I was surprised a couple years ago when I went to see what I liked so much playing on my Pandora and it was Josh Groban. His voice reminded me of a powerful Billy Joel with a gigantic range. Songs like "Awake," "Weeping," and "You Rise me Up," just seemed to resonate in my head. So I admit I like the David Foster days more than anything and the last album was a little bit of a let-down. None-the-less his voice has always remained strong and magnificent, so it's not like I thought "Illuminations" was total trash or anything.Overall, "All that Echoes" is a charming, more layered and complex album than "Illuminations" and it's a welcome addition to the other five CD's he has released. I expect other fans will feel as I do, which is that this is the best Groban has been in a while, and certainly since the David Foster days that many people originally fell in love with.
First off, the songwriting on "All That Echoes" is some of Josh's best. This is completely apparent in the first few tracks, as they are as great as they are varied:
"Brave" and "False Alarms" both use interweaving plucked strings throughout with piano support. The songs build and show Josh growing in his songwriting and entering new territory that is definitely welcome. The sound is new and I find it exciting and it lets his voice go to places that weren't so often heard before. "Falling Slowly" is a throwback to the Groban of old. And it's fantastic. The song has one of his best chorus' and easily may be my favorite song on the album. A few other gems include:
"Happy in my Heartache," A medium paced songs that is incredibly uplifting for a break-up song. The lyrics are quite sappy, and make me laugh a little in their ridiculousness, but that's part of what you get with Groban, love it or hate it, it's still catchy as hell.
"Below the Line," A similar pace and tone to "Happy..." as above. I really have to hand it to Rob Cavallo, as he's done an excellent job producing this album. The instrumentation is spot on all the way through. This song is the best showcase of that with Paul Simon like guitar vamping and galloping drums.
"She Moved Through the Fair," A little bit of a surprise here in instrumentation and tone. Includes a semi dark tone if you can believe it (well dark for Groban) and utilizes bag-pipes throughout. Has a hypnotic feel and I love the Cliff Martinez like meditative electronic back-drop. Really great feel throughout.
In the end, this is a must buy album in my opinion. The album is listenable all the way through. If you're like me and listen to the music around the house, while trying to get work done, or when you're out walking the dog, then you want a versatile album. This is by far his most varied, and takes his music in a welcome new direction. Highly recommended.
There's not a dud among these songs--I'll be listening through the whole way each time. That said, for me most of the standouts are the new ones, including False Alarms, a song that evokes longing and heartache but with a note of hope; Happy in My Heartache, a very different take on a similar theme, with folk and country undertones; the new single Brave, which is inspirational without being sappy; the stunningly beautiful Un Alma Mas, which features renowned trumpeter Arturo Sandoval; E Ti Promettero, a lovely duet with Laura Pausini; Sincera, a beautiful Italian power ballad; and Below the Line, a rocking anthem about combatting poverty that shouldn't work but does, brilliantly.
The cover choices are an interesting mix that highlight Groban's versatility. My favorites are Hollow Talk, a haunting song with an odd structure that works very well with his voice, and I Believe (When I Fall in Love), a lush, full-treatment version of the Stevie Wonder classic. She Moved Through the Fair, a traditional Irish tune, pairs his voice with the uilleann pipes, to wonderful effect. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Falling Slowly are probably the safest choices in terms of meeting listeners' expectations, but he makes them his own with lovely, heartfelt interpretations.
Overall, All that Echoes is a great combination of old-world musicality and enough energy for the rock fan in me. Of course, the vocals are gorgeous--his range just keeps getting better, and he makes use of his molten baritone here as well as his upper register. Notably, the melodies, arrangements, and lyrics are all equally superb. If I have a tiny quibble, it's that his voice doesn't quite soar as much as it does when he sings live; it sounds as if he's being just a tiny bit restrained in places, when you want him just to let loose. Note to any future producers: Let him go full throttle, it's how he sounds best.This album has an excellent mix of "old" and "new" Josh, but he sounds like he had more fun with the songwriting and recording than in Illuminations. He definitely shows a wide range and distinct style the cover tracks would be really difficult to distinguish from the ones he wrote if you didn't already know they were covers.
Brave: Catchy anthem with an uplifting message...I've already found myself humming it while walking around, like if there were a movie about my life, I'd want this to be part of the soundtrack. Granted, I've also listened to it multiple times on Josh's website since he released the single, so perhaps there's a familiarity effect.
False Alarms: I really like how this starts with a melodic harp, then it takes a surprise turn into something more melancholy. It's a wistful piece, but with a bit of rocker style with an insistent beat.
Falling Slowly: A slow-dance kind of song from the musical "Once" that lets Josh loose into falsetto range, though I found the melody line slightly repetitious.
She Moved Through the Fair: A nice take on a classic Irish air, with Celtic harp and Uilleann pipes to add to the mood.
