Today's album review will be of a soundtrack album called "Song From Instant Star Two". Usually soundtracks have a lot of different artists singing songs but this soundtrack is performed solely by "Alexz Johnson". For those who don't know "Instant Star" was a TV show that ran for four seasons from 2004-2008, a fifth season was originally planned but the show's networks "CTV" and "The N" both pulled funding after the fourth season so a fifth season didn't happen. The show followed "Jude Harrison", played by "Alexz Johnson", and her experiences being a singer as well as relationships. It was a great show. I'm reviewing the show's second soundtrack because it's my favorite one out of the four soundtracks that the show had. Here's my track by track review:
1) Liar Liar: This song is played on the piano during the verses and the drums and guitar come in during the chorus. The was used in the "Instar Star" episode "Hallelujah". My favorite line is "hold your eyes up to my veins, call out call out my name." I'm sure why but that part always gives me goosebumps. Love the song. 10/10
2) How Strong Do You Think I Am: This is said to be the first and only single from the album. It is my favorite song on the album. The chorus is really empowering and it helped my out through a rough time in high school. On the show "Alexz" performed part of an acoustic version of the song in the episode "Mother's Little Helper". While the full version of that was never released, it was still cool to hear it. 10/10
3) Anyone But You: An upbeat happy song that either be about a friend or lover always being there for you not matter what. There are three versions of the song. The first is the one on this album, the second version was featured in the episode "The Jean Genie" which sounds almost the same except "Tyler Kyte" sings in the background, and the third version was an acoustic version that was only partially played in the episode "When I Come Around". Another great song. 10/10
4) How I Feel: This song took me a long time to like. Strange because lyrically it was a song I could relate to when I first heard it. It's basically about how you're having a bad day and when someone asks you how you're feeling, but instead of saying "I'm fine" you instead blurt out exactly how you really feel. The song was used in the episode "Problem Child". 9/10
5) There's Us: I have to be honest. This is my least favorite song on the album. "Alexz's" voice is amazing and the lyrics are great but the music to it just doesn't work with it, in my opinion. There are two other versions of the song. One is a version that was played in the "Instant Star" season two finale episode, "Date With the Night" where she sings the song with "Zoie Palmer" who played "Patsy Sewer" and that version switches between being acoustic to rock. The other version is a small clip of a rock version that was played in season three's episode, "Helter Skelter". Both versions are way better than the album version. The song was covered by the "Backstreet Boys" as a bonus track for their album, "Unbreakable". 4/10
6) Over-Rated: This song is strange for me. On a good day it's just okay, but on a bad day I love it. The song was played in the episode "I Fought the Law". I loved the part in the episode when "Alexz" says, after performing the song, "There's no encore so you can all shove it." The song was covered by "Suzi Rawn" for her debut album "Naked". 8/10
7) Natural Disaster: This is an acoustic pop/rock song that made me cry when I first heard it. It doesn't do that as much anymore. I love the song and wish it was released as a single. It was performed in the episode "Stranger In the House". The only thing is not that the song title is never sung in the song at all. 10/10
8) Fade to Black: This song was used in the episode "Viciousness" which was the name of the movie in that the song was used in the episode. (The movie doesn't exist in real life, it was just part of the episode.) The song kinda got part of a music in the episode. The song is almost great but just not there yet. 7/10
9) Not Standing Alone: Some people refer to the song as "Not Standing Alone" and some people see it as "Not Standing Around". It was used in the episode "Miss World". It reminds me a lot of "Anyone But You" but it's not as great as that song. 7/10
10) My Sweet Time: This song was used in the episode "No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Part 1". It is also one of the two songs from the album that were actually performed live before the second season premiered. I initially hated the song at first but over the years it has grown on me. 9/10
11) Another Thin Line: This song was written by "Alexz's" brother "Brendan Johnson" who collaborates with "Alexz" a lot. The song is the other song that was performed live before the second season of "Instant Star" premiered. It was played in the season two finale "Date With the Night" with "There's Us". Unlike "There's Us", I like this song. 10/10
12) Who Am I Fooling: This song talks about trying to show the world that you're perfect and happy all the time but in reality you feel like you want to scream because you're not. The song was used in the episode "Personality Crisis". Perfect episode title for this song to be used in. Good song. 9/10
13) White Lines: This song is a piano ballad that was used in the episode "When I Come Around". While a lot of "Instant Star" fans loved it, I actually thought it was kinda boring and didn't understand what the big deal was about the song. After re-watching the second season though I decided to give the song a couple more listens. These days I think the song is great. 9/10
"Alexz Johnson" sang all the songs for this soundtrack as well as the soundtrack for the first season soundtrack of "Instant Star" but the third and fourth season soundtracks feature other singers despite "Alexz" singing a majority of the songs on the show. My favorite songs on the album are: "How Strong Do You Think I Am", "Liar Liar", "Natural Disaster", "Anyone But You", "Another Thin Line", "Who Am I Fooling", and "How I Feel". Out of 130 points I give the album 112 points which is 86%, a B+.
Thank you for reading this review and if you haven't check out "Instant Star", even though it was cancelled you can still watch it on hulu and amazon. Also check out "Alexz Johnson's" music because she is an AMAZING singer!
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