Groban proves himself to be the Taylor Swift of the pop rock world.
After a decade in the industry, it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Josh Groban, a four-time multi-platinum artist has proved this cliche to be depressingly true in his new album, “All That Echoes,”.
Released on Feb. 5, “All That Echoes” contains five covers and seven original tracks. Even if there are 12 separate tracks, you can’t help but wonder if you’ve heard the exact same song with slight variations before. The tracks “Below The Line” and “Happy In My Heartache”, for example, are styled similarly that if the tracks were placed together, it would seem as if they were one track all together. However, his lyrics do manage to be great as always through their intricacies and details, which flaunt Groban’s songwriting skills that he first showcased in his previous album, “Illuminations.”
The lead single, “Brave,” stays true to the limited box that most of his singles that have gotten the most airplay throughout his career; essentially, it’s great vocals paired with dramatic music. Although it isn’t pegged to Pixar’s 2012 release of the similarly named “Brave,” the movie, it certainly feels as if this song could suit the adventurous and love-of-nature spirit that the movie has. The uplifting lyrics and strong background music help evoke a certain feeling of starting anew, fearlessly, in a world previously unknown.
While Groban mostly sticks to his repetitive musical persona, the song “Below The Line” manages to stand out from the rest. Instead of the usual smooth vocals paired up against dramatic music, Groban branches out into a more energetic atmosphere that comes with head-bobbing beats and refreshing acoustics. While the lyrics of “Below the Line” still stay true to the lyrical persona Groban has created for himself, the style that the lyrics are set to bring a sense of hope that Groban may have finally branched out from his repetitiveness.
However, Groban returns once more to the same-old in his cover of “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” While this track is strongly associated with the original artist, Stevie Wonder, Groban manages to reinvent the song to fit his own artistic abilities. It does go back to the strong vocals and dramatic music that we’ve heard again and again from Groban, which can be similarly compared to Taylor Swift’s addiction to radio-friendly love songs. While the topics of the hits do change, both artists manage to produce the same sound over and over again, which does get tiresome after a while.
By this point, the words “great vocals with dramatic music” have been written over and over again, each time with slight variations; but there is simply no other way to describe this album. If you’re a fan of Groban’s signature style, then this album may be a hit for you. But for those looking for something slightly different, this album disappoints.
