pat Boone's fans during his heyday.

In fact, about the only thing that Pat Boone in the 1950s and Clay Aiken today have in common is that they're both white males from the South. Perhaps that's enough for a New York writer, who may be blinded by the New York vision of the world, to consider them identical. We note that the same parochial New York view is reflected in the criticism directed at Fox's choice of Clay to sing the national anthem for Game 1 of the World Series. (The singer of the country's biggest hit single of 2003 and current #1 CD is "B-list'?)

Apparently New York writers really believe that a phenomenon not centered in New York can't be happening. We can't wait to read their reactions to this week's Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Album Sales chart.

 REALITY WORLD

[Marilyn]

Aalena
Guest
  MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2003, 07:26:31 AM »   

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I just can't keep it to myself!  Opinions are like be-hinds!  Everyone has one! =D

There has always been the rebel... or the person that must cut against the grain.  That is their choice!  I believe that there are critics that behave this way. 

There are those critics that resort to gross exageration and extreme criticism to attract the spotlight.  They are so desperate as to class-lessly review someone or something are quickly picked out of the crowd.  They receive the attention that they set out to get.  How much credibility is given to them in the end?  Not much.  Did they gain some notoriety form it?  You bet.

/applaud to the critic that can tastefully and literately compose a review that one can read and respect regardless of whether the reader agrees or disagrees.

/vent off!

/hugs to all.

[Marilyn]

cjrmax
Guest
  MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2003, 11:15:38 AM »   

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"By contrast, Clay's CD explicitly rejects the sexuality in modern music and performs not a toned-down, "safe" version of someone else's vision, but his own vision – as discussed in this article and most clearly seen in the title song, "Measure of a Man," which is openly a religious song about Jesus"

Maybe I am just stupid, but just how is the song "Measure of a Man" an openly religious song about Jesus?  To me that is a stretch.  Its also a good way to turn some people (and I admit, like myself) off that song.  I don't think a pop album is a place for preaching.  But regardless, I do not see how this song is overtly religious.
 
 
 

[Marilyn]

Pamela
Assistant Webmaster
 MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2003, 11:26:01 AM »   

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Maybe it's the 'walk on water' line? There is such a thing as imagery, nuance and expressionism in songwriting...Obviously, the writer never listened to the song; or at least listened to the words. 

Here’s what Clay said about the song: 

The lyrics are great. They talk about someone telling you that they love you, it's not about material things, it's not about anything other than the confirmation of love. Can that be enough? And the title of the song was really perfect.

"Measure Of A Man"

If one day you discover him
Broken down he's lost everything
No cars, no fancy clothes to make him who he's not
The woman at his side is all that he has got
Why do you ask him move to heaven and earth
To prove his love has worth?

Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
When it is down to the wire
Would he gave his life up
To be all he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

If by chance all he had to give you
Was three words wrapped around his finger
Would that be deep enough at the end of every day
And how will you ever know
If a man is what he says?

Why do you ask him to move heaven and earth
To prove his love has worth
Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
When its down to the wire
Would he give his life up to be all he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

He never gives up
That broken dream
His world goes around in wonder it seems
Is that how you know
Is that what it means?

Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
Would he will be your anchor when the dark unfolds
Would he always love you the best that he knows?

Would he give his life up
To be all that he can
Is that, is that, is that how you measure a man?

Would he walk on water
Would he run through fire
Would he stand before you
When it is down to the wire
Would he gave his life up
To be all he can

Is that, is that, is that, how you measure oh...

Is that, is that, is that, how you measure a man?
 
 

[Marilyn]

cjrmax
Guest
  MOAM GENERATES ENORMOUS SALES, MIXED REVIEWS
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2003, 04:01:01 PM »   

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Thanks, Pamela.  I was sure it was artistic license!  I NEVER thought the lyrics were to be taken literally! What Clay said about the song is what I always thought it was about.

[Marilyn]

cassms
Guest
  MOAM lyrics
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2003, 12:55:45 PM »   

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I don't think this song is "about Jesus", but certainly about good values.

And just wanted to say that after listening to the CD over and over (and with headphones, as suegrab suggested--great suggestion), I found that there are many errors in the lyrics on azlyrics.com, including on MOAM.  I believe the lines beginning with "He never gives up" are:

He never gives up
Lets go of his dream
The world ( ) his one true belief  (couldn't quite catch those interim words--can anyone else?)

(not "that broken dream, his world rolls around him in wonder it seems, as reported on azlyrics).   I think azlyrics just has people who submit the lines but they are not from sheet music and thus have numerous errors.  Listening with quality headphones was 

[Marilyn]

clayaikenwow
Guest
  well i dont agree with alot of u!
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2003, 08:47:29 PM »   

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i definaltly see where measure of a man is related to clays christianity and the lord...and i think clay wants to potray this i mean he talks about his beliefs and the lord jesus all the time and he seems to be a very nice christain..his voice s just amazing and someone has finally brought christain music into the world of pop where it is desperatly needed..i myself am a christain and ive never been to touched by a celebrity before clay is so different in th ebest way possible and i believe he will be an excellent influence to many people,because there were none until he came around..except for people in the christain music field! anyone can disagree but i think if you really think about it you would relize that being a christain and potraying it through your music is excellent..an clay is so amazing!