Andrew_Hicks's Full Review: Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul was the first "secular" artist whose albums I was allowed to purchase as a sheltered private-school kid very cautiously treading the waters of pop music. So I listened to this and Abdul's 1991 follow-up Spellbound a lot. It was another era of my life, a more pathetic time, and when I listen to either of the Abdul albums now, I'm taken back to the age of 13. Back to that early-pubescent time when I spent most of my spare hours drawing a long-defunct comic strip and listening to my Discman through headphones.
So, when the other guy who reviewed this album gave it one star, he was probably right. But he probably doesn't have near the set of memories involving Forever Your Girl -- consequently, if he hears a Paula Abdul song now, he's much more likely to hate it. Me, I consider it an odd detour on the road to the admittedly spotty music taste I have now. I find this and Spellbound relatively painless to listen to, and I absolutely hate the teen-dance music that's out right now.
On Forever Your Girl, depending on my mood, I can listen to eight of the ten songs without skipping over them. For bad decade-old pop, that's saying something.
Six of the ten were hits of some sort -- four went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- and basically were written and produced by different people. And, even as mindless dance-pop, they vary in quality. The title track is cheery I'm-your-girl fluff in the same vein as Madonna's "Cherish," "Straight Up" is a mildly funky, Arsenio-endorsed synth romp and "Cold Hearted" plays around with some interesting electronic noises. The synthesized string interlude, I think, is actually pretty clever.
One song I can get into, no matter how embarrassing, is "Knocked Out," which was produced by the Babyface camp. Abdul's singing voice, which always required post-production assistance, has never sounded more silky or sultry, and the synth-bass and percussion is pure ear-candy.
But that's where my compliments cease, more or less. "The Way That You Love Me" is boring and repetitious, and completely unconvincing as anti-materialist pop. "Opposites Attract" is obnoxious (three words: M.C. Skat Cat) and singularly gives all the bad traits to the guy. (Think about it -- he smokes, he parties all night, he's loud, he's broke and he steals the damn covers. Why would any self-respecting Laker girl date him?) "Next To You" is sound-alike, personality-free sap that could have been recorded by anyone to the same results.
None of the material on Forever Your Girl could be mistaken for real music. There are no actual instruments here. But, at the same time, something about its multi-producer blend makes it listenable to me even today. Call me a closet Rob Sheffield, but we all have our guilty pleasures. The sad part? I actually like Spellbound better.
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