Below the Line: Another catchy piece that I've found myself humming, and the backstory is great (Josh participated in a program called 'Life Below the Line' challenging him to live off $1.50 for the day, basically like someone living below the poverty line). It's got a bit of tropical-feeling flair, with the flute and the percussion.
E Ti Promettero: A slow beginning builds into a soaring Italian duet with Laura Pausini, similar to "Time to Say Goodbye." One of my favorite pieces in this album.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: A sweetly sad song, the kind to be sung sitting on a tall stool with a single spotlight in a cabaret or something.
Un Alma Mas: A medium-paced Spanish song sounding like it could have come from Josh's first or second album. Nice trumpet solo by Arturo Sandoval.
Happy in My Heartache: An oddly cheerful post-breakup song
Hollow Talk: A slow, melancholy piece with a hard-driving, rock-style bridge that's a bit incongruous. Originally by the Danish band Choir of Young Believers
Sincera: A medium-paced Italian piece, again reminiscent of tracks from his first album.
I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever): I'd never have guessed this was originally by Stevie Wonder! It builds up slowly, with some delicate touches of harp and humming that swells into a full gospel choir. Josh's "big stupid finish" on drums is a fun way to end the album.
Read Best Reviews of All That Echoes Here
That sums up Josh Groban the longer his career goes on. His first few albums were magnificent! Than starting a little bit with Awake and even more so with Illuminations which was an UTTER disappointment to me. I was afraid of the same thing with the new CD since I didn't really like the single at all "Brave". Very predictable sounding and generic and formulaic. The next song, "False Alarms" is a little better but STILL a little too formulaic for me. It has an some interesting instrumentation to it, but the same refrain is repeated over and over with his voice lifting the same way all the way through! It gets worse on track 3 "Falling Slowly". It's SOOOO predictable, starts off slowly than builds a little until Josh raises his voice in a higher tempo (than even higher). The same thing is repeated again and again throughout the entire song. Track 4 "She Moved Through The Fair" is even worse and more predictable than ever, and I really started to feel like Josh was going to take an even further step down from Illuminations. The song is slow, boring, and other than the bagpipes never changes. The same methodical sound and Josh's voice all the way through! Track 5 "Below The Line" has some different sounding music on it but again it's formulaic! Playing around with different sounds, instruments, etc does not make a good song. It's nothing great at all! Track 6 "E Ti Promettero" with Laura Pausini is the first song I like on the album and it's not in English. A pretty decent ballad! Usually I don't like remakles but Josh does a great job on Track 7 with "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress". I always liked this song, Judy Collins was my favorite version from decades ago. Groban has the right voice for it and it's quite nicely done! I also like Track 8 "Un Alma Mas". Seems to me the album is finally starting to heat up, very good instrumentation and Josh's voice really does well with the song and the Spanish guitar. Nice horn at the end, superb! I would like to hear this song done in English! Track 9 "Happy in My Heartache" visits back into formulaic again. The arrangements are simple, but the problem is when the refrain is repeated over and over in exactly the same manner. I am again reminded of the downfall of Illuminations. Track 10 "Hollow Talk" is a really unique song. It stays slow for a long time, nice piano and interesting arrangements, but it builds and builds...... Finally the song explodes with a nice orchestra. Creative, something this album on the whole sorely lacks! Track 11 "Sincera" is a bit too operatic for me. The best song on the album is clearly Track 12 "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" which I would never have expected but they couldn't have done a better job with this had they tried. The instrumentation and choir highlight the vocals perfectly. So there you have it, a new Josh Groban album with about 5 good songs so it is better than Illuminations. I would give 3 1/2 stars. But the bad songs on this album are FAR TOO many. Josh continues to be an awesome talent with a beautiful operatic voice but he can't seem to find songs that are worthy of him. I can't believe it's so hard for him to find song writers. He's so popular and his albums are starting to fail commercially ONLY because of this reason. Yea it's number #1 right now on Amazon and the usual die hard fans are praising this album up one side and down the other. But you will see in a month or so "All That Echoes" will sell even less than Illuminations and in the end be a commercial disappointment. This guy needs better direction and management, someone to tell him what music he chooses is good or not. He's crashing way too soon in a career that should have gone 10 years before any of this was even an issue. His flame is dimming way too soon I'm afraid!Want All That Echoes Discount?
I love Josh Groban, but really wish that he would stick to what he does bestOpera. This album contains a mere 3 songs of that nature, but they aren't great, either. I don't like who he is does the 2 duets withthey seem at times to over power Josh's voice.I think the albums done with David Foster were much better. This one even has a problem when it comes to hearing Josh on some songs! The volume cuts out and in order to hear, you have to turn the volume up considerably.
All in all, I would say I was disappointed by this latest release.
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