Track listing
- 1 Call My Name
- 2 Crazy Chick
- 3 Moodswings (To Come at Me Like That)
- 4 Show a Little Faith
- 5 Finding My Own Way
- 6 Let's Be Alone
- 7 Easy to Forget
- 8 Fool No More
- 9 Easy Way Out
- 10 Casualty of Love
- 11 Even God
- 12 Confessional Song
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2 Reviews
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1
Call My Name
-
2
Crazy Chick
-
3
Moodswings (To Come at Me Like That)
-
4
Show a Little Faith
-
5
Finding My Own Way
-
6
Let's Be Alone
-
7
Easy to Forget
-
8
Fool No More
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9
Easy Way Out
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10
Casualty of Love
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11
Even God
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12
Confessional Song
The first couple of singles firmly established the try-too-hard mentality. "Crazy Chick" showcases Church's new image with hilariously uncharacteristic lyrics - can you really imagine Church wanting someone with a PhD? - but the production was sparky enough to distract attention from the well-worn melody. Followup "Call My Name" was better, a feisty Pop number which was basically "Crazy Chick: Mach II", doing everything that the first single tried to do and doing it better. It's also refreshing to hear chart music without a seemingly obligatory electronic backdrop; then again, this was released in 2005, before the Dance-Pop revolution of the late 00's and back in the day when studio musicians played, you know, real instruments.
Anyway, these two songs open the album and it's only at the very end of the album that we return to pieces of this quality. There we have the rather lovely "Casualty of Love", utilising touches of flamenco guitar to greater effect than fellow acoustic ballad "Easy to Forget", mainly because the former leaps wholeheartedly into its roots around the minute and a half mark rather than politely plucking away with only a few chorus harmonies and a light beat for accompaniment. "Even God" gets the strings out to enhance the emotional resonance, but Church's vocal performance ensures that such underhand trickery is unnecessary. "Easy Way Out", on the other hand, is another heartfelt song, this time for a friend to get out of an unfulfilling relationship. Sometimes it's difficult for opera stars to inject their voice with real meaning, so obsessed are they with technical perfection, but Church has hit this nail squarely on the head.
Getting there, however, proves to be a slog through unrelentingly midtempo numbers. "Show a Little Faith" inspires only the little faith that the title demands and "Fool No More" attempts the sultry trick that you could imagine fellow Welsh diva Shirley Bassey pulling off in her sleep. And as soon as the sombre piano notes open "Finding My Own Way" alarm bells should be ringing - it's just the sort of self-pitying number that Church emphatically should NOT be singing. The only real attempt to break this midtempo monotony is "Let's Be Alone". It's produced by Xenomania of Girls Aloud fame (presumably swayed by Church's aforementioned tirade), but even their electronic bells and whistles can't really save the song from being an upbeat oddity that's simultaneously quite good and not good enough.
Luckily, although the tempo remains, things get slightly more interesting on the final track. Although its chorus claims that 'this is not a confessional song', it clearly is and not a too bad one at that. It's refreshing to see a Pop star who isn't a size 8 supermodel who enjoys a night out and admits to buying a dog as a substitute for love... a real human being, in other words, rather than a musical mannequin who sings in tune when the string is pulled in their back. It is here that Church will score, rather than in trying to out-sex her contemporaries (as the raunchy video to "Call My Name" might suggest). And for those about to complain that I slammed Church earlier for singing a self-pitying song, not only is this melodically superior, it's also a catalogue of failings, rather than apologising for genre-hopping.
Astute readers may have detected an undercurrent of sympathy for Church in this review... and they'd be right. Although I have been sceptical about her operatic talents, I do think that Church can make it as a Pop star and that despite her battles with the bottle and general bad luck with rugby player Gavin Hanson, she seems a far more genuine girl than Ms. Plastic Spears who's suffered similar (albeit more acute) problems. Still, despite Britney's relative lack of singing talent, she has the songs to back her up, whereas Church lacks any killer hooks to reel us in. Although Tissues and Issues has no real clunkers, it doesn't offer much beyond a couple of Loose Women-baiting confessionals, a brief flirt with flamenco and an infectious-but-forgettable single. Charlotte Church can do better, deserves to do better... and if she wants to continue her Pop career, has to do better!
Published
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"Both ends of the candle burnt by the flame"
Seriously, what the hell?
I bid for a CD on ebay (The rather good Millionaires by James), only for the chap selling it to offer to throw in a freebie with it - bargain! I expect a CD single, or maybe some form of indie guitar paraphernalia. instead I open the package to unexpectedly find this album... Let's just say it's not what I was expecting...
Okay, so it's over-produced pop fluff, but that's nothing I didn't already know from the couple of singles I'd heard on the radio when it was released. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of thing, but I have maintained for years that pop is the most underrated form of music. As for Church herself, well I've not followed her career but I know she was a prodigiously talented choir girl who grew up in public, had a troubled teenhood (which is perfectly normal), got splashed over the front of every British tabloid, made some stupid choices (which is perfectly normal), had a few shite boyfriends, married a rugby player and then turned her back on her choirgirl past to launch a pop career and chat show.
Okay, so she's slightly more interesting than your average pop starlet, but does this make her one pop album and latest release to date any good?
Well it's hardly a disaster, Church's obvious vocal talents serve her well, even on the flimsiest of material and as pop music goes, it's not bad. However, as much as I love a three minute blast of pure pop as much as the next rock fixated misfit, I find the same material wears thin over the length of an album.
It's therefore diffcult for me to give this a fair hearing. Church is obviously a huge vocal talent, but alas the fact she grew up so publicly means that your average RYMer will probably dismiss Tissues & Issues as something utterly disposable. That's not really fair, because while the material is certainly throw away stuff, Church's talent certainly isn't. I guess she just needs to figure out if she wants to be known for her staggering vocal ability, or for her not so private life.
"I need professional help"
Seriously, what the hell?
I bid for a CD on ebay (The rather good Millionaires by James), only for the chap selling it to offer to throw in a freebie with it - bargain! I expect a CD single, or maybe some form of indie guitar paraphernalia. instead I open the package to unexpectedly find this album... Let's just say it's not what I was expecting...
Okay, so it's over-produced pop fluff, but that's nothing I didn't already know from the couple of singles I'd heard on the radio when it was released. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of thing, but I have maintained for years that pop is the most underrated form of music. As for Church herself, well I've not followed her career but I know she was a prodigiously talented choir girl who grew up in public, had a troubled teenhood (which is perfectly normal), got splashed over the front of every British tabloid, made some stupid choices (which is perfectly normal), had a few shite boyfriends, married a rugby player and then turned her back on her choirgirl past to launch a pop career and chat show.
Okay, so she's slightly more interesting than your average pop starlet, but does this make her one pop album and latest release to date any good?
Well it's hardly a disaster, Church's obvious vocal talents serve her well, even on the flimsiest of material and as pop music goes, it's not bad. However, as much as I love a three minute blast of pure pop as much as the next rock fixated misfit, I find the same material wears thin over the length of an album.
It's therefore diffcult for me to give this a fair hearing. Church is obviously a huge vocal talent, but alas the fact she grew up so publicly means that your average RYMer will probably dismiss Tissues & Issues as something utterly disposable. That's not really fair, because while the material is certainly throw away stuff, Church's talent certainly isn't. I guess she just needs to figure out if she wants to be known for her staggering vocal ability, or for her not so private life.
"I need professional help"
Published
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Catalog
7 Jun 2023
1 Jun 2023
24 Dec 2022
17 Dec 2022
14 Dec 2022
27 Oct 2022
17 Jul 2022
-
1
Call My Name
-
2
Crazy Chick
-
3
Moodswings (To Come at Me Like That)
-
4
Show a Little Faith
-
5
Finding My Own Way
-
6
Let's Be Alone
-
7
Easy to Forget
-
8
Fool No More
-
9
Easy Way Out
-
10
Casualty of Love
-
11
Even God
-
12
Confessional Song
3 May 2022
20 Mar 2022
21 Jan 2022
19 Oct 2021
31 Jul 2020
17 Apr 2020
13 Oct 2019
29 Sep 2019
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