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 VERY PRETTY IN THE WRAPPER BUT NOT MUCH INSIDE.

Leon Jackson looks good but that's about all I could say about him. He's a clean cut young man with a decent voice but I never thought he had that bit extra that goes to make star.

He is a mixture of Brian Ferry (for those of you who remember him), and Michael Buble when he sings.

I would never have paid good money out for this mediocre album and I have only listened to it because a friend bought it and hated it so much so passed it on to me. I wouldn't say that I hated it. After all, 'what's not to like?'

Most of the track on 'Right Now' would be better under the combined heading of 'not now' because they are so out of date style wise and have nothing original about them.

How this singer won the X Factor competition in 2007 and then went on to make albums is a mystery to me. He certainly doesn't have anything outstanding going for him, except that he is kind of cute and easy on the eye.

Even his style of singing is confusing. I suppose I would categorise this album as pop with bits of jazz and a touch of the 1930's.

'Right Now' has twelve tracks with a bonus track: 'When You Believe'.
***Don't Call This Love***

This reached number three in the British Charts but it must have been bought by pubescent girls and people from Scotland (Leon's homeland) because I can't see that anyone else would want to buy it.

It starts exactly as it goes on and never really gets going. There is no passion or expression in the singer's voice and when the song ended I was still waiting for it to 'rev up'.
***Creative***

This track is better and I was almost convinced that Leon really can sing for some of the time. There's a distinctive jazz sound here and a touch the Brian Ferry wannabe about this one but Brian Ferry's Miss Otis Regrets, it isn't.

***Fingerprints***

For me this is among the best tracks on this album. It's soft, smootchy and romantic and easy to listen to but still distinctly unmemorable in terms of something different.
***Stargazing***

Yuk! Awful lyrics and enough to make you want to switch the whole thing off and do something more interesting like knitting a pair of socks!

***Song For You***

This is an old song that has been rehashed. It was originally written by songwriter Leon Russell. The piano sounds great and the orchestral accompaniment puts me in mind of Brian Ferry again. Ray Charles did a fabulous job on this and Michael Buble sang it well. Leon does an okay job but it's nothing special. This is a lovely song with competent singer but nothing spectacular.
***Could Do Better***

This is an upbeat song that the singer seems to put a bit of passion and effort into for a change but it is the only track from the album that I really thought worth listening to. The title 'Could Do Better' seems to sum up the album. He certainly could.

*******Verdict*******

A waste of money. Well, I didn't pay for the album and I'm pleased about that. There is only one decent track here and rest are mediocre to say the least. Leon has, in my opinion, got this far on his looks but he will need to pull something with a bit more 'oomph' out of the bag if he expects people to continue buying his albums.

I don't see, or hear anything here that marks this singer out as better, or more talented than many other would be pop stars. In my opinion he will very soon fade into oblivion.

At the risk of sounding like Simon Cowle himself, Leon doesn't have anything that leads me to think that he will really hit the heights.

As for this CD, I am about to pass it on to its third owner and see how long she keeps it before she passes it on, or throws it out of the window.

Awful, certainly not worth buying..

 

 

 

 Coldplay:  Violet Hill

 

 

 

 

'Violet Hill' is a bit different to what I would normally expect form UK Group Coldplay. Their music has been much of a muchness over the past six years. It's smooth, moody and full of thought provoking lyrics.

This track is on offer as part of their latest album 'Viva la Vida' which was put together in collaboration with producer Brain Eno. His influence really stands out. This album is full of grown up songs with grown up lyrics and with title tracks like 'The Cemetaries of London', and 'Death And All His Friends', it is likely to appeal to a more mature audience than the groups usual teenage followers